I didn’t get murdered in my expensive hotel bed last night.
I had coffee and a muffin in Urban Roast. My understanding is that Urban Roast is a really slow and inefficient offshoot of Starbucks, but with the same product. Twenty minutes to get a below par cappuccino with only three customers in the place. Very fresh poppyseed muffin though. Welcome to Seattle.
A morbid gray hue hung over Seattle , just like in The Killing ( binge it if you haven’t already). Seattle traffic gives Manhattan a run for its money.
Museum of Pop Culture bound, it sounds like the ultimate trivia destination for fact dorks such as myself. It’s and odd organic silvery looking structure adjacent to the Space Needle. Maybe I will do the needle too, though I doubt there’ll be much of a view today .
Is it genetic that the minute a person becomes a tourist they lose basic functions like the ability to move and observe others? I thought it was just Times Square but it’s pandemic at The Needle too. There also that necessity to talk louder and state the obvious “It’s really tall”.
I definitely need another coffee. 
I have an 11:15 viewing ticket. They take a free professional photo on the way in you can download from their website, nice touch. 41 seconds to the top at 10mph, a lot of ooohing and aaahing from my fellow Asian travelers, ear popping galore. Today I’m a tourist!
Ok it was pretty cool. The viewing circle is perfectly calibrated to handle the timed release of the crowds, it’s easy to move around and perfectly clean. The viewing glass is not covered in kiddie snot and dribble, its all very civilized and upbeat.
Today I conquered my lifelong fear of heights , walking against the tide on the rotating, transparent floor and taking touristy photos.
Then a visit to what is the largest gift store I’ve been in and bought a couple more pieces of kitsch then on to the Museum.
As I waited in the small ticket line at the Museum of Pop Culture, I asked myself , as I have before, do I prefer my service fast and rude (NYC) or slow and polite (elsewhere)?
Once in, the first exhibit is an iMax screen looping a history of the Sci Fi and Fantasy inductees. I could sit here all day.
The Marvel Universe of Superhero’s exhibit is indeed super, an absolute must for fans and passive fans like myself. They do a beautiful job with the exhibits but also put real relevance to the history of the comic book. There is a must watch five minute history video as you start the Marvel Tour. The exhibit covers the beginnings of the comic book all the way through this years Black Panther, with original costumes and interactive pieces. I’ve never seen a more gleeful bunch of visitors at a museum.
The inductees exhibit was my favorite though, touching on many of my favorite contributors across the sci-fi genre; Planet of the Apes; Philip K Dick; Matrix; Blade Runner ; Alien ; Ridley Scott; Star Trek ……all the greats.
Excellent use of music across the whole venue, always relevant to the room you were in.; Avenger Movie score and TV themes; the instantly recognizable Star Trek and Star Wars ; then Beatles thru Gary Numan in the Cafe; this place is so up my alley.
Popped in and watched a few minutes of BBC interviews on David Bowie on the big screen and just caught the end. I also zipped around the Nirvana exhibit , which seemed to be Mecca to the other visitors in there, just not my bag.
They don’t do things in half measures at the Museum . The restaurant and cafe are Wolfgang Pucks. I had a cinnamon bun and cappuccino. Damn good coffee and pie.
On advise from my researcher I reluctantly visited the Chihuly Gallery. I’ve seen individual pieces before and never been a fan. But as an exhibit it is unique , colorful and imaginative and I’m very glad I listened to her advise, because I’m so seldom wrong. A far bigger exhibit than I’d have envisioned with a broad indoor space and a glass filled garden and atrium.
Lesson learned today, never drive in, around or out of Seattle if you have any choice at all. Bumper to bumper leaving. It’s remarkable not to hear a single car horn for all the frustration, it’s not natural.
To fulfill my goal of avoiding a stay in large cities, I drove south to Westport, a small harbor town, on the Pacific, it looked interesting and I wanted to stay by the ocean. It’s got a large marina with commercial fleets and some charters.
I found the last restaurant open at 8.30, Aloha Alabama BBQ, with baseball on the TV and mariachi music from the kitchen and two other customers. Crispy shrimp & fries for dinner, with an excellent tomato ketchup.
My booking at The Westport Marina cottages tonight is a splendid, spacious cabin overlooking the Marina, there are also cabins on the bay side. They offered me ice creams and soda at check in, a neighborly touch. I took an ice cream bar. A lot of cars here so the place is still popular off season.
I startled the two largest raccoons I’ve ever seen as I unloaded my bags. They are still rummaging out there.
The Tally :
Hotel : $116
Gas: $62
Dinner: $17
Tooleing Around America 
I’ve been to Seattle many times. Never even considered going up Space Needel. Nice going
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Do you reckon kev would be alright with the glass floor
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He would have left a little message on the floor.
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I’ll never stop nitpicking – A CINNAMON BUN IS NOT A PIE
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