Tuesday, October 4, 2011

US Holiday - Day 24 - Seattle - Day 3

Day 24 - Sunday 2nd October

Yep the weather is better today which is a good thing. So first cab off the rank is the Underground Tour at 11am. I was up and out the door walking down towards Pioneer Square. As I walked down there was a number of people in NFL shirts. I was early for the tour so continued onto the area around the NFL stadium. People were already getting into the spirit of the game and making their way into the pubs surrounding the ground. The car park located next door was also starting to fill up and people were setting up for the tailgating. BBQ's and marquees were setup and music pumping. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. NFL is huge here.

So it was now about time to get back to the get my ticket for the Underground Tour. At about 10.50am they started filing everyone into an old bar from the late 1800's located next door to the ticket office. There were over 120 people on the tour which was an amazing number. We were given a history of Seattle and the Pioneer Square area and why the tour was created back in 1960's. I feel that the Rocks area in Sydney and Pioneer Square in Seattle still exist because of the same reason, people familiar with the area not wanting it to be dug up or redeveloped.

After the history lesson we were split into three groups and we led a short distance to where we went underground to street level back in the late 1800's. It is funny to see windows in a basement that would have been on the first floor many years ago. I won't go on any further about the reasons why, you will have to learn this for yourself when you visit Seattle. There were 2 other sections that we visited underground before being led into the gift shop. I didn't buy anything.

Next thing I wanted to cover off was the Seattle Space Needle. So walked back up the hill towards the start of the monorail built at the same time as the Space Needle in the early 1960's. Didn't have to wait long for the monorail and the journey time to the Space Needle was event shorter. Now don't think that the monorail in Seattle is the same as the one in Sydney. It isn't. The Seattle Monorail looks better and can fit more people on it. After getting off the monorail I bought a ticket for the Needle and in no time I was up the top on the observation deck. The views are good in all directions and put a perspective on the layout of Seattle, it's hills and water. After doing some circuits getting video and photos I made m way back down and caught the monorail back into town.

I walked through to Pike Street Market before heading down to the waters edge. I was going to finish off the day with a 1 hr cruise. That left at 4pm and did a lap of the waters on the western side of Seattle called Elliot Bay. We first headed north passing the area around the Space Needle, then some parks, a grain ship being loaded and then south and passed ice breakers, cargo ships, Coast Guard boats before returning to the pier. I then proceeded back to the hotel and had an early night.

Tomorrow, the Boeing Factory and the last full day in Seattle.

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