Seattle, August 5, 2013

Another great day in beautiful Seattle. This morning, from the living room window, Mt. Rainier was certainly beautifully visible. Margo was off rather early for work, and after she left, Alexandra and I arose, and she fixed a wonderful breakfast of blueberry pancakes. We washed, dressed and agreed on our itinerary for the day. Driving into downtown Seattle, we determined that our first stop would be the Seattle Museum of Art. However, it was Monday, and of course no museum is open that day. Traversing downtown, we decided we would instead take the Underground tour of the city. Parking, we walked a few blocks and located the box office for touring. Just as we reached the ticket window, our tour was closed due to volume. And so we decided to move on to one of the great landmarks of Seattle, the Public Market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront. It was opened on August 17, 1907 and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the US. It is a place for many small farmers, craftspeople and merchants to sell their wares. It was built on the edge of a hill and consists of several lower levels below the main level. Each level has unique shops such as antique dealers, comic book and collectible shops, and family-owned restaurants. The upper street level features fishmongers, fresh produce and craft stalls operating in covered arcades. Over 10,000,000 visitors come every year to this amazing market. The human crush was amazing, and there was so much to be seen that I almost experienced visual overload. After a lengthy traverse of the market, we walked back to the car, as our metered time of 2 hours was just about to expire. From there we proceeded to one of Alexandra's favorite bagel shops, Eltana, close to her apartment. There we shared a platter of lox and bagels which was outstanding, and with it we had interesting lavender and cucumber sodas. From there we returned home, applied a little sunscreen and were off to our next adventure. The Woodland Park Zoo is only eight blocks away, so we walked there from the apartment. Along the way we passed some very interesting town homes that had been built in the 1920s and faced inwards, where there were lovely manicured gardens and a central fountain--almost like a British mews. On the National Register, it was lovely to photograph and certainly quite unique. Then, as we approached the zoo, we noticed a beautiful rosé garden with ponds, a gazebo, and statuary which formed a wonderful oasis in the midst of Fremont, the area where Margo and Alexandra live. Then we entered the Woodland Park Zoo, which had originally begun as a small menagerie on the estate of Guy Phinney, a Canadian-born lumber mill owner and real estate developer. It opened in 1899, when the 188-acre Woodland Park was sold to the city. In 1902 the Olmsted Brothers were hired to design Seattle city parks, including Woodland Park. As of the summer of 2010, the zoo has 92 acres of exhibits and public spaces open to the public daily. There are 1,090 animal specimens, 300 animal species, 35 endangered and 5 threatened animal species, 7,000 trees, 50,000 shrubs and herbs, and 1,000+ plant species. The zoo has won more Best National exhibit awards from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums than any other zoo except the Bronx Zoo. These are some of the features of the zoo: Tropical Rain Forest, Tropical Asia, interactive play spaces for children; Northern Trail, African Savanna, Australasia, Temperate Forest, the Humboldt Penguin Exhibit, and a hand carved carousel. We wandered for about 2 1/2 hours and had a thoroughly marvelous time, especially enjoying the meerkats, a mother jaguar and her three adolescent pups; the penguin exhibit and the hippos. At about 6:00 we walked back home, then waited for Margo to return so we could go out to dinner to celebrate Alexandra's birthday. They had picked a Thai restaurant called Jhan Jay, and there they had curries while I had a spicy noodle dish and all three of us shared spring rolls, which I personally enjoyed best. Afterwards I treated them as well to ice cream, and they decided on a pint, each, of Earl Gray (Alexandra) and coconut chunk (Margo), and I had a cup of the Stumptown Coffee flavor, which was good but did not exceed Blue Bell coffee ice cream in texture or flavor. We all came home in a high mood, and while Margo took care of some personal business, Alexandra and I viewed a National Geographic special on Yellowstone Park and then my Israel / Jordan photos. Finally, the two girls decided to take me up on my offer of an Ahava face mask (a tube of Dead Sea minerals making for an excellent, non-drying-out face mask) which both of them enjoyed immensely, as they pranced radiantly around the room and reveled in a state of euphoria--almost like little girls at dress-up. We all got to bed at about midnight. Glorious day, temperatures not too hot, cloudless sky, light breezes. Have just extended my stay by one more day because I am having such an extraordinary time here. A great possibility for a post-teaching move! As ever, Sylvia