Seattle, Feb. 2010

This past weekend I decided I had enough of 36 degrees, slush, ice at night and mud everywhere so I hopped on Alaska Airlines and flew away to Seattle for a weekend. Spring has arrived in Seattle and a windbreaker was all you needed as you roamed the city.

I had never been in the Space Needle. That was my first stop on a clear night. The moon was shining brightly and the temps were in the 50s.


From the top of the Space Needle the city spread out below in city lights. Didn't do to bad without a tripod.
The park around the Space Needle is a wonderful place to walk. Decked out in white lights it felt like Christmas. It was Friday night and I expected it to be crowded but it wasn't. Bon Jovi was in town and everyone was gathering at the Arena for the concert, leaving the park to people like me.



The Space Needle through the trees. Almost like a UFO.


There is a big metal ball in the middle of the park that is a huge fountain. I understand this is the place to be in 100 degrees. It was a little cool to get wet.


The next morning I hopped on the train and spent the day exploring the area. The train runs from SeaTac to Westside, which is downtown. If you spend the day getting on and off, you'll take all day to get there. First stop, a little community called Columbia City. I have no idea why. But the local bar lays out the rules pretty well.

There are statues everywhere. Most of them have an oriental bend, like this dragon.

The bridges the train runs on. Just about the whole thing is elevated over city traffic. Which I thought was really cool.

All of the larger train stations have lots of artwork decorating the walls. And everything is absolutely clean. No graffiti. No trash. I was surprised. I was expecting what I'd seen in New York.