September 27, 2013 Seattle, Washington

We braved the ferry again today to sight see in Seattle.  It was predicted to rain all day so we did indoor things.

To ride the ferry we have to drive 30 minutes to the station in Bremerton, pay to park in a parking garage , go to the ferry terminal , wait in line to board the ferry. It is free to ride into Seattle, but you have to pay to get back. The ride is 50 minutes.  Here we are on the front of the ferry. Right after this photo the abandon  ship bells went off, people all leaped up and looked confused, then they announced that it was a drill for the employees and they proceeded to lower the life boat to the water.  From the waterfront there are old stone streets up hill to the city.

The gum wall at the Pike market. The most disgusting sight in Seattle I read. This end of the market was the most interesting with mushrooms, shellfish, lots of fresh flowers and fish.

We walked to the Seattle center where the Space Needle and the monorail are-both of which I rode at the 1962 worlds fair. A number of museums are also there. We went to the Chihuly Garden and glass. Dale Chihuly is a Seattle native and his studio is in the city.  I always complain about him because he designs his pieces and has his studio make them and he doesn’t give the artists credit who fabricate the pieces. He lost an eye in an auto accident and does not have the depth perception to blow glass anymore. But he did a heck of job designing, and he is very into the placement and light of his pieces and these are really incredible. The first photo is  the Glass Forest. Each piece is blown on  top of a ladder and before the piece cools gravity pulls it down to the floor . They are about 6 feet tall and are reflected here. The second photo is the Northwest room, glass inspired by designs of the native American's- glass baskets. The third  photo is the Sea life piece, about 20 + feet tall with sea creatures in it, sea stars, anemones, shells.

The first two photos are the Ikebana and float boat. Both of these installations were first done on water. He was working with how the water reflects the light and color. The second photo is of one of the garden pieces and one of his chandeliers.

Top of the first photo is the Persian  ceiling, a glass ceiling with glass pieces artfully arranged and lit from behind. The bottom of the photo is the Macchia forest. He is into architectural glass in these. The top of the second photo is the Glasshouse, it is an arrangement inside a huge green house with the Space needle above it. The bottom of the photo is the green house in the background and a huge piece in the garden over a purplish mound of plants.

These photos are in the glass garden.  They were really cool with the plants. It is a shame that it was not a sunny day, that would have really brought out the colors.

The EMP is in the fabulous building. It is a museum of music + si fi+pop culture.  Here is a two story piece called “If VI was IX” a guitar sculpture-part of the guitar gallery.  One of the exhibits was the Jimi Hendricks experience. Jimi was originally from Seattle. There was Jimi Hendricks  history, instruments, original photographs,  outrageous outfits and rare concert footage. This broken guitar is the one he broke after his last performance in London.

The top is John at the Science Fiction exhibit entrance, an exhibit that explores the  extraordinary ideas behind the genre with costumes(Christopher Reeves superman costume), space guns, space ships, etc. Below is the Can’t look away about the world of horror films. In the black and white photo John is the third one down. It was the scream booth, it takes you through a few exercises and then photographs you screaming and adds it to the exhibit outside the booth. There were also exhibits on Nirvana-another Seattle group, Fantasy movies,  the Sky Church, and the sound lab where you could play with instruments, be in a band.  After all this excitement we had lunch at the Pike brewing company in the Pike market.

We considered going to the aquarium, but it was so late it was closed. We took the ferry back and John slept the whole way. Too much excitement. The ferry terminal in Bremerton is next to the Naval Shipyards. This is the ‘flag’ of the most decorated submarine, which all of its awards are for things that are all classified, so it just lists the awards, not what they did for them.