Most days on vacation are good days. Today was a great day!
The day dawned gray with light rain. Ordinarily, that is not good news, but it made our decision of what to do much easier. Today was a museum and indoor day. We ate our omelets while watching the Canadian geese swimming in the lake out in front of our motorhome. This campground is amazing!
We packed up and drove the 20 miles to downtown Seattle when we hit the "Mercer Mess," as they call it in Seattle. They are doing a major road construction project on the main street from I-5 to downtown Seattle. We could see the Space Needle as soon as we left I-5, so how hard could it be to drive there? After an additional 10 miles and nearly 30 minutes winding all over the area to get past the construction, we reached Seattle Center. Of course, we weren't on our planned route, so we had to look for parking areas instead of the carefully planned structures we had researched. San Francisco had taught us the importance of pre-planning the whole parking challenge. We eventually found a small lot, took a photo of our Explorer as a "before" picture, and headed off to the Space Needle. We were only about 5 blocks away, and the Space Needle provided an excellent landmark.
The Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum
With the overcast skies, we had no interest in going up in the Space Needle, and the Chihuly Museum
was our real goal for the morning.
It certainly didn't disappoint us. The Chihuly was divided into about 6 large rooms; each representing a different style in his development.
Each room had its own music, lighting, and surroundings to enhance his glass work. As soon as we reached the first room, I knew I would love the museum.
The first room was called the Northwest Room and included transparent or translucent bowls within bowls. Some had subtle patterns, but all had unique shapes. What set the room apart
was that it was darkly lit with spot lights on the glass bowls sitting on a reflective surface. To add color, one wall was covered with Pendleton
blankets in all different patterns and hues. It made a fantastic photo opportunity. The museum wasn't crowded, so we were free to shoot pretty much
anything we wanted.
The second room was a series of glass chandeliers he created in the 90's and displayed in Venice and other cities around the world.
The third room, called the Persian Ceiling, was probably our favorite. Chihuly and his team blew hundreds of glass flowers and miscellaneous shapes of all different hues and sizes and displayed them above a glass ceiling. The lights above shone through the glass shapes to refract and reflect the light. It was very hard to leave that room. There was always a new angle or a new combination of shapes to see.
The fourth room, the Mille Fiori, was a garden scene made out of glass shapes. From the doorway entrance, we looked through the glass shapes to a large glass structure at the opposite end. The lighting again played a huge role in the impact of the scene. The room was nearly completely black except for the spots shining on the glass "flowers."
The fifth room, Ikebana and Float Boat, had a huge impact with its lack of ambient lighting. Two "boats" were filled with very colorful balls and miscellaneous shapes and were lit against an absolutely black background. The surface of the "stage" where the boats floated was highly-reflective so it was like shooting the boats in the very early dawn while a lake is a mirrored surface.
The sixth room, the Macchia Forest, was my least favorite. It was a series of giant glass bowls that was stunning with its interplay of colors, but it didn't compare with the other rooms.
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| Northwest | Persian Ceiling | Mille Fiori |
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| Mille Fiori | Ikebana and Float Boat | Macchia Forest |
Pike Place Market
When we finally left the Chihuly Museum and Garden, we rode the Monorail to the Pike Place Market. The station was right next to the Chihuly,
and the Monorail dropped us off just a few blocks above Pike Place Market. We walked the length of the market marveling at all the flower
arrangers, fruit and vegetable stands, and the fresh seafood vendors (the real stars of the show). This is the market shown
in all the Seattle advertisements where the guys throw the huge salmon around. Pike Place Market is an experience...
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We followed the recommendation of the guys at the fish market and ate dinner at the Steelhead Diner, just up the street from the wharf. As promised, the seafood was amazing, and we were there early enough to beat the rush.
Seattle Center
We walked back up the hill, caught the Monorail, and returned to Seattle Center.
The sky was starting to clear, so we hung around to photograph the Monorail entering and exiting the EMP Museum. The architecture
of the building makes the scene. It has no corners and everything seems to be rounded with no apparent plan. The side of the museum
toward the sun is highly reflective, so the lighting in the late afternoon made the entire building reflect warm, golden light.
Then, all we had to do was catch the Monorail entering or exiting the building.
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Alki Point
Since the sun was breaking through the clouds, we drove to the Alki Point area for sunset. Last night we did some exploring on our way back
to camp and found Don Armeni Park
directly below Hamilton Viewpoint Park.
It's right on the shore of Elliott Bay. We shot the sunset light reflecting off the buildings and then sat around for an hour waiting
for the sky to darken and the city lights to come on. One of the advantages of shooting at a park was the bench just a few feet
from where we were shooting. By 9:30, we were shooting the Seattle skyline. We watched the ferries crossing from every direction
as well as some guy in his little motorboat crisscrossing into our images. It was hard to believe that the slate-gray sky of the morning
had turned into such a gorgeous evening.
By 10:30, we were ready to head back to camp. After a quick stop at Safeway for staples, we finally made it back to camp at midnight. Then, we had to download our 2,000 images. It was a very LONG day, but it was a great day. The Chihuly was almost beyond belief, and the panoramas from Don Armeni Park were a perfect culmination. It will take weeks before I get all of today's images processed, but the few I have developed show great promise.
By the time we finally headed off to bed, the rain had started in earnest. We had the full spectrum of Seattle weather in one day: drizzle, overcast, clouds, sunshine, and pouring rain.
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