Really Seeing Seattle

I have glasses!  I picked them up on Tuesday, so I can now really see this great city.  You can officially call me 4 eyes again. And now, back to the real blog.

Bob and I continue to explore Seattle by foot and bus. Last weekend we attended a couple of holiday-related events.  We walked around Green Lake after dark (which seems to be about mid-afternoon these days) to see the luminaries and enjoy the festivities with our current neighbors.  The luminaries were lovely, but the weather kept the crews busy, as the wind kept blowing them over.  We actually enjoyed seeing the locals’ holiday garb more.  This included lights on themselves, their children, dogs, and in one instance a small fir tree being pulled in a wagon.  

Sunday’s event was different but fun as well.  We bussed downtown and then walked to the First Hill neighborhood (so named, apparently for being the first hill as you go out from downtown) to the Town Hall building.  It is now a cultural center/performance hall but was built as a Church of Christ in 1922. It is run by a nonprofit organization and they put on free and low-cost events throughout the year.  We attended their Sunday afternoon Rogue Christmas event which included a number of holiday-themed short story readings interspersed with music from a local band that was composed specifically to correspond with the selected short stories.  It was really nice and provided a more local experience for us.  The short stories ranged from a proposed Ernest Hemingway version of the Night Before Christmas to a short story written by a 17-year old F. Scott Fitzgerald.  On our walk back we got to see the holiday lights in the downtown, South Lake Union, Fremont, and Green Lake districts.

On Monday we explored Gas Works Park as well as some of the University of Washington campus. Gas Works Park is on the north shore of Lake Union on the original site of a former coal gasification plant.  It was opened to the public in 1975 and was added to the list of National Historic Places a few years ago.  It is an interesting site which provides a great view of the downtown skyline (though better on a clear day).

 

From the park we continued along the north shore and under I5 to the UW (not the best UW but a nice one, nonetheless).  We checked out the football stadium (the Huskies are in the top 4 and will play Bama on New Years Eve for a possible shot at the championship game), the student union, one of the libraries, and buildings named for some guys named Allen and Gates — what is it with those two anyway?!

Tuesday we headed back to the Ballard neighborhood to collect my glasses and see more of that area.  We ended up having a bit of a Nordic day which suits my partial Norwegian ancestry.  On our way to the Ballard area, we stumbled on a Scandinavian Specialties store which sold household items and also had a food market and little cafe.  I was thrilled to find Lefse and Krumkake — two holiday treats that I had growing up in WI.  The Lefse that I had growing up was like a tortilla but made out of potato.  We would butter it and then sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar.  Yum!  I learned at this store that it can also be made out of flour.  Krumkake is a crisp cookie that is made by pouring batter onto a hot griddle where it is pressed into a flat disc and then rolled around a metal cone to form a long, tubular cookie.  We always ate them plain, but the store also sold them filled with lingonberry creme.  I am not such a fan of krumkake having burnt my fingers way too often making the things!

We continued on into Ballard and checked out the locks.  This is a fun area to watch boats navigate the locks as well as view salmon and steelheads swimming upstream to spawn (though this is not the best season for that).

 

After picking up my glasses, we headed to the Old Ballard Liquor CO., a local distillery, to sample some Aquavit, a Nordic spirit.  As with gin, Aquavit is a flavored vodka.  While gin is typically flavored with juniper berries, Aquavit is flavored with caraway and then maybe some other spices as well.  We had a great time chatting with the owner and watching two older women sample not only the spirits but the nordic-themed food as well.

Yesterday’s excursion had us check out the cute little UPS Waterfall park and the free Frye Museum.  The park is in downtown Seattle, fairly close to Safeco Field where the Mariners play, while the museum is in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.  The weather has cooled and the wind was brisk yesterday, so our walk back was quite brisk. In comparison to what other parts of the country are experiencing; however, we aren’t complaining.