Day Tripping - 1/21/15

Or - Ferry, 'Cross the Mersey Sound

What are you going to do when you're retired? Each day stretches out before in one, long parade of endless periods needing attention, needing something to fill them in.

Oh, it's tough being a retired gentleman, or even whatever I am. It's tough filling up those empty days with something meaningful and significant.

Hahahaha, who am I kidding!?! It's not difficult for me and certainly, I would hope, not for you, either.

Nope!! I am having a grand ol' time doing this and doing that and enjoying the  down time in-between my adventures. And I just don't seem to be having too difficult of a time finding little adventures to have.

Hahahaha, life is good.

So, we're heading out again. All we need to go downtown is the least bit of an excuse, some pretext to get us up and out and, BOOM, we're outta there!! Like today, Carol had just a small bit of business to do with the bank, nothing that couldn't have waited for another day, and so we got dolled up and set out 'Lookin' for adventure In whatever comes our way!!'

Oh, yeah, Baby!! Because, 'Like a true nature's child, we were born, born to be wild!!'

Just a bit. Not too much.

So before we set out, we got ourselves all gussied up. I was anxious to wear a new sports coat I had recently gotten and so, once we were ready, Carol and I posed for a . . . 

     New Sports Coat Backyard Selfie!!     

Fortunately, I realized that, while the coat was stylish and I was definitely rockin' it, it was not sufficient to keep me both fashionable and warm. Definitely not adequate for the weather.

Quick!! Back to the Hole-In-the-Ground for a quick change of apparel. A pullover sweater and a slightly warmer albeit still fashionable jacket were in order.

Now we can leave.

And as we were walking, we saw our first robin of the day. In fact, it would turn out to be our only robin of the day. Fine fellow, he.

     Waitin' at the Link Selfie!!     

Carol's still 'Lookin' Good' and I, I am now warmer but still workin' it, too.

So we made it downtown, and Carol took care of her business and then the day was ours.

'Oh, what to do, what to do?'

Hahahaha, what a laugh. There's so much to do that the problem is trying to pick out something from all of the possibilities. And, Bucko, there's plenty of them.

I turned to Carol, as I usually do, and asked the old question, 'What do you want to do?', not expecting much because, as usually happens, she simply says, 'Oh, I don't care. Whatever you want to do. I'll just follow.' Hahahaha, usually!!

Not today!! No, today as soon as the question left my lips, she popped up and said, to my great surprise . . . 'I want to go on the ferry.'

WHA . . . !?!

Where'd that come from!?! Hahahaha, OK, it caught me off-guard but, sure, let's go ride the ferry. It's fun and we haven't ridden one in a long, long time so . . . 

QUICK!! To the ferry!!

And we were off. Down 3rd Avenue towards the Ferry Slip at Pier 52. And, along the way, we could see the sights.

   Iron Chicken Downtown Store Window Selfie!!   

Seriously, it's all there just for the looking. We were walking along and there was this giant Iron Chicken in the window of this tony shop along 3rd Avenue. I mean, ya gotta stop and take a gander at the rooster and, because you're me and not particularly bright nor creative, you take a Reflected Window Selfie.

Hahahaha, and we did.

Look real hard behind us and you can just make out the chicken. His legs are in our torsos and his head strecthes up from ours towards the right.

And as we were moseying along, a glance down Pike shows us the World-Famous Pike Place Market.

Fun Facts: Pike Street and, subsequently, Pike Place, were named by Arthur Denny for his friend John Pike, who, in 1860, bought the land around the Duwamish Estuary and then, in 1861, designed the old University Building on the University of Washington's first campus. 

Here's a picture of Ol' John with his Granddaughter, Effie, sitting on his lap.

Pike Place, c. 1920s

Carol and I have fun discussing photo projects we could do. Seattle in Reflections is one and then we talked about doing a series shooting downward and not capturing the whole person in the pictures.

It's fun to discuss and, who knows, we may come up with an idea that grips us so tightly that we actually execute it. Maybe.

From the curbs to the very top of one of the taller buildings in Seattle. This is the Russell Investments Center.

Fun Facts: When it was completed in 2006, it was the largest skyscraper to mark the Seattle Skyline in nearly 15 years and is the city's sixth tallest building at 597.7 ft, with 42 floors.

It was originally named WaMu Center because it was to become the new headquarters for Washington Mutual but WaMu failed in 2008 and its assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase. In June, 2009, it was renamed Chase Center. Then, in September, 2009, the building was bought by Russell Investments and became its corporate headquarters and was given its current name. In December 2014 Zillow became the largest tenant in the building and it is becoming known as the Zillow Tower locally. Those crazy rich people always naming everything after themselves.

A random store window. I think this was from an independent print and publishing company. Regardless, there's some good advice here for everyone like, 'CAN WE ALL AGREE TO DITCH KUMBAYA? or 'NO MOTORCYCLES IN THE ROOMS!!' and, of course, the cryptic but plaintive lament, 'EVERYTHING BECOMES A PROJECT'.

I think we can all agree that these are very relevant.

Hahaha, reflections and a plastic bag in a tree. I've just begun noticing how often an empty plastic bag, snagged by a branch, appears in my photos.

Hmmmmmmmm . . . 

Fun Facts: The Garden of Remembrance is a memorial in honor of the over  8,000 Washington State residents who have died in wars since World War II. The memorial includes a passage from Laurence Binyon's poem, 'For the Fallen'. They also include excerpts from letters written home by the veterans who fought in those wars.

I love the name of this building . . . 1201 Third Avenue. How cool is that, eh!?! Finally, they got a name other than the usual.

Fun Facts: This 55-story skyscraper is the second tallest building in the city and the eighth tallest on the Left Coast. Construction started in 1986 and finished in 1988. It was the world headquarters of the financial company, Washington Mutual, from the building's opening until the company moved into the WaMu Center across the street in 2006. And we all know how that turned out, right!?!

Maybe WaMu wouldn't have gone bust if they could have found one place to call home.

And we quickly go, as we so often do, from the sublime to the ridiculous. 

Hahaha, I like this. Obviously this bike was used as a model for the Bike Lane sign painted on the street just behind this and to the right.

Hahahaha, I am smokin'!!!

I should have warned you that this is a rather lengthy blog. It's got a lot in it. Stay with me, though, cuz I think it's worth it and, hey, that's an endorsement you shouldn't ignore.

Here's the SafeCo Building. One of my favorites because of the windows. I've gotten several interesting photos of the reflections in these windows.

Whup!! There ya go!!

Hahaha, for this picture I enlisted a model to help me. Those are Carol's feet giving me that human counterpoint to the Concrete Carpet of The Emerald City.

People do pay money for these pieces of art (?). OK, with a little effort you can find most anything on the Internet. So, I decided to investigate this . . . thing.

Fun Facts: Located in the courtyard of 1201 Third Avenue is a group of five metallic sculptures. Four of the sculptures are large columns, in the plain Doric style and the fifth is a lightning bolt that juts out from a nearby fountain.

Here's an abridged AIC description for these sculptures: Abstract columns embedded in rock. The round columns have square bases and square caps constructed of segmented pieces that are slightly out of alignment. 

The sculptures were created by artist couple Anne and Patrick Poirier in 1990. 

Hahaha, what a load of hooey. There's a lot more but I will spare you. Modern art, you're so whacky!!

The SafeCo Building. 

Reflections.

And, they're Seahawks fans!!

Isn't everyone!?!

Uh, OK, don't tell anyone I took this picture. It's of the Federal Building. I heard the plane overhead and saw the whole scene and took my shot. 

Oops.

I have a particular affection for the ads that once were so ubiquitous in the cities. Like this one. Plus, this photo combines three of my favorites; bricks, architecture and the painted ads. There it is!!

But we were headed towards the ferry, right!?! Right!! Hahahaha, yeah, we were. We turned down Marion Street  where we crossed Alaskan Way under the noisy, old, ugly and inconvenient Alaskan Way Viaduct. But the Colman Dock, Pier 52, ferry terminal was over there and so . . . 

. . . we finally made it to the Ferry Terminal. It wasn't too busy today, at least not at that time we were there shortly before 1300.

So I whipped out our Old People Transportation Passes and got us two reduced price tickets. Woo, woo!!  Only $4 a piece!! And I gave the ticket lady a $20 bill and I got back a ten and this!! A two-dollar bill!! 

Win, win!!

Note to self: Next time plan on taking the Seattle - Bremerton  Ferry. It's longer and it costs just the same. Plus, it's new!! Anyone else want to join us? We'll make a picnic lunch and have a day of it. We can even stop over in Bremerton and stroll around the city. They have a small museum concerning the U.S.S. Turner Joy there. 

Let's go!!

Here's the entrance where you had to scan your tickets to get on board. It's an odd system and took me several tries to get it to work. Hahaha, I'm not that quick with complicated technological thingies.

As we were boarding the ferry, I paused for this shot of the Space Needle. Proudly pointing to the stars since 1962.

And, in the opposite direction, the working Port of Seattle and Harbor Island.

And once we were on board, and there weren't that many people or vehicles boarding, I got this shot as the last of the cars were pulling on.

And this one. 

Lookin' good, Carol Anne!!

Ah, the life at sea!! Lovin' the nautical. The gangway, the ladder, the bulkheads and the portholes. Oh, and the doors. What, doors? Wait a minute!! Oddly enough, the nautical term for a door - an opening in a bulkhead (wall) - is 'door.' It is not a hatch. A hatch is an opening in a deck.

And a hearty Thank-you to the U.S. Marine Corps for their through training of my young, 17-year old mind, lo, those many, many years ago.

Here's the Smith Tower from a new direction. Built in 1915 it is still the Grande Dame of Seattle.

Doing some research, I found this picture of Smith Tower during its construction. The building to the right of the Tower is still there but the Seattle Hotel, which you can see directly in front of the Smith Tower was demolished when they put up a . . . parking lot there. 

I know. Sounds like a stupid song, doesn't it?

This was back in the days when the Smith Tower was the tallest building in the city.

Whup!! Here we go!!

The Ferry Boat soon will be making another run,

The Ferry Boat promises something for everyone.

Set a course for adventure,

Your mind on a new romance!!

Fun Facts: The lyrics to this memorable song were written by Paul Williams, he of the 'Smoky and the Bandit' fame where he hilariously played 'Little Enos' to Pat McCormick's 'Big Enos'.

                    Apologies to the The Love Boat. 

Looking up Marion Street. 

Love. The. Zoom. Again.

There's the Campanile of the King Street AmTrak Station. It used to be the tallest structure in Seattle, until the Smith Tower came along.

And luckily, I was on the port side of the ferry when this shot lined itself up. Hahaha, a Happy Accident, right!?!

It was a dull day, really, and the light from the sun was definitely muted. And it was easy to get this shot which, to me, looks like a sunset shot, not one taken shortly after midday. There's Harbor Island and the Duwamish Waterway to the right.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!!

Hahahaha, I wish!!

This is on the oddly named Sun Deck  of our hearty sea-going ship-of-the-line. Honestly? In Seattle? How about the Cold and Windy Deck? Or, maybe, the Let's Go Get Wet AND Cold Deck? Seriously, anything but the Sun Deck.

Fun Facts: Our craft was named Wenatchee - After the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. The term means: "River flowing from canyon."

Looking back, and I'll be doing that a lot before this is over, towards the piers. There's the boats of the Argosy Tours. They take you out for tours of the Sound and, possibly, some whale watching.

(P.S. the day after our adventure there was an article about the discovery of a dead whale underneath the Colman Dock at Pier 52. They mentioned they found it after folks began complaining about the 'smell'. Oops!! Did someone take their whale watching a bit too far, Hmmmmm?)

It just struck me, what makes it a boat or a ship? Hmmmm, maybe my Marine Corps Boot Camp Training wasn't as complete as I originally thought.

Fun Facts: Here's the straight truth on that age-old puzzler from the Internet. And, as Abraham Lincoln said, "If it's on the 'Net then it must be true", so you can take this to the bank, Matey.

The one thing that sets a ship apart from a boat is size. According to the U.S. Naval Institute, a boat, generally speaking, is small enough to be carried aboard a larger vessel and a vessel large enough to carry a smaller one is a ship. Think of it this way; you can put a boat on a ship, but you can't put a ship on a boat.

Pretty definitive. But, always remember and never forget, this is a rule of thumb. Best bet? Call it whatever the crew and the captain call it.

There she is, The Emerald City.

And, off the starboard side, is the Space Needle.

And there, on Pier 57, is the Seattle Great Wheel. Famous and fabulously funky fun since '12.

Fun Facts: The Seattle Great Wheel is 175 feet high and is the tallest Ferris Wheel on the Left Coast. Opened on June 29, 2012, the Great Wheel has 42 climate-controlled gondolas, each able to carry up to eight passengers (except the 'VIP' gondola, which seats four), giving a maximum capacity of over 300 folks.

OK, I think this one is sorta an Artsy-Fartsy picture. I like it. There's the city and the lone figure out on the Lido Deck watching the tide roll away.

OK, this one is a lot like the previous one but this one has a actual story. There were two women, obviously, like us, touristas of the First-Order. We saw them all over the ferry boat posing and taking pictures of each other.

The thing that made them stand out was that one would take the red purse and pose (with the purse prominently displayed) and get her picture taken. Then they would swap camera for purse and the whole thing would happen again. 

I think it's like the the League of the Traveling Red Purse Ladies. What else could it be? Just a coincidence? Hahaha, hardly. About as much a coincidence as all eleven footballs used by the Patriots all simultaneously deflating just a couple of pounds or so completely independent of any action by Belichick or Brady. 

Hahahaha, yeah, right!

Aloha oe, aloha oe
E ke onaona noho i ka lipo

You understand, don't you?

Hahahaha, I knew you would.

Ships and/or boats, they always reminds me of an ancient sea chanty my Dad, a WWII Sailor, used to sing:

Oh,We joined the Navy to see the world

And what did we see? 

We saw the sea!!

We saw the Pacific and the Atlantic

But the Atlantic isn't romantic

And the Pacific isn't what it's cracked up to be.

Hahaha, it was better in my head.

                    Sincere apologies to the Fred Astaire estate.

Mother Nature at her finest.

There were only a few other hardy souls out on the woefully mis-named Sun Deck.

Oh, remember the Red Purse ladies? They were over on the other side and getting their pictures doing the swap thing with the camera and the purse and so I generously offered to take a picture of the two of them . . . and their purse.

They happily accepted and then gave me instructions, in a heavy Slavic accent, Be sure to get ferry and island in picture, da?

And I did. Hahaha, it's always fun to help out folks and get their pictures. Who knows, maybe someday, 50-80 years into the future, someone will look at their ancestors and wonder, just for a moment, who was the Honyock that took this picture.

Fun Fact: According to the Urban Dictionary, the term Honyock is Euro-Slang for: Youngsters up to mischief.

While there was no rain today, it was never far away.

This one wisely took up residence in the comfortable cabin on the (hahahaha) Sun Deck and then worked the ol' cell phone text thing with her sister, Allida.

And then she got this one of me, seeking momentary refuge from the cold wind. Hahaha, I told her a real artist always suffers for his art.

And I was suffering. I was still smiling but I was suffering.

It's amazing to me how many ferries are running back and forth. They are busy little bees, they are.

Seeing the sea.

  Cabin Window All Alone Out in the Cold Selfie!! 

Hahaha, Carol, always the wiser one is sitting, comfortably, behind the window there. You can see an empty seat next to . . . her occupied seat.

And, yet, I smile. Coldly but I smile.

Hahaha, I was glad I went back and put on a sweater under my jacket.

Looking east across Elliott Bay towards The Emerald City. If you know where you're looking, you can see the Space Needle out there to the left of The Emerald City.

Or you can look at it here. 

ZOOM!!

And a ferry!! A Two-Fer!!

Ah, to have the means . . . to live on the Puget Sound with a view of The Emerald City each night.

And the Olympic Mountain Range in the other direction.

Ahoy, Captain. Avast there, Matey!!

I don't know, I've been itching to use those terms for a while now. I could wait no more.

Fun Facts: Ahoy is a signal word used to signal a ship or boat, stemming from the Middle English cry, 'Hoy'. The word had fallen into obsolescence before rising from obscurity as the sport of sailing rose in popularity. 'Ahoy' can also be used as a greeting, a warning, or a farewell.

Alexander Graham Bell originally suggested 'Ahoy' be adopted as the standard greeting when answering a telephone before 'Hello' (suggested by Thomas Edison) became common.

Here we are at Fabulous Downtown Bainbridge . . . The Island.

You have to do some serious hiking to get off the boat. Serious hiking.

We didn't even go all the way to the terminal. No, savvy travelers we, we waited just beyond the gangway until the call came to board for the trip back to Seattle.

Hahaha, here she is, Sea-Going Carol.

A flight of cormorants. They are goofy birds that we enjoy watching.

And a Great Blue Heron.

Hahaha, lookin' good Señor Grande Azul

The quaint (hardly) little fishing village of Bainbridge Island.

Uh, ahoy?

   Still Out On the Sun Deck Selfie!!   

But not for long cuz Carol will be heading, wisely, inside in just a minute.

Smart girl, Schubert!!

Hahahaha, let's go back the other way now!!

This Mom wasn't afraid of a little cold. The kids didn't have a vote.

OK, from what I gather, and this is just a SWAG, a swinging wild-assed guess, that this is the storage dock for ferries that are no longer active.

Hahaha, if I win the Mega-Millions I'm gonna buy that little one in the front and redo it as a houseboat. How cool would that be? You could have a volleyball court in the middle there. Or a covered cabana for lounging around.

How cool would that be?

And so we bid a fond farewell to the tiny and quaint island in the Sound. 

And now, suddenly, I realize I have a great view of Mount Rainier!!

Duh!!

And, of course, some more opportunities to drag my tongue across the deck. 

Jealous much?

And there, rising up to meet us, our city.

And a ferry boat. Always with the ferry boats.

What's amazing is that this picture was taken at 1417. We've still got another two and a half hours of sunlight left!!

Two more Northwest Icons.

We're looking at Alki Beach now and to the far right, at the point, is the Alki Point Lighthouse.

Fun Facts: The Alki Point Light is located at Alki Point, at the southern entrance to Seattle's Elliott Bay. In 1887, the U.S. Lighthouse Board finally recognized the need for an official light and placed a lens-lantern atop a wooden post at the point.

Several years later, the Lighthouse Service decided to upgrade the light and add a fog signal at the point. The present concrete fog signal building with the 37-foot octagonal tower was completed in 1913.

The fourth-order Fresnel lens was eventually replaced by a modern optic during the 60s. Alki Point remains in service today. It's listed as Alki Point Light, number 16915 in the USCG light lists.

Annnnnnd, the quarters for the Commandant of U.S. Coast Guard, District 13, is located here. See the big houses on either side of the flagpole. Yeah, rough living but that's the quarters for the Commandant.

                      Photo curtesy of Wikipedia.

Here's the West Point Lighthouse.

I had the opportunity to visit that Lighthouse just last year about this time. I'd been released from the hospital just a couple days after my surgery and Michelle, who is a great lighthouse fan (or is that fanatic?) wanted to go and I felt up to it so off we went. 

And we saw our first bald eagle there, sitting on one of the communication towers near the lighthouse.

Fun Facts: It's also known as the Discovery Park Lighthouse and it is a 23-foot-high lighthouse on West Point which juts into the Puget Sound and marks the northern extent of Elliott Bay.

It opened on November 15, 1881 and featured a fourth-order Fresnel lens. It was the first manned light station on Puget Sound and cost a whopping $25,000 to build ($610,000  in today's dollars). It was illuminated with a kerosene lamp for its first 44 years until it was attached to Seattle's electric grid in 1926.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It finally became automated in 1985, the last station in Washington to do so.

So it was both the first and last manned light station on the Puget Sound. Cool.

The city.

The Needle.

     Artsy-Fartsy Alert!!     

Whoa, talk about a Happy Accident!! 

I was trying to grab a shot of this seagull as he flew by me and didn't allow the camera enough time to focus before the shutter clicked.

And I like it!!

It's odd and quirky and fun.

Hahahaha, don't judge. Just agree with me until I leave.

Same bird, same effort but the camera had some time to focus. But I cut off the horizon too much. I'd have like to have had some more of the land in the distance to contrast the open sky.

Still, me likey.

EXTREME CLOSE-UP!!

Ah, it looks so serene and peaceful . . . it wuz windy and COLD!! Hahaha, I was seriously beginning to feel the effects of hypothermia and, possibly, frostnip if not bite.

How cool is that?

OK, so what if it's a lot of photos of Seattle. 

My blog. My rules.

My gosh, lighten up.

We Are 12!!

Carol calls the SafeCo Building the Emerald Building because of the emerald green dome dominating the top of the building. Me? I like the windows for their reflections.

The Great Wheel as we enter into Pier 52.

Again, looks like a sunset but . . . it's not even 1430.

And, finally, our ocean voyage is over. Landlubbers again, we realized we were hungry and Carol needed a Meatball Sammie. 

Quick!! To the Subway!!

I wasn't going to argue as I was feelin' a strong hankerin' for a Hot Pastrami Sammie!!

And we both got what we wanted. And it was ga-oood!!

Mmmmmmmm . . . 

Hahaha, that's right!! Some bright entrepreneur started brewing up some '12th Man Pale Ale!!'

We are SeaHawks crazy. If I was more in the mood, I would have gotten one. They do have them for sale at WalMarts . . . the cans have an emerald green top and bottom. 

Craziness!!

Here's the Puget Sound. See the word, Seattle? just to the left of it is the ferry marking the Seattle- Bainbridge Island route. Next time we're taking the Seattle-Bremerton . . . the ferry marking it is just below the Bainbridge Island one.

Here's the exit. Fun way to exit as you pass the young, starving artist there on the right of the bridge. His art? Drawing on a bunch of scrap pieces of cardboard. But you know you're back in Seattle.

Looking north up Alaskan Way. That's the Viaduct on the right and here's all the work going on in the tunnel they're suppose to be digging to replace the Viaduct. Ol' Big Bertha might or might not be drilling. She's broke so often who knows?

Welcome back.

Aloha and Ahoy!!

You come out on First Avenue just north of Pioneer Square and the Merchants Cafe.

Looking south down First Avenue. I was caught by the repetition of the streetlights . . . and the tree canopy over the avenue.

One of Carol's favorite shops. They have Retro Fashions from the 50s and 60s. See the dresses in the window on the left? Hahaha, Seattle.

The building on the left was built in 1889. What a block, eh? Check out the Merchants Cafe when you're in town The oldest continuously operating restaurant in Seattle. Around the corner is the oldest continuously operating saloon, The Central, in Seattle. 

Hahaha, so much History. So little time.

My tower. With the apartment at the top.

And this little semi-flat iron building. I hope they're renovating it. It's been boarded up for several years now. 

And from here it was a hop, skip and a jump to the Link . . . and home.

What a great day. Another day in the life of a retired gentleman. 

Hahahaha, yeah, right!!

It was a good day and it just sorta happened. Man, this retirement thing is great. I strongly recommend you give it a go . . . when you can.

What a treat it was to experience the Sound.

Y'know, life is good.

     Hooah!!