Seattle - 9/3/14

Or - When I say "See" you say "Seattle"

I was coming back from the store, had my camera handy and knew what these guys would do as soon as I started up the steps. 

Sooooo, I stood at the steps and got this picture of the busy activity around our bird feeders.

Then I came up and they all scurried away…this gives you an idea of how popular the feeders and the baths are. We have a LOT of birds of all kinds here. Our favorite is the Red-Shafted Flicker. Oh, the Hawk was a good one. The neatest ones are the Chickadees. They're brassy little suckers. 

Annnnd, away we go!! Heading downtown to see the kayaks at REI and Play It Again Sports (PIA,S). Just wasting an afternoon, getting some exercise and seeing the city, too.

But we gotta start somewhere and here's our base of operations. This morning was cloudy, overcast and a wee bit chilly…the afternoon would be very different.

Not a hundred yards from our place, we saw these. Mind you, this little bunch that you see here is probably about a half-inch wide. This is an EXTREME close-up.

Kinda neat. I wasn't able to fully appreciate them just looking at them from the sidewalk. Up close, they really are kinda neat with the little yellow stamen. 

These are Sweet Alyssum.

Sweet!!

And then, just a bit further, we saw this Sunflower. Which is, by the way, the National Flower of Russia. And the State Flower of Kansas.

This one seems to have a small problem. It was kind of folding back into itself.

The center sorta looks like one of those old spirographs. Hahaha, still, this is an interesting shot. And its been there for a long time and I just got around to seeing it today. 

Go figure.

So, we made it downtown in good time…Hahahaha, get it? The reference to making good time in getting downtown juxtaposed against the old-timey wall clock in the Westlake Link Station?

I thought it was timely.

Hahahahaha, I did it again!! I am hot!!

B&W Alert!!

You're going to see a lot of architecture in this outing. A lot of buildings and a couple of them will be in B&W. 

Tough toenails. It's my blog and I'll do what I wanna.

Besides, I like the lines and angles of the pictures of the buildings. And you can see a patch of blue through the overcast sky.

This one looks like a cruise ship…in a fashion.

And it's got its own seagull.

Nice touch, eh?

Skies are getting bluer, too.

Detail!!

A B&W Detail!!

Some of the street art in the downtown. I love the brick buildings downtown…even when they're covered with crap like this.

Selfie Alert!!

We made it to REI. They've got the outside immediately around their building landscaped to look like a forest…and they've got a mountain bike trail there, too. So the Tree-Huggers can try out their new $600+ bikes before they buy them.

I sorta like REI but even the sales people give off the air they're better than you. Silly granola-crunching, climate-warming, recycling moon-bats.

We wanted to take a look at the kayaks there. We also wanted to stop by PIA,S to see if they had any used kayaks for sale. After the salesman at PIA,S stopped laughing he explained his glee. They NEVER get any used kayaks for resale. 

What do they do with them? 

Anyway, no kayaks at PIA,S and the ones at REI were all too expensive but we did get an idea of what we want. Now we just have to wait until we can find a place to safely store them. I'm tired of contributing to our friendly neighborhood thief's Legal Expense Fund.

It was still fun to look around.

As we meandered back towards the Link,

 we came across these…street flowers. Out in a flower pot on the street.

Hahaha, don't worry…there aren't that many of them. Still, they're kinda nice.

Haven't seen this one before. Got a hair control problem.

I do like the Cone Flowers.

And, stepping just a bit to the left I was able to get this shot. 

You can see the Space Needle from a lot of different locations in the city. And the skies are clearing up a bit, too.

Then we passed by the Liberal Rag, The Seattle Times.

I just need to look at the editorial page to get an idea which way their flag blows. To the left…always to the left. Always.

An apartment building. Unfortunately, the rents here in Seattle are even higher than this building.

And you can see, in the reflections down a bit on this building, one of Seattle's true icons, The Building Crane. 

They're everywhere in Seattle. 

And now you know how they got the name for Kelsey Grammer's character in the TV show, Frasier.

His name? Frasier Crane.

Hahahaha…they knew their Seattle.

Looking West along Denny Way.

You can't really tell here, but down there just this side of the intersection there was a cloud of smoke billowing around the street. Hmmmmm…

It was the exhaust, the good, barbecue smell of the restaurant there on the corner. 

Mmmmmmmm, it smelt good.

Oh, and a Punch Buggy!!!

Side note: Don't be deceived by the emptiness of these streets. They're always crowded with cars whenever I am going somewhere!!

Annnnnd, here it is again. Towering over the skyline.

Street Scene Selfie!!

We were near Five Points, where the Chief Sealth Statue is, when we took this selfie.

B&W Alert!!

Hahaha, I warned you. Here we go again. Someday I might do a whole blog in B&W.

Whadya think??

I know I've shown this sign in a previous blog but it is a good one. They did a good job dreaming this one up.

And, some of the work they do. Makes ya hungry, don't it!?!

Carol calls them Diet-Burgers. No fat, no carbs…nuttin'!!

Remember the Seattle Pig? Well, so do they.

They're everywhere.

And another symbol of the Great State of Washington, the Glass Apple.

And this one. A big, red, glass Washington apple.

Washington designated the apple as the official state fruit in 1989. Washington produces about 42% of the apples grown in the U.S. The majority of apple production occurs east of the Cascade Mountains in the central areas of the state. 

And, it takes about 36 apples to make one gallon of apple cider. Hmmmm, that could explain why a gallon of cider is so expensive.

You can find even more arcane facts about apples here:

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/apples/facts.cfm

Have fun!!

Reflection Selfie!!

You can tell where my nose is. Right where the light is. Nice reflection of the street, though. I don't remember where we started this reflected selfie thing but I can guarantee that this won't be the last one of these you'll ever see.

We'll ride this one WAY into the ground.

And, oh, WOW!!

Here's another one. 

We are SO clever!!

This one worked a bit better. 

Hahahaha, we'll get better. Count on it!!

We were walking up 5th…along the Monorail route. So, naturally, I had to get a picture of the Seattle Monorail. They had been running on the inside lane but, when I lined up for a picture, they switched to the outside lane. You can see the Monorail, sorta, as it moves along the outer rail.

Ah, Karma, you keep kicking my butt.

Oh, side note, see that red thing in the center of the picture running up and down?

It's for a crane.

According to Forbes Magazine, Seattle is one of the fastest growing cities in the Nation. In the recent past there has been more than 60 cranes visible in the Seattle skyline and there was once a one-year wait to get a crane for your job. 

And, because it is Seattle and people here are kinda…whacky…every Christmas they have competitions to see who can decorate their crane the best.

It's nice…it's whacky…it's Seattle.

Oh, hey!! Here comes another Monorail…on the right track!!

Thank you, Karma!!

Towering apartments, monorails and one-way streets!!

Seattle!!

The city. It's got a lot of sides. I really like the brick buildings…and there's plenty of them here.

B&W Alert!!

Just a nice detail of one of those older buildings downtown. Stately, dignified and a one-of-a-kind building.

The sky cleared up. And I got this detail of another one of the older, and far better looking, office buildings downtown.

It just looks strong. I should study architecture so I can understand the gables and little touches the architects used in designing these buildings.

Hmmmmm, Architecture for Dummies...

B&W Alert!!

It's an epidemic!! I'm in a B&W kinda mood, here. And the architecture in any downtown lends itself so easily to a B&W eye. 

That's the Monorail in the left foreground.

And there it goes again!! A one-mile loop, day in and day out. It goes to the PSC and then back to the Westlake Center at Pine and 5th. Back and forth.

When we got to the Nordstroms where the Link is we saw this…

Goooooo, Seahawks!!

They are crazy about their football team out here!!

It takes some real commitment to put a decal that big on your truck. 

A real and very deep commitment.

Riding the rail back. Here's the last sight of the city before we enter the Beacon Hill Tunnel.

Seattle is to the North of the tunnel and this, the Old Rainier Beer Brewery, is to the South.

Link Selfie!!

It's always good to get on the Link at Westlake Station during the afternoon. It fills up quick. I've learned where the doors will be when it stops and so we're usually the first ones on and can get seats together. After that it's tough even finding some place to stand together.

It was a nothing sorta day and we didn't accomplish much. We did get to see some kayaks. It helped us to focus our thinking for when we get a couple for ourselves. 

We got some exercise, too…at least three or so miles of walking. 

And I got to take some pictures and while we both appreciated the architecture of this beautiful city.

Life is good.

Hooah!!