USA the West : Washington : '12 Jul: Seattle

July 2

Welcome to the Pacific Northwest, heading up to Seattle. I don't know which peak this is but she's a beaut.

A nice flyover from the captain to get a good view of the city and a bit of Puget Sound.

The view from the top, looking out the condo windows.

We didn't rent a car for this short trip so we're going to be walking where we go and focusing on Belltown, the condo's neighborhood.

First stop, lunch! We've never been here at Tilikum Place Café. We enjoyed the meal very much...

...it's got a touch of the Portlandia spirit, chef owned, local ingredients, daily specials.

We walked home via the market and then went swimming and enjoyed the Jacuzzi for a while. Busy Busy!

This is just outside the pool and gym area on the 5th floor reflecting the condo and demanding some reflecto photos.

I obliged its command.

More. Oh yeah.

Testing for July 4th Fireworks!

July 3

It was cold today and crazy windy so we only ventured out to eat.

My old friend Jimmy (rather my long-time friend .. not old, no not old) picked us up and took us to Toulouse, a well regarded New Orleans influenced restaurant in Queen Anne, Belltown's next door neighborhood.

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Bustling wait-staff at Lola keeping everyone happy during their really excellent Happy Hour. Everything we ate was delicious and the beverages were just as advertised. We went home happy.

July 4

Stars and Stripes .. Forever.

Today's first stop - SAM, the Seattle Art Museum.

We like it here.

Sharon did these.

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Then we walked down to Pike Place Market. That's the condo there, the furthest building on the left.

And then we walked to the waterfront.

Mount Rainier! Weeks go by and you can't see Mount Rainier so this view is always a huge treat to everyone who lives here.

Back at the condo getting ready for the big fireworks extravaganza. The arrow points to Gas Works Park where at 2:30 people have already cornered their spot on the grassy hill waiting for the show that will start after 10pm.

Lake Union is filling up with boats too.

And here's the same scene later. That's Mount Baker in the distance.

Looking in the other direction toward the sound.

Fireworks As Seen From the Jewel Box in the Sky.

I hauled my tripod in my carryon bag all the way up from LA. I'm hoping it was the crazy wind on our 27th floor balcony that made those lights that should have been still look otherwise and not that I didn't do the whole mirror up/cable release thing because then it would be my fault and we don't want that.

And in last night's test, when it wasn't so windy, this didn't happen. But maybe it was the amount of telephoto, or the other things, or something else. Next year if the universe is kind I'll have a new camera and have to figure it out all over again.

It was perfectly great fun with displays popping up everywhere we looked around the city, across the bay, up the ridge lines - it was totally cool.

More.

Ka-Boom! and good night.

July 5

Lucas, Betsy, Xander, and Anya came over from Edmunds for a visit. Yay!

Here's Anya in front of the welcoming mural at the Seattle Art Museum's Sculpture Garden. And here she is Anya in 2008 in Barcelona. Good job Anya.

Reflect-o, because.

I'm a big fan of this Serra piece called Wake. It's big.

Oldenburg's typewriter eraser. These kids will never know the original object.

From Sharon.

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Xander is parkour-boy these days and he was able to exhibit many of his skills around the park including pulling himself onto the top of an 7 foot wall in one smooth move. Here we see him using his father as an obstacle to be overcome.

Anya is doing a drama program for the summer and they will put on a play at the end of August. She has a big part and many lines to learn, and songs to sing. We got to hear a little preview and it's going to be great!

The ground is just pebbles colored by the reflections of the surrounding metal-work. Usually you can't see any color on the ground because it's cloudy and you need sun for the reflections.

The work is (cleverly) called Seattle Cloud Cover, by Teresita Fernandez.

At the end of the Sculpture Garden looking back to the entrance and the SAM identification.

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We enjoyed an easy lunch with the kids at the Bang Bang Café and then another tasty and fun Happy Hour dinner this time at the Umi Sake House.

(internet pix)

OK Condo, it's our last night, it's been wonderful.

Here's the Google view. We're on 27 btw, and there are 33 floors. Bye! See you again soon!!