Seattle Waterfront

A little hazy - probably smoke from fires that I think have been burning in Olympics this week. And a little touristy - with several late season tour boats in town. But all in all, a beautiful day on the waterfront wandering from Pioneer Square north towards Bell Street.

South Seattle

Seattle has sort of stumbled into mass transit - delays and compromise have finally produced a trolley when what we really need is a subway. Heavy rail, not Lite. Not that it isn't a nice way to get around - it just seems like so little, so late.

Sound Transit's new Central Link, from downtown to the airport (well, almost), isn't likely to become part of my regular commute, but maybe in twenty years it will be part of the commute of many others. Right now, there are plenty of seats and everything is nice and new, including the ticket vending machine at Westlake that scanned my Visa, but locked up before giving me a ticket. A real person at the nearby booth gave me a round-trip pass.



Tukwila. The end of the line, until they finish the airport station at the end of the year.
































Rainier Beach. Next time, I'll bring my bike and ride over to Kubota Gardens or one of the parks on the lake.

































Othello. Another brief stop to wander around. Close to lots of new housing and a growing business core.



























Columbia City. A five minute walk from the center of the Columbia City business district and a pleasant lunch at the Columbia City Alehouse.





































Beacon Hill. Deep in the ground, too deep for escalators, so fast elevators instead.

























SoDo. That's SOuth of DOwntown.






































Pioneer Square. Last stop for me today.

Pike Place Market

Weeks ago I decided to take Friday off. What's amazing is that I actually managed to keep it free and really did take it off. And what a great day for it. Most of it was spent in urban exploration - beginning with a bus downtown. The market was packed with the normal crowd plus a big cruise boat contingent.

Ganges

Sort of a strange name for a town on Salt Spring Island, until you think about Victoria and the British Colonies and the fact that there was a Royal Navy ship called the HMS Ganges that pulled up here around 1860 in search of free trade coffee, garlic dill goat cheese, and tie dye t-shirts.

It's a busy harbor with sail boats, sea planes, enormous yachts, and kayaks. On Saturdays during the summer, local crafts folk come out of their tree house studios, hobbit holes, and million dollar waterfront homes to sell clothing, art, food, and just about everything that fits in a booth at the market.