Seattle 2016 - Waterfront

After Chihuly Garden and Glass, we walked to the Seattle Waterfront. On our walk, near the Chihuly gallery, we found a park with an enormous, tubular sculpture.

Near the sculpture was a Holocaust memorial.

Although we didn't snap a picture of Anne Frank's chestnut tree, we did find metal sculptures of trees near the waterfront.

And we played on the train tracks.

At Pier 70, we found even more sculptures. Art is everywhere in Seattle!

I took a picture of Dan taking pictures. Dan takes about 90% of the pictures that appear in my travel reports. If the picture isn't very good, there is a high probability that I took it.

Dan was zooming in, because he saw our cruise ship: Holland America's MS Amsterdam.

We also saw the Norwegian Pearl, which was the ship that I had tried to book, but it was sold out. We actually got one of the last cabins available on the MS Amsterdam, so we were lucky to even be able to cruise that week. Regarding Norwegian, the previous week, I had attended a travel agency dinner hosted by Norwegian Cruise Lines, and I was (still am) eager to try their ships: they look spectacular!

A literal sign that we were about to be on our way to Alaska!

If you spot a Ferris Wheel, you need to ride it. We walked towards the giant wheel.

When we reached the entrance to the Seattle Waterfront, we found a street photographer who charged five dollars for pictures in front of a display that he had made of Seattle landmarks: A total tourist-trap type of thing, but we were tourists and he trapped us!

Another trap = that darn Ferris Wheel, or rather the "Seattle Great Wheel." It was thirteen dollars a person for a ten minute ride. Nice views. Was it better than any other Ferris Wheel? Not really. However, if I come across a Ferris Wheel that have not yet ridden, I'm shelling out the money to ride it. It's that simple.

Lunch was clam chowder and ice cream cones inside Miner's Landing. Miners Landing is an indoor arcade filled with shops, restaurants, and lots of taxidermy. And pirates. How could I forget pirates?

We finished up mid-afternoon with plenty of time to pick up our luggage and head to our ship. Next stop, Alaska!

Seattle 2016- Chihuly Garden and Glass

Our cruise to Alaska was departing in the late afternoon, so we woke up early on Sunday to squeeze in more Seattle sight-seeing. Chihuly Garden and Glass is located right next to the Space Needle, but when we tried to see it on Saturday evening, it was closed for a private event.

I have to say, this would be an amazing place to have a private event. When we got married at the Aria in Las Vegas, one of the locations that we could have held a our ceremony, was at the Chihuly Gallery in the hotel. At the time, it seemed like an odd place to have a wedding. Then again, I shouldn't talk, since we paid extra to get married in the Aria's gym. No kidding, there were treadmills in a room behind us that we could see through a glass window.

Look closely...

We picked it, because the entrance to the spa/gym has a lounge with an amazing fireplace, which is what we faced during our ceremony. The fireplace was grand and romantic, but in hindsight, I bet the couples that picked the Chihuly Gallery had spectacular photos.

We arrived at Chihuly Garden and Glass thirty-minutes before the gallery opened and there was already a large group of people waiting. Admission was 22.00 a person.

Back to Vegas, prior to visiting Seattle, my only experience with Dale Chihuly work, has been the magnificent flower sculptures at Bellagio. At Chihuly Garden and Glass, there is an installation similar to the Bellagio flowers.

The first exhibits focused on vases. They were just a warm up for the wondrous and colorful sculptures soon to come.

This explosion of color, that continued through the remainder of the gallery, started here.

This enormous sculpture was inspired by the ocean. It's so pretty.

The boat below, filled with sculptures, reminds me of something out of a Cirque Du Soleil production. And the colors and shapes reminded me of those kits where you can grow crystals in an aquarium. Magic Rocks. Did you ever have one as a kid?

My favorite part of Chihuly Garden and Glass, was the garden, where glass plants coexist with real plants. The designs made me think of a Dr. Seuss illustration: utterly whimsical. My favorite piece in the entire gallery is the enormous yellow tree.

If you're visiting the Space Needle ( and if you're a tourist in Seattle, of course you are), make sure to buy a bundle ticket which gives you a discount for visiting both the Space Needle and Chihuly Garden and Glass in the same day. Chihuly Garden and Glass is an extraordinary experience; a must-do. It's small, plan just 1-2 hours to tour, which makes it easy to combine with other attractions, like the Space Needle.

Seattle 2016- Space Needle

After Pike Place Market, we headed to the Space Needle.

It was late in the afternoon and extremely crowded. The Space Needle has a timed ticket entry, and the earliest time we could get was six-thirty. We killed time poking around the Space Needle gift shop, called Space Base. It was all very Disney's Tomorrowland.

When we entered the queue, we were handed a pink coaster.

The coaster gave directions for downloading a phone app: with the app and coaster, we could take pictures holding virtual Space Needles. It was fun, a creative idea for entertaining guests stuck in a long queue.

Inside the building, the queue was peppered with displays explaining how the Space Needle was built for the 1962 World's Fair. The displays included historical photographs and building plans. It was clear that there was plenty of excitement regarding this unusual building from the future.

After a long queue, we finally reached the elevators, which took us up over five hundred feet to the observation deck. The observation deck has a cafe and plenty of view points, including an outdoor promenade. We were able to explore at our leisure, before getting back into a queue ( a short queue) for the elevator back down.

The Space Needle is a cool piece of history and architecture: a must-do when visiting Seattle.

As we were leaving the area, we took a funny picture of a storm trooper. I don't think we are suppose to see the back of his costume! It was reminiscent of the characters on Hollywood Blvd!

Since our 2016 Seattle trip, we have moved to Portland Oregon. Living in the PNW, I see "Bigfoot" stuff nearly everyday. It's a big deal here. Last year, I didn't realize...

Instead of eating at the Bigfoot BBQ, we had dinner at Buckley's, a pub just a few blocks from our hotel. Good food and beer, especially after a long day of traveling and touring.