Seattle and Madison

Ahhhh! A nice bed in my own room, with my own shower....what a luxury! After a great night's sleep I hopped the bus and headed downtown Seattle and spent the day in the City Center.

For all you sci-fi fans, you must come and see the Science Fiction Museum near the Space Needle. They have EVERYTHING related to sci-fi: Robbie the robot, the robot from Lost in Space and R2-D2. Lots of Star Trek memoriabilia, including Spock and Kirk's shirts, and the chair from the show that the Captain sat in on deck. Phasers and other weaponry associated with sci-fi were also included, as well as sci-fi books and other movies like Planet of the Apes, Logan's Run, ET, etc.

Another exhibit was rock and roll. Walk into the exhibit and the first thing you see is a floor to ceiling display with a variety of guitars and keyboards attached. Since Jimi Hendrix is from Seattle, they also had a room displaying his travel notes, guitars and a chronology of his life. Want to chill out to Hendrix music, just have a seat on one of the benches! One room displayed guitars all the way from the 1800's and guitars bought by the likes of Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Heart, etc. Here you could also chill to a film featuring famous guitarists. I was so fascinated I was taking pictures until I was reminded that no photos were allowed in the displays. Ooops!

The cutest display were the Jim Henson muppets. Children could stage their own muppet show using the muppets provided, with parents sitting in the audience enjoying the show. They were quite awesome!

My next stop was the Space Needle. It's 520 feet in the air, was built for the Expo and the elevator takes only 41 seconds to reach the top. If you happen to stand next to the window of the elevator when it rises and falls, it can be quite an experience seeing the scenery fly by! Once at the top you can look at the 360 degree view from the outside or inside. As it was a cloudy day, it was quite windy at the top and felt cool. My last stop that day was at the Science Museum. The exhibits were awesome and the planetarium show very cool. They even had a live hands-on insect exhibit (yuck) but I did not partake as I am not a bug person.

Seattle's dowtown is one happening place, although I did not get to see the Olympic statutes park, the aquarium, take the underground tour, or see Pioneer Square or China town. I will definitely have to go back to check out all these sights and also find those darn geoducks I was told about! If you're ever bored with the city, there's always the Water Ducks (like our ducks at the Dells) and ferries and cruises to the parks across the water. So, there's always something to do in Seattle, but the one sight I highly recommend that is THE happening place to be is Pike's Place Market. Always something awesome happening there!

If I had to choose between Seattle and Vancouver, Vancouver would win hands down. Canadians are very friendly, Vancouver is easier to get around via public transportation due to it's proximity (Seattle is a long city surrounded by water), prices are much easier on the pocket book and, again, the people really make the city.

Until the next vacation....toodles everyone! Happy travels.