Sunny in Seattle

After Portland, we couldn’t imagine finding yet another city in the Pacific NW that we loved. But, Seattle, was the Boston of the NW. The city itself was beautiful and the weather was spectacular- warm, but not too hot, clear and sunny. We did talk with the locals who assured us that winter weather was nothing short of awful- drizzly, cloudy days.

We took a City Tour that picked us up directly from the campground and we had a great tour of the city. The guide was a Jim Belushi wanna-be and really brought the city to life. We got to see all the highlights of the city- Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, the Space Needle, the Queen Anne District, the Freemont District (and the famous Freemont under the bridge Troll). We also stopped at the Hiram M Chittenden Locks and saw another fish ladder.
After getting the city overview, we spent the next few days going back to visit the city- spending time in Pikes Place Market (John had a few beers and chatted with the locals while I bought fresh produce), the International District (where we found the most wonderful Korean food court restaurant), seeing The Eruption of St Helens at the Omnidome and having a spectacular fish lunch at the Chinook Restaurant near the Fisherman’s Terminal. We had heard that the best place to buy fresh salmon was under bridge heading south from the city. A local Indian (they have salmon fishing rights) supposedly catches them daily and sells them from the back of his trunk. We tried several times, but never caught the Chief.
As home of Boeing, we had to visit the Boeing factory and take the tour. What an eye-opener. Our premier aircraft manufacturer had a largest factory building in the world- and only one 747 being built. The Europeans have taken the lead in large scale aircraft manufacturing with the AirBus. We spent another day at the Museum of Flight- with over 50 historic aircraft on display. Retired Boeing employees give 1 or 2 hour tours of the museum.