Still in Washington
Labels:
cattle,
homeless,
Lighthouse,
Mount Baker,
Mount Rainier,
Pikes Place,
seattle,
Starbucks,
sundown,
underground,
Washington,
Wilson Point
After a whirlwind trip back home for a family reunion, I'm back in Washington and probably will be for another 5 weeks.
Although it's a long flight out here and you do get sorta cramped up with the ride, it's still nice to look out and see landmarks like Mount Rainier as you come in.
Some days when I drive in to Enumclaw, it's not visible at all but for the past few days, it really has been nice here so I'll post a lot of pictures of Rainier while the sun is still shining making the flowers (weeds) in the fields really glow.
The cattle seem to be OK with it too.
Further up the mountain, bicyclists, sports car enthusiasts and motorcyclists can't resist a sunny day either.
In 1889, Seattle was mostly a harbor town built from the abundance of wood available. The streets had problems with flooding and when they dumped the sewerage into the Puget Sound, the tides would bring it back in. On June 6 of that year, a cabinet maker was making a vat of glue which overturned and ignited which spread and destroyed the town. At least that's what I got out of it but you can read about it here.
Immediately, they set on a plan to rebuild, this time with brick stone and mortar. Realizing they would eventually have the same problems with flooding they commanded that all new buildings should be built with no less than two stories. With that in mind, as finances came available, they built up the streets one story higher than the ground floors. So now, there is an abandoned underground portion of the city that is open for tours.
The original underground sidewalks had a series of skylights that illuminated the subterranean sidewalks. It should be noted, some others on the tour also had a "dim" view of my "earthquake" quip.
Eventually, the below ground store entrances were abandoned. Today, there are a couple of tour companies that will take you down (for a modest fee) and deliver an entertaining experience which ironically ends (of all places) in their gift shop. Imagine that.
Another great attraction is the downtown Public Market.
Here you can find fresh produce, fresh salmon and several restaurants.
Also, along Pike Place is the original Starbucks which always seem to have a folk band outside to entertain the very long line of people are willing to wait to get into the place. It's not like you can't find a Starbucks on every other corner.
In a vain attempt to get away from the maddening crowds, there's also an option of going over to West Seattle to check out all the people who have the same idea as you. It's never ending a parade of traffic attempting to find a place to park.
Great sundowns looking across at Bainbridge Island. Before I leave I hope to get up there.
At this time of the year, you have to wait pretty late for it to be dark enough to see the city lights.
On yet another island I checked out just this weekend is Worden State Park on Wilson Point which has a decommissioned lighthouse. You can see Mount Baker behind it probably 50 miles to the north.
This is definitely an interesting place with plenty to see and do, at least for some. This is a place with a huge homeless population. Old downtown common areas smell like urine, many neutral spaces have homeless encampments and you'll even see tents under the overpasses.
Although it's a long flight out here and you do get sorta cramped up with the ride, it's still nice to look out and see landmarks like Mount Rainier as you come in.
Some days when I drive in to Enumclaw, it's not visible at all but for the past few days, it really has been nice here so I'll post a lot of pictures of Rainier while the sun is still shining making the flowers (weeds) in the fields really glow.
The cattle seem to be OK with it too.
Further up the mountain, bicyclists, sports car enthusiasts and motorcyclists can't resist a sunny day either.
In 1889, Seattle was mostly a harbor town built from the abundance of wood available. The streets had problems with flooding and when they dumped the sewerage into the Puget Sound, the tides would bring it back in. On June 6 of that year, a cabinet maker was making a vat of glue which overturned and ignited which spread and destroyed the town. At least that's what I got out of it but you can read about it here.
Immediately, they set on a plan to rebuild, this time with brick stone and mortar. Realizing they would eventually have the same problems with flooding they commanded that all new buildings should be built with no less than two stories. With that in mind, as finances came available, they built up the streets one story higher than the ground floors. So now, there is an abandoned underground portion of the city that is open for tours.
The original underground sidewalks had a series of skylights that illuminated the subterranean sidewalks. It should be noted, some others on the tour also had a "dim" view of my "earthquake" quip.
Eventually, the below ground store entrances were abandoned. Today, there are a couple of tour companies that will take you down (for a modest fee) and deliver an entertaining experience which ironically ends (of all places) in their gift shop. Imagine that.
Another great attraction is the downtown Public Market.
Here you can find fresh produce, fresh salmon and several restaurants.
Also, along Pike Place is the original Starbucks which always seem to have a folk band outside to entertain the very long line of people are willing to wait to get into the place. It's not like you can't find a Starbucks on every other corner.
In a vain attempt to get away from the maddening crowds, there's also an option of going over to West Seattle to check out all the people who have the same idea as you. It's never ending a parade of traffic attempting to find a place to park.
Great sundowns looking across at Bainbridge Island. Before I leave I hope to get up there.
At this time of the year, you have to wait pretty late for it to be dark enough to see the city lights.
On yet another island I checked out just this weekend is Worden State Park on Wilson Point which has a decommissioned lighthouse. You can see Mount Baker behind it probably 50 miles to the north.
This is definitely an interesting place with plenty to see and do, at least for some. This is a place with a huge homeless population. Old downtown common areas smell like urine, many neutral spaces have homeless encampments and you'll even see tents under the overpasses.
Posts
