{"id":2286,"date":"2017-06-30T20:39:21","date_gmt":"2017-06-30T20:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/?p=2286"},"modified":"2017-07-10T14:42:49","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T14:42:49","slug":"downtown-seattle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/2017\/06\/30\/downtown-seattle\/","title":{"rendered":"Downtown Seattle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Everybody was feeling good this morning so the day started off great and we had a busy day planned. \u00a0There was a lot we wanted to see downtown and one of those was an 11:00 tour of the &#8220;underground&#8221; with our friends the Tillery&#8217;s. \u00a0You may remember that we met up with these neighbors of our back in Banff when we hiked <a href=\"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/2017\/06\/24\/beautiful-banff\/\">Johnston Canyon<\/a> together. \u00a0It&#8217;s been fun <del>stalking<\/del> meeting up with them during our travels.<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday it had been so easy to find 4 hour street parking that we decided to drive again\u00a0instead of taking the bus. Bad, bad, bad idea. \u00a0Cities are made for walking. \u00a0Ride your bike if you have to. \u00a0But never, ever, ever drive in a city like Seattle, Denver, Austin, etc. \u00a0So yeah, any money we saved on bus fare we spent on parking and diesel as we idled around the streets being passed by a one legged guy hobbling along with his walker. \u00a0But we found parking and we got the &#8220;early bird&#8221; price which saved us $5. \u00a0Then it was off to Pike Place Market.<br \/>\n<a title=\"Something is fishy\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/136797225@N05\/35285593390\/in\/album-72157682899025564\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4094\/35285593390_cda31a1ac3_n.jpg\" alt=\"Something is fishy\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>This market is pretty touristy but definitely neat to see. \u00a0The displays of vendors&#8217; goods are very impressive and fun to photograph. \u00a0There were trinkets, t-shirts, cider, flowers, noodles, jams, jerky, fruits, veggies and fish. \u00a0Steph led\u00a0us down some stairs to an alley to a place called the Gum Wall. \u00a0Can you guess why? \u00a0The walls are COVERED with ABC (already been chewed) chewing gum. \u00a0I had heard about this place, but to see it is something else. \u00a0There is something about collections that is very satisfying to the eye. \u00a0There is both a sameness and a difference between the items. \u00a0I appreciated the quirkiness of the collection subject (even if I don&#8217;t like to chew gum) and the enormity of the crowd sourced collection.<\/p>\n<p>We continued walking down the street towards where we would meet our friends for the tour. \u00a0I though to myself, &#8220;self, wouldn&#8217;t it be funny if I found that posh hotel I stayed at on my last visit to the city?&#8221;. \u00a0Well, guess what? \u00a0I looked up and there it was, the sign for the Alexis Hotel!!<br \/>\n<a title=\"The Alexis Hotel\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/136797225@N05\/35285592940\/in\/album-72157682899025564\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4091\/35285592940_8f3a6f7c1c_n.jpg\" alt=\"The Alexis Hotel\" width=\"240\" height=\"320\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nBack in grad school Greg Johnson, his two dogs and I piled into his Mitsubishi Eclipse to go to a conference in Seattle. \u00a0The rest of our group was flying but Greg wanted to take his dogs and wanted to explore Wyoming, Montana and Idaho along the way which sounded fun to me too. \u00a0We arrive at our prearranged motel in Seattle after 5 days of driving, camping, fishing, drinking and generally stinking due to our neglect for showering. \u00a0When checking into the motel we find out that dogs are not allowed. \u00a0So we go on the hunt for another option. \u00a0Our camping gear is already soaking wet so we&#8217;d rather not camp again. \u00a0And this is before the days of smart phones to find a dog friendly place to stay. \u00a0I don&#8217;t know how but we end up in the heart of downtown at the Alexis Hotel and I jump out to see if they allow dogs. \u00a0I look like death and probably smell worse so I&#8217;m certain I will be turned away at the door but to my surprise the doormen open the door with a &#8220;good day to you sir.&#8221; \u00a0I walk in toward the desk taking in the fine embellishments all over the hotel and think to myself there is no way they are going to allow a college bum like me to stay here&#8230;especially when they find out there is another bum and\u00a02 dogs with me. \u00a0&#8220;Of course we have a room for you and your pets,&#8221; the woman at the counter says. \u00a0Ok, but there is no way we can afford the price I am sure. \u00a0Amazingly it turns out it was the same price of the dumpy, out-of-town motel we were supposed to stay at!!! \u00a0I was blown away by the hospitality I felt at this hotel when it would have been very easy to judge me by my grubby looks and smell. \u00a0They even did a load of laundry for us for free when they saw all our wet gear hung up all over the room to dry.<\/p>\n<div id=\"flickr_72157682899025564_6515\"><div class=\"slickr-flickr-slideshow landscape medium \"><div class=\"active\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4264\/35285591000_e1623d662d.jpg\" title=\"Site #1\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Site #1<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4087\/35285594180_aa9a494c8e.jpg\" title=\"Cool wall\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Cool wall<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4094\/35285593390_cda31a1ac3.jpg\" title=\"Something is fishy\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Something is fishy<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4281\/35285590430_73e59a548d.jpg\" title=\"Pikes Place\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Pikes Place<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4286\/35285590150_cdd460ef5e.jpg\" title=\"Fruits\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Fruits<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4078\/35285589700_3ff81c2b90.jpg\" title=\"Veggies\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Veggies<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4098\/35285589200_bee23cdc9a.jpg\" title=\"Pikes Place\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Pikes Place<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4019\/35285588890_dcaec24524.jpg\" title=\"Gum wall alley\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Gum wall alley<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4214\/35542459971_3bc7a06a9a.jpg\" title=\"A lot o gum\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>A lot o gum<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4108\/35285588500_2266c028e2.jpg\" title=\"Jaw dropping\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Jaw dropping<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4032\/35285587960_88d733d1ff.jpg\" title=\"Gum wall\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Gum wall<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4279\/35632887516_c8bc7f0d4c.jpg\" title=\"Gum\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Gum<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4091\/35285592940_8f3a6f7c1c.jpg\" title=\"The Alexis Hotel\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>The Alexis Hotel<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4217\/35285586870_4596d5cd66.jpg\" title=\"Mossy bike\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Mossy bike<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4122\/35632886716_ce6c10e5ce.jpg\" title=\"Downtown\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Downtown<\/p><\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\">jQuery(\"#flickr_72157682899025564_6515\").data(\"options\",{\"delay\":3000,\"autoplay\":true,\"transition\":500,\"link\":\"next\",\"target\":\"_self\",\"width\":\"\",\"height\":\"\"});<\/script><div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But that was then&#8230;.let&#8217;s get back to now! \u00a0We met up with the Tillery&#8217;s and we went to meet our tour for the underground. \u00a0I&#8217;d never even heard of the &#8220;underground&#8221; but Steph was excited about it and had scored us a private tour <em>and<\/em> the group discount price!! \u00a0Essentially, Seattle version 1.0 was built in the tidal flat and became a wet muddy mess every day when the tide came in. \u00a0Then one day there was a horrible fire that consumed the wooden buildings of town but spared all lives. \u00a0When they built Seattle version 2.0 they put in a sea wall to protect them from flooding and also built the town elevated over the top of version 1.0! \u00a0The merchants did not want to lose business during construction so they ran their shops out of the &#8220;basement&#8221; level (the version 1.0 level) of the newly elevated streets. \u00a0Eventually the\u00a01st floors were added to the shops at the level of the elevated streets and the sidewalks were bridged between the street and the buildings. \u00a0So our tour took place down in those basement level shops and sidewalks. \u00a0I was so impressed by the determination\/planning of the business owners. In order to get back to business and survive they planned ahead knowing that the first floor of their shops would be buried and the 2nd floor would be the main floor eventually. \u00a0Great tour, great guide, great history. \u00a0Definitely worth it!! \u00a0We wanted to check out the Klondike museum and one other one that got high marks but there just wasn&#8217;t going to be time to squeeze it in to our one day in downtown.<\/p>\n<p>We were hungry and hankerin&#8217; for fish and chips so we decided to &#8220;keep clam&#8221; and eat at Ivar&#8217;s. \u00a0Certainly not the healthiest option but it was fast and everybody liked their food and got full. \u00a0We had a 1.5 mile walk to the International Fountain which Steph had heard was a lot of fun. \u00a0And it was hot, so a fountain you can play in sounded like a good idea. \u00a0It took us awhile to get there and as we approached I thought, &#8220;ummm, looks like any regular old fountain to me.&#8221; \u00a0But as you get closer you realize this thing is HUGE!! \u00a0And the water is synchronized to music that is pumped into the well like structure where the fountain resides. \u00a0It was pretty impressive. \u00a0At first the kids didn&#8217;t want to get wet (we didn&#8217;t have swim suits) but once they did they had a ball and played for quite awhile. \u00a0When we were done Steph and the kids got a treat at a nearby Starbucks while I went to get the truck and pick them up for the ride home. \u00a0On their way to meet me in the truck they happened by some singing flowers!!<\/p>\n<p>Two days in Seattle is not really enough so there is plenty more for us to see when we visit again someday.<\/p>\n<div id=\"flickr_72157682899025604_9248\"><div class=\"slickr-flickr-slideshow landscape medium \"><div class=\"active\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4285\/35285592610_dfb046f25e.jpg\" title=\"Private tour\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Private tour<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4284\/35285586260_81aea4fb8f.jpg\" title=\"Welcome\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Welcome<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4146\/35632886066_f913737ec2.jpg\" title=\"Old stuff\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Old stuff<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4240\/35285585510_654389fc3f.jpg\" title=\"Beneath the streets\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Beneath the streets<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4054\/35632885306_764e3ac6f5.jpg\" title=\"Crappy picture\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Crappy picture<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4013\/35285585010_35435969f8.jpg\" title=\"DSC03245\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>DSC03245<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4064\/35632884566_df1cb66056.jpg\" title=\"Sky light\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Sky light<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4096\/35285584380_fb8ba23645.jpg\" title=\"&quot;Why did the chicken cross the road?&quot;\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>\"Why did the chicken cross the road?\"<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4080\/35632883876_6d3c9b20d1.jpg\" title=\"&quot;Knock knock&quot;\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>\"Knock knock\"<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4217\/35285583890_47610c851e.jpg\" title=\"&quot;It&#039;s good to be in Seattle&quot;\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>\"It's good to be in Seattle\"<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4218\/35632883286_1750a5535a.jpg\" title=\"Speakeasy\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Speakeasy<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4014\/35672793385_b8c9034ae4.jpg\" title=\"Famous Washingtonians\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Famous Washingtonians<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4265\/35285592070_4407f77bab.jpg\" title=\"Wach&#039;s with some of the Tillery&#039;s\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Wach's with some of the Tillery's<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4242\/35285583550_630f12a5ee.jpg\" title=\"Chess\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Chess<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4257\/35632882766_889f2f5d22.jpg\" title=\"Ivar&#039;s\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Ivar's<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4234\/35285591450_8606cd4b76.jpg\" title=\"Fish n chips\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Fish n chips<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4241\/35285583130_7d5a51f6bd.jpg\" title=\"Watching the ship come in\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Watching the ship come in<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4067\/35285582910_9b66e441e7.jpg\" title=\"Monkey Farts\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Monkey Farts<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4286\/35285582730_bf13df26be.jpg\" title=\"Having fun\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Having fun<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4122\/35285582390_cc97815ae4.jpg\" title=\"Wet\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Wet<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4041\/35632881276_1133849367.jpg\" title=\"Close\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Close<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4016\/35285581990_081f839dd0.jpg\" title=\"Kids, fountain, needle\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Kids, fountain, needle<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4072\/35632897906_198b23a60b.jpg\" title=\"High water\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>High water<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4262\/34831499494_ae134d725e.jpg\" title=\"Sun dried boys\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Sun dried boys<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4059\/35632897406_71f3b3069a.jpg\" title=\"Space Needle\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Space Needle<\/p><\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\">jQuery(\"#flickr_72157682899025604_9248\").data(\"options\",{\"delay\":3000,\"autoplay\":true,\"transition\":500,\"link\":\"next\",\"target\":\"_self\",\"width\":\"\",\"height\":\"\"});<\/script><div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everybody was feeling good this morning so the day started off great and we had a busy day planned. \u00a0There was a lot we wanted to see downtown and one of those was an 11:00 tour of the &#8220;underground&#8221; with our friends the Tillery&#8217;s. \u00a0You may remember that we met up with these neighbors of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[7],"tags":[83,95,90],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2286"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2286"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2346,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2286\/revisions\/2346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}