3 days in Seattle

We traded the dry heat of Austin for the damp cold of Seattle on a 3-day stop before heading north to Vancouver. We had been to the Seattle/Tacoma area once before and driven through on a couple of other occasions, but had never truly explored this unique city, home to Microsoft, Starbucks and grunge. It’s an impressive city, and the clouds and rain only added to the moody atmosphere.

On our fist day, we headed up to Fremont to explore Gas Works Park, visit the Fremont Troll and catch some amazing views of the Seattle skyline. Oh, and we managed to squeeze in a local brewery as well.

Gas Works Park – a really nice spot north of the city

It was newly painted too

Taking in the sites in this atmospheric park

Meet the Fremont Troll underneath Aurora Bridge. Note the actual VW bug in his left hand

Great beer garden on a sunny day

View of Aurora Bridge

We saw a few of these houseboat neighborhoods on our walk

So Seattle

On our second day, we braved the cold temperatures and non-stop drizzle to walk through Olympic Sculpture Park, just north of downtown, and then picked up Kristina’s aunt Barbara. Together we checked out the famous Pike’s Place Market, ate lunch at The Pike Brewing Company (where else) and paid a brief visit to the Seattle Public Library.

Olympic Sculpture Park

The Seattle public library is an impressive glass and steal building

The library houses a 4 story book spiral. Yes, it’s basically what it sounds like and pretty cool too

At the library, we stumbled on a showing of Shakespeare’s first folio

Our last day in the city was dedicated to the EMP (Experience Music Project) Museum. It’s a rather eclectic place focused on popular culture which also houses the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (a big unexpected plus for Alex). It was founded by Paul Allen in 2000 and the building is a great example of Frank Gehry’s work (the 4th of his iconic buildings that we have seen so far on this trip). With exhibits on Jimmy Hendrix and Nirvana, and a great collection of Sci-Fi movie memorabilia, it’s pretty safe to say that the EMP is AWESOME!