Puget Sound

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Travel Journal, Day 4 (Part V): Argosy Cruises -Harbor Cruise (CityPASS)

June 4, 2019

The Seattle Great Wheel
Argosy Cruises (left, Pier 55), Ivar’s Acres of Clams (right, Pier 54)
Seattle’s Great Wheel in front of the skyline
The Eagle at Olympic Sculpture Park with the Space Needle in the background.
Seattle’s skyline with the Aquarium to left at Pier 59
The Edgewater Hotel is famous for guests to fish from the hotel room. Even the Beatles tried their luck with fishing poles to catch fish from Puget Sound. Unfortunately, the hotel had to stop the fishing, because some guests began to fish in the wee hours of the mornings and slammed their catch against the windows below. The guests on the lower floors were not happy and complained, which led to the prohibition of fishing from the hotel rooms
Seattle’s beautiful skyline seen from northwest on Puget Sound
This cruise ship can take care of 5,000 passengers. It’s like a small city on water.

When Kevin, Katelynn, Sara and I walked from the Pike Place Market to the Waterfront, we had to weave our way through some construction zones. The Alaskan Way Viaduct is in the middle of a demolition to make place for a much nicer street with a pedestrian bridge and to pretty up the Emerald City’s Waterfront. On a good note, when we finally made it to the Waterfront, we were standing right in front the Argosy Cruise at Pier 55. What a coincidence?! We just wanted to go there, and we were were lucky with the boat as well. Five minutes after our arrival, the vessel was setting for nice one-hour cruise around the Elliot Bay, where we had a nice panoramic view of the Seattle Skyline, Puget Sound, the shipping port, and the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges.

Seattle’s skyline from the west on Puget Sound
The shipping port with the Cascade Range and its highest peak, Mount Rainier.
Blackhawk Helicopters
Seattle Skyline II
The cargo ship dwarfs our little boat
Seattle Skyline I
Container Cranes in the shipping port. A crane operator has to work fast and very precisely. When loading or unloading a container, it shouldn’t take any longer than 90 seconds. Since a crane operator has a lot of responsibility. Therefore the shift of an crane operator is no longer than six hours per day, and has a salary in the 6-digits.
Seattle Skyline with an Argosy Cruise Vessel
The Shipping Port of Seattle
Seattle Skyline with a cargo ship to the right

… to be continued …

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Travel Journal, Day 4 (Part I): The Seattle Space Needle (CityPASS)

June 4, 2019

Tuesday, we’ve started very early in the day, because we wanted to get as much out of the day as possible. The forecast promised sunshine all day. So, it would be a perfect day to walk around in the city, without worrying about a poncho or an umbrella. In Seattle, we exited the Interstate 5 for Mercer Rd. If I remember it right, it was Exit 167. We parked in a parking garage, which is a stone throw away from the Seattle Center.

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Seattle Space Needle from below

Our first destination was the Space Needle. Being one of the first visitors, we didn’t have to wait in line. Once the Ticket Sales Agent explained to me, how the CityPASS works in the city, he scanned our tickets on my phone, which I had stored in a email folder.

Space Needle with the roof of the MoPOP in the foreground
The Space Needle before we went on our journey to the observation deck, which is at 520 feet (160 meters).

The elevator took less than 45 seconds to transport us from the bottom to the observation deck at 520 feet (160 m) above street level. The guide told us some cool facts about the Space Needle, while we were on our journey to the deck. Katelynn and I went outside to see the city, the suburbs and Puget Sound through the glass panels. Sara, on the other hand, wanted to stay in the lobby for a little bit. Once she got used to this height, she stepped out for several steps, before she said she would rather go back inside again. Kevin an Sara rather watched some fun fact videos about Seattle on the screens inside the lobby. While Katelynn played with the thought sitting on the glass bench (I rather sat on the edge of the bench), I heard a couple taking in English and what kinda sounded German. I asked the lady from what country they came to visit this part of the world. She replied, they were from Austria. Since I’m from the northern parts of Bavaria (Lower Franconia), we can understand each others slang. We were standing and talking about Seattle, the Crater Lake, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Texas, Austria and Germany for quite some time. It doesn’t happen every day, I can practice my home language. This was a welcomed opportunity. During this conversation, we found out we share the same first name.

Downtown Seattle II
Looking Northeast at Lake Union, Queen Anne to the left and East Lake to the right.
Downtown Seattle I

After Kevin, Katelynn, Sara and I signed our names and the city we are living on the World Wall, we went to the rotating lower level, which is at 500 feet (150 meters) above street level. The rotating part of the floor is made of thick glass. And fun to walk on it, when there is barely any fear of heights. Katelynn watched the glass floor moving for a few minutes, before she put her hands on it. Since the floor rotates so slow, she had time to adjust her lower body with it. Shortly she sat on the glass. In the meantime, I laid with my back on the glass. I did it twice, because I wanted Kevin to capture photos with both, the Nikon camera and my cell phone. Kevin and Sara rather stayed on the carpeted non-rotating part of the floor. Katelynn and I had so much fun, we walked all around the lower level to see Seattle under our feet.

Lower Queen Anne at Puget Sound
Downtown Seattle from the lower level of the Space Needle
Lake Union
“I can do this! I just need a little more time!”
I’m lying on the glass of the rotating lower level more than 500 feet above Seattle.

When it was time to go back down to the base of the Space Needle, we waited for the elevator. The lady that took us down to the souvenir store was from Denton, Texas which is northwest across Lewisville Lake from The Colony. She mentioned, she was going to school in Carrollton. Sara replied: “Oh, I was born in Carrollton, Texas! That is so cool!” In the souvenir store, I purchased some items. Come to find out, if I had gone to the store across the Space Needle, I had paid $6 -$10 less for each item. But hey, I live only once. 😉

Space Needle in the early morning
Space Needle in the late morning
Space Needle at noon
Space Needle in the evening
Space Needle in the evening

… to be continued …