Seattle aka Coffeetown

...or more specifically Starbuckstown. Of course, a local may say that lessens the cultural importance of the city, and now, I'd have to agree with them.

When Bruce and I had to choose where to go on our Aeroplan miles vacation in October, we were a wee bit limited in choices. Partly to do with the season (no hurricanes please), partly because of a certain man's dislike of warm beach holidays, and that we only had a week and a tight budget. When looking at Vancouver, Aeorplan would not let us fly there round trip on their reward miles.

Spend lots of money with us but the rewards have ...Restrictions - sound familiar?

I suggested that we take a look at going to Seattle, driving up the coast into Vancouver and then flying home. Wham, bam! We had a holiday booked.

I'm very glad that we went to this city of which I sadly admit I knew little beyond Sleepless in Seattle, Fraiser and Starbucks. I did touch upon each of these on our trip: we took a duck tour (thanks Cpt. David Buoy) that went past the floating house from the movie (which is listed for $2.5 million dollars, but the listing does not include the number of tour boats and looky-loos that will be on your waterfront doorstep), went up the Space Needle which is a city landmark and part of the tv show's logo and you can't go past a corner without seeing the green and white lady of the coffee shop (and yes, we did stop in there once or twice).

Essentially, we only spent a day in Seattle, but it was enough to whet our appetite for a return visit, particularly when Torran is older and can better appreciate the EMP Museum at the foot of the Space Needle in the so-called Seattle Centre (which is NOT the centre of town). No, medical readers, this isn't an emergency medical physician museum, it's the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. The EMP was founded by Paul Allen of Microsoft and futher expanded to include the "music" of science fiction - although this, too, has been expanded to include Sci-Fi and related genre exhibitions. It also has the Seattle Monorail running "through" a portion of it, a leftover attraction from the 1962 World's Fair (also the first US full scale commercial monorail). Yep, Jes, it's older than Disney's. How convienient for us that the only two stops it has are in front of our hotel and at the Seattle Centre! (Bruce's idea)

The EMP building is meant to look like a smashed guitar from a bird's eye view, given that the music it caters to is pop and grunge culture (there's entire sections dedicated to Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana). I didn't think that Torran would have a particularly good time there (any place that is generally restrictive for the wandering wee warrior has limited enjoyment capabilities). So I wasn't really keen on going into it despite its funky exterior. But two things drew me into going into the site: Cpt. Buoy saying they have hands on instruments of all kinds that you can play (a bit of a stretch: it was keys, drums, guitar and vocals) and the newly created AVATAR exhibit.

I admit to being "rah rah" patriotic when I have cool things to throw my Canadian weight behind, like the Olympic and Para-Olympic althetes and Glittertown related folks. In this case, James Cameron, creator and director of AVATAR. Now, I'm not going to be a hippocrite, I still stand that the storyline of AVATAR was, honestly, over-done and predictable, but Cameron alluded to the same in interviews. However, the technology he helped pioneer to make the film is pretty awesome to a layperson like myself. And, if I continue to be honest, I found myself sitting tensely in the final battle scenes, cheering for the good guy (even if I knew he was going to win).

One of the neat-o highlights of this Seattle trip for me, therefore, was the chance to use a version of Cameron's technology on myself and "become" the AVATAR. The exhibit has a mock motion capture simulator allowing you to translate yourself into a character from the movie. Mind you, you don't get to wear all the same cool gear the actors wore. However, you do get the chance to email yourself the clip. Mine didn't make it to my inbox, sadly (boo hoo!!) but I've watched other people on you tube and wonder if I really would have wanted to publish it. The experience was far more ... entertaining, perhaps, than the final cut! Although there was one guy who boogeyed his AVATAR and it was hilarious to watch! (If you do scroll through any of the videos, the directions people are given are on the floor beneathe them i.e. walk this way, wave on this side, so that's why their heads are often down and arms are out).

Torran enjoyed generally messing around and touching ...everything. He didn't get the joke behind sign on the Battlestar Gallactica exhibit: Don't Frakkin Touch the Artifacts! We skipped out on the "be a rock band" exhibit because he was likely going to have an anxiety attack around being in the sound studio with lights etc. And we didn't do the Horror Film exhibit as much as we really would have wanted to because we didn't want to potentially traumatize his young mind - particularly because his language and conversational skills would neither allow him to explain any anxiety or problems he may have had as a result nor would we be able to explain fully how the images were only pretend for those people who enjoy scaring themselves, like his crazy parents. Although I have to admit, having him stand beside a full sized statue of some horror creature or Alien model with an absolutely gorgeous grin on his face would have been priceless!

Seattle had such a warm and friendly feel to it. There's public artwork visible just about everywhere, including a the striking 2002 installation Glass Blades at the EMP by local artist John Fleming. Cpt. Buoy said that if public funds are used to build a building %1 of the cost has to go towards public art. Everywhere was decked out for Hallowe'en, people were quite nice and it all seemed very accessible. The Occupy Seattle movement was small compared to others I've seen, their messages equally unique. We didn't get to "do" all the tourist highlights (Bruce is glad we missed the Gum Wall, and for hygiene reasons with Torran's touchy touchy hands, I am too), but we did make it down to the Pike Place Market and watched the fish tossing guys (Pike Place Fish) being filmed by The Travel Channel (I think...).

From the Market, we ambled towards the waterfront and the Seattle Aquarium. It was a wee bit disappointing. However, they had the coolest jellyfish tank I've ever seen. We also watched the sea otters being fed close up (my anti-zoo self cringing at their small enclosure for meal time - four concrete walls, water, a stone shelf and three windows for gawkers like me). I think Torran got a kick out of the otters laying on their back to eat, but he bored quickly. We had to make every bite seem like a fascinating and one of a kind experience!

For dinner, we stopped in steps away at The Crab Pot at Pier 57, Miner's Landing. Finally, Bruce, a restaurant that we've seen on TV (Man vs Food) that was OPEN. (You have to understand, Bruce watches sports, movies and food on tv. Not much else. So when we've gone to featured restaurants locally or abroad only to find them closed, we've been sad. So sad). When we were in Boston at Dick's Last Resort, a sarcasm themed restaurant that tickled both our senses of humour, we thought we'd hit the height of Americanism in food finery. The Crab Pot is an equal top tie! The food is brought in a heaping pile to your table - literally! They put a huge paper on the table, equip you with your crab bashing wooden mallet and platter, then dump the pot of steamed crab right on the table.

RIGHT ON THE TABLE. Did I mention that it's right there, on the table?!

Ok, yes, kinda eww weird. And yes, it confused Torran (with whom we still fight with EVERY meal to use his utensils) immensely. However, as they say in Rome... ah what the hell? Everyone else it doing it! Torran was thrilled that I was banging on the table in regular intervals. He wanted in on the action, and did get some for a while, but I was afraid that Mr. Grubbyhands would let the mallet slip and it would do a swan dive into someone's drink at a neighbouring table. Oh, and don't worry, the mess was easy to clean up - drop the shells in the bucket on the floor that comes free of charge! What a hoot!

(Have I mentioned that I was brought up well heeled and can sit in a formal dining room and eat properly when it is required of me?)

More photos are to be had on my picasa album - enjoy!! (more may appear on the post over the weekend)