Scenes from Seattle

Sunday
We had a very early start this morning, as our flight from Cincinnati to Seattle left at 7.05. Everything went smoothly, and we got to the gate in good time. The west coast is three hours behind us, and we arrived in Seattle a little before 9 am. We weren’t renting a car till we left Seattle, as it would have been extremely expensive to park, and we felt we would either be able to walk or take public transport. So we took the light rail to downtown, which left us with about four blocks to walk, pulling our suitcases behind, which wasn’t bad. We checked into the hotel, but of course being so early in the day, our room wasn’t ready yet, but they were able to keep our cases safe for the day, and said they’d text us when the room was ready. We first walked the four or five blocks down to the waterfront and Pike Place market, past the impressive central library building on the way (top left). The 11 story glass and steel building was opened to the public on May 23 2004. We explored the various levels of Pike Street Market and had some lunch and then a Frappuccino from Starbucks. The original Starbucks store is right across from Pike Place Market, but there was a long line for that one, so we went to another one only a couple of blocks away! The mural of my thumbnail is quite close to the market too. We then walked along the waterfront past the various piers and the big wheel. We climbed up the harbor steps (bottom left to the Art museum, and then back to our hotel, where we settled in to our room and freshened up before going out to dinner. After dinner we enjoyed a cocktail at the Observatory level of the Smith Tower, which in 1914 became the first skyscraper in Seattle and the tallest building west of the Mississippi. We stayed to watch the sun go down (two lower right photos.
Step count: 21, 696