The Alaskan Jewel! Welcome Aboard….You don’t Exist!

[jenseib]

I started taking pictures of the fruits and vegetables and Skip thought I was crazy. I told him they are artsy shots and the colors make great pictures.

pike6 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

pike7 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

I took this next one for my older daughter Paige….She used to use this word instead of cussing in her teens.

pm5 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

pike8 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

pike9 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

pike10 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

[jenseib]

pm22 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

MMMM! More crab legs!

pm23 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

pm8 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

pm24 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Obviously this whole fish out in the open thing fascinated me.

pm25 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

pm26 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

[jenseib]

MMMM! Sweets!

pm27 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

pm28 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

If I didn’t have cheesecake waiting for me already I probably would’ve bought something.

pm29 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Speaking of the cheesecake! Skip was still carrying the bag and my piece was on top and kept flopping on its side. It looked like a complete mess inside its little box. If I had been thinking clearly I should’ve taken it out of that bag and put it in the bag that Claire was carrying…..of course I am sure she was pretty wild with her bag, so it probably would have not been any better off.

On to more market sites.

pm6 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

pm30 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

pm31 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

[jenseib]

And then we saw it! Something we had hoped to witness! Fish throwing….However I was more in a daze of watching than shooting and totally missed the shots of the fish in the air.

pm32 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

pm33 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

I did however get splatter with fish goo! The lady next to me also missed the shot and asked them to throw it again, but they wouldn’t.

pm34 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

This thing is creepy.

pm35 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

That might’ve been the fake fish. They had one that they would use to scare people. The guy would push a button behind the counter and it would move and make a noise and people would jump out of their skin. It was pretty funny…and luckily I saw it early on and didn’t get fooled.

Many of the market places were closing up now or getting ready to so we decided to head back to the hotel. Skip was tired and Claire was complaining of being in pain. After a hearing it over and over I told her she better toughen up as we had a week of busy adventures ahead of us. That’s when she told me her feet and legs were fine…it was the shorts she was wearing under her dress that were rubbing on her legs wrong. OOOOHH! I told her she could whip them off there and I would cover her but she passed on that idea.

Skip found a route back that had less of an incline so it was easier to walk. We also argued about which way back to the hotel, but in the end we both were kind of right. I said this way and he said that, but we needed to make a combination of both to get there.

We were impressed with the buses on the cables. Not something you ever see here at home.

sea39 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

sea40 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

[jenseib]

And we watched them attach and detach cables from buses.

sea41 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

One thing we found funny was that people would just start talking to us as we walked. Now yes in parts it was sales people or homeless wanting you to buy their goods. I am good at just ignoring, but Skip stops and I always think he will get suckered into buying some piece of crap. But also just regular people would chat with us like we were old buddies.

We are kind of a sarcastic family and we were making some sarcastic jokes and one guy was really into our conversation. He seemed to just love us. Then this went by.

sea42 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Pig? Armadillo? Aardvark? No clue, but this guy was all about helping us guess what it was. Skip said it had to be a pig and most likely a food truck selling pork. The guy was praying it wasn’t one of the other two and selling those kinds of meats.

After a few blocks our friend turned and he said goodbye like we were all best pals.

I want to note the weather by the way…hot! It was at least in the mid 80’s and clear and pretty humid. Most of the locals had said it had been pretty much in the 90’s lately and was much warmer than they were used to. It was hot, but I didn’t mind too much because it was nice to see the city and the clear skies.

We kept walking and spotted a trolley…again not an usual site, though Toledo does have them to rent out for special occasions.

sea43 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

We finally made it back to the Crowne Plaza…..a little out of breath from all the hill climbing we did. Going towards the water is downhill. Coming back is up…keep that in mind when you take off walking!

There was a smoking area just outside the front doors of the hotel. We stopped there and I saw this across the street and tried to take a picture between the cars going by. Not a great picture and I never walked over to look at it more closely, but it looks like a whale tale, but not sure what the stuff stacked on top is supposed to represent.

sea44 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

We then headed back to our room.

Coming up…the night is still young…some of us are still full of energy….some of us not so much!

[mabones]

Great read! Trying to plan an Alaskan Cruise for possibly 2017.

[jenseib]

Great read! Trying to plan an Alaskan Cruise for possibly 2017.

 

Hopefully my report can give you some ideas or help.

[Shellbelle28]

Your market photos are very nice!

[jenseib]

Your market photos are very nice!

 

Thanks

[jenseib]

oops double post

Edited August 21, 2015 by jenseib

[Samstress]

What a great review! And your pictures are fantastic. Your storytelling (review) makes me smile.

Cheers

[jenseib]

What a great review! And your pictures are fantastic. Your storytelling (review) makes me smile.

Cheers

 

thanks! :D

[jenseib]

I believe it was not too much past 6 by the time we got back to our room. I unpacked the cheesecakes from the bags. This is how mine looked.

sea45 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

cheese4 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

I for the life of me can’t remember what kind I got. I think either snickers or some sort of peanut butter cup. I am almost positive I went with snickers this time though. Not so pretty anymore is it?

Claire got strawberry cheesecake while Skip got carrot cheesecake….ick. I totally am not a fan of any kind of carrot cake, but he did say it was good.

sea46 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

I put them in the fridge as well as the leftover food box.

Claire ripped off those horrid shorts that were rubbing on her legs and Skip then climbed into bed. He was beat. Now sure it was after 9 at home, but that is still fairly early. And here, it was still daylight and I just hated thinking about going to bed already or even just hanging in the room the rest of the night. There is a chance I will never get back to Seattle again in my lifetime.

There was one thing I really wanted to do, but didn’t officially plan it as I knew it probably wasn’t of interest to Skip and also I wasn’t sure on how much time we would have. With the time difference and travel I knew we may be a bit tired early. My plan actually had been to see how early we had to catch the bus in the morning and if time allowed I would venture off to this place on my own first thing in the morning.

So at this point I mentioned to Skip and Claire that I wanted to possibly go to the Chihuly Garden and Glass tonight. I saw that it was open till 10PM and I wasn’t tired. Well I was, but I had the adrenaline going as well.

Skip asked what it was and I explained. Claire understood as a couple of years we had seen a Chilhuly display in Columbus OH at the Conservatory. They had a special display but I do think they have pieces there year round as well. We loved it and I am a bit of a Chihuly fan because he did the chandeliers on the Disney Magic and Wonder. Sadly the Magic’s has been replaced in the refurb 2 years ago.

In case you are wondering what it looked like….I got a pic.

Or 2…..

[jenseib]

Skip was much too tired to go anywhere but didn’t mind if I went. I asked Claire and she was game! So we headed down to the lobby. I had a general idea as to where it was, but I didn’t want to go blindly. I also knew it was probably at least a 20-30 minute walk each way. I stopped at the concierge desk and ask for the easiest route to get there and she handed me a map and outlined it all for me. Then she told me there was a monorail a few blocks away (I think 5 or 6) and that it went directly there and back and it ran back and forth continuously. The ride itself was only a few minutes and I think she said it was typically about 15-20 minutes between trains. And the cost…I think it was $2.25 per person each way and kids were $1. That sounded perfect! We would get to experience something else in Seattle and another highlight for me…the Chihuly Garden and Glass are located right underneath the Seattle Space Needle. You can’t come all the way to Seattle and not at least take a look at this…right?

Claire and I packed up and headed back out once again.

sea47 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

At this corner there were a ton of police cars surrounding this store. Both sides of the store had cars and people were all milling about to see why the area was blocked off.

sea48 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

From what I could gather, some guy was going crazy and trying to cut himself. I have no clue if that is what it actually was, but that is what people near us were saying as we walked across the street.

I believe we had to go to the 2nd or 3rd floor to catch the monorail, which was located on the side of a shopping center. We climbed the stairs and bought roundtrip tickets….after all we didn’t really want to walk back either if we could avoid it…..then we went into the waiting area. Just keep in mind they ONLY except cash. I paid in cash but I saw some people try to pay with a credit card and they were told they couldn’t. One person had to borrow from another to pay for their tickets.

The monorail was built to get people from the 1962 World’s Fair from the fairgrounds to the main city area.

sea49 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

It looked and had the feel of the 60’s too. Still it was kind of neat. I just kept thinking about the Disney movie Tomorrowland. That movie was not set in this particular World’s Fair, but it has the same vibe.

The side we were standing on got a little full but I noticed the other side of the ticket both was also waiting with next to no one over there so Claire and I stepped over there to wait. We saw the train come and we moved up right by the gate to be let in. I realized that we could be near the front and see everything pretty well since there was no one over here and we would be the first on in the first set of doors…..yeah, that didn’t work.

mono1 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Just as the train stopped, this lady walked between me and the railing…..which was not a lot of room…and stood directly in front of me. Her kid and another family member walked around Claire and then stood with her. Ok, I thought …what a B! yep…Seriously how rude. Did she think it was ok to cut right in front of me and then stand directly in front of me? No manners what so ever! I know Claire didn’t quite catch on to what she was doing, but I told her once we boarded the train.

We did get a decent seat, but this lady got the 2 front best seats and saved the rows for other members who were getting on. I could tell the kid was a bit scared when she saw me walking right there towards her seat…but I veered and sat at another one nearby. LOL.

It just irked me. Now I didn’t have to have the front seat, but it would’ve been nice to have it since I was technically lined up to walk in first…and I wasn’t even trying at that point.

A look at the inside.

sea50 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Our driver had the pizazz of a snail.

sea51 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

[jenseib]

Off we go!

sea52 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

See the girl in the striped shirt…yeah that should’ve been our seat.

sea53 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

There it is! It was exciting to finally see the Space Needle…and I “might” have taken 500 zillion pictures of it during the course of the evening.

sea54 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

sea55 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

sea56 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

As we came to the station we went through this area/building that was bright pink and I think Aqua blue. I meant to take another picture of it later, but never did.

sea57 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

I have no idea why it was these colors or what it is? I wasn’t sure if it was something left from the World’s Fair days? Something new? Something old with a new twist?

[jenseib]

We exited the monorail and headed down to get our bearings. Of course we had to take a few more pictures.

needle1 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

sea58 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

We were really thirsty at this point so the first task was to find something to drink. Which we did by walking a little ways and finding some stands that sold treats and drinks. We bought a diet coke to share and took a couple of big swigs to quench our thirsts.

We stared up at the Space Needle for a bit.

sea59 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

I asked Claire if she would like me to inquire about going up to the top and she said Heck No! LOL. Ok, I had at one time thought about trying to get reservations to eat up in there but decided I didn’t want to commit to that expensive of a meal and then have something happened where we were delayed and not make it….good thing I didn’t.

I really loved the elevator cars….they looked so retro to me.

sea61 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

We followed the signs pointing to the Chihuly Gardens.

sea62 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Another look up.

sea63 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

[jenseib]

Seeing this sign is a good sign we are in the right place.

sea60 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

And here we are.

chi26 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Since I have been home I have tried to find some pictures from the 1962 World’s Fair and this building appears to have been part of it….what it was at the time I am not sure as I really didn’t investigate it too much.

These are interesting.

chi27 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

We got in line to purchase our tickets. You could also purchase a combo ticket and schedule an elevator ride to the top of the Space Needle and I asked Claire once again if she wanted to and she said no way once again. The line wasn’t too long, but it moved rather slowly…mainly due to people asking questions.

I did overhear one family purchasing the combo ticket and their scheduled time for the elevator was after 9 PM. At that point I was glad Claire didn’t want to ride it so we weren’t committed to staying here that long.

We purchased our tickets and given a brochure. Our transaction went rather fast, so I am not sure why the others were so slow. It is pretty pricey though. I think for the 2 of us it was around $42. But I took over 100 pictures in there..so maybe forgo the cost and just join me on my tour! LOL

Up next…Chihuly Garden and Glass!

[boopsahoy]

Great pictures! Looking forward to more!

[jenseib]

Great pictures! Looking forward to more!

 

 

 

Thanks! :)

[Misskitty72]

That weird building you saw as you arrived at the Space Needle was the Experience Music Project, or EMP. It's a rock n roll museum.

 

Funny story - They hyped up the museum for years, then they finally built it ...and then everyone was like what the *** is that?! It was a hot topic in town for a while. LOL

 

It's definitely not my favorite building, but now I can't imagine the Seattle Center without it. The building has kind of grown on everyone like a mold. :p

 

I've attached a pic of what the whole thing looks like.

 

Great review. Hope you had fun in Seattle!!

Edited August 21, 2015 by Misskitty72

[Knobhdy]

That weird building you saw as you arrived at the Space Needle was the Experience Music Project, or EMP. It's a rock n roll museum.

 

It also houses the Science Fiction Museum. Both that and EMP are great exhibits and a wonderful way to spend an afternoon in Seattle.

[jenseib]

On Page 5 already, and we still haven't left Seattle???

I'm dying with the suspense of your "non-existence"!

:)

 

 

Yep! Like I said in the intro...I am slow at posting....I write about the WHOLE trip...and I took over 3000 pictures.. But the non existence is coming up the next day, so once I get this day done with it won't be too long.

 

That weird building you saw as you arrived at the Space Needle was the Experience Music Project, or EMP. It's a rock n roll museum.

 

Funny story - They hyped up the museum for years, then they finally built it ...and then everyone was like what the *** is that?! It was a hot topic in town for a while. LOL

 

It's definitely not my favorite building, but now I can't imagine the Seattle Center without it. The building has kind of grown on everyone like a mold. :p

 

I've attached a pic of what the whole thing looks like.

 

Great review. Hope you had fun in Seattle!!

 

 

Wow...that is quite the building. hahaha

 

Seattle was very different than I pictured it but we had such a great time.

[deladypilot]

Loving your review and all the photos. We set sail in about a month on our 3rd Alaskan Cruise. This time on the Jewel.

 

Did you happen to notice how much those beautiful flowers were? We are taking my mom on this trip and my hubby wants to buy her some the day before we leave to take with her

[pizzalady1]

Did you happen to notice how much those beautiful flowers were? We are taking my mom on this trip and my hubby wants to buy her some the day before we leave to take with her

 

A medium bouquet is $5, and a really large one is $10.

 

The pic is of a $5 bouquet, sorry it is sideways, the actual picture is right side up:confused: But you get the point.

[deladypilot]

A medium bouquet is $5, and a really large one is $10.

 

The pic is of a $5 bouquet, sorry it is sideways, the actual picture is right side up:confused: But you get the point.

Thank you. I had heard they were cheap and beats the heck out of the price the cruise line wants for them