Sampling Seattle

After snacking on some delicious and much needed McNuggets, we entered the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPop). There were some great exhibits, including the Jim Henson Experience. My childhood came to life and my dreams came true as I wandered around. Kermit, Bert and Ernie, and The Count; they were all there. You could even make your own movie with a muppet. It was heaven on earth. On top of happily wandering through muppets, there was a fantasy exhibit. All sorts of movie and TV pop culture iconic memorabilia: Wizard of Oz props, Princess Bride, Lord of the Rings, etc. We also explored the Outer Space and Sci-Fi exhibits: Star Trek, Star Wars, Mork and Mindy, Dr. Who, etc. Then onto the music stuff. Jules and AFB geeked out. AFB was a little sad that the Bowie exhibit wasn’t ready yet.

After spending a sufficient amount of time in the museum, we literally walked across the street to the Space Needle. There were a ton of vendors selling knickknacks, souvenirs, and food. There were also loads of people mulling about, either waiting on line for tickets or just gawking upwards. I ended up pre-ordering lunch tickets, because they included a time slot to go to the observation deck. It ended up being cheaper that way. But you had to make sure you ordered them well in advance, or they would sell out.

We walked through the gift shop and found the info desk for the restaurant. We waited on a short line to get into the elevator. We opted to go to the observation deck first. The doors were glass and you could watch yourself rise up; what a crazy feeling. The doors opened to an indoor glass room that wrapped around the building. You could get snacks or sit and look at the view. The interior side of the room was covering photos and facts about the Space Needle. Once you walked outside, you were greeted with astonishing views of the city. Fortunately for us, it was a gorgeous clear day, so Mt. Rainer was on display.

After spending some time snaking through many tourists around the observation deck, it was time for lunch. I was excited because I have always wanted to eat at the Skycity restaurant. There is something appealing about eating in a place that rotates. I had requested a window table, and we were able to have one. It was worth the few extra minute wait. The views were indescribable, much better than from the observation deck. The deck had wires obstruction your view. I suppose they are there for tourists’ safety. But in the restaurant, no wires, just unobstructed views. The menu was standard fair, a three course menu. You could pick one option from each section. I chose the burger, and it was mediocre, but i didn’t go there for the food. The “appetizer” was tasty, and Jules stole so much of mine the waitress kindly brought another one. But the star of the food show was his dessert, the Lunar Landing. It wasn’t on the prix fixe menu, but a few tables down a family had one. Jules’ eyes opened wide and asked our waitress what it was. She told him, and he had mighty need. It was some kind of smoking ice cream dessert. He was captivated by the effect of the dry ice.

One entertaining side note of a rotating restaurant is that people tend to pass notes. People were writing on coasters and leaving them on the window sill. As you rotated by, you pick them up and write back. Most of them were asking viewpoint questions like, where are you from? Others were just silly notes of nonsense. Jules’ had a blast responding and making new notes. It kept him busy while waiting for the food.

After landing in Seattle, checking out the Museum of Pop Culture, and experiencing the Space Needle in all its glory, it was finally time to head to our rental. It was located in Fremont. A few miles drive outside of Seattle. It was located on a main road, which was nice, in order to get back into Seattle quickly.  I had a few complaints about things not being in the rental that were supposed to be there, like a coffee maker, but the owner resolved them on the last day we were there. I didn’t give it a great review for that reason. But the worse thing was the driveway. Like I said it was  located on a main road, like a highway, so if you didn’t park in the driveway you were parking on a side street. The driveway was a steep hill about one and a half car lengths. Since it was located on a large road, there was no way you could back in, but you were always backing out. It was a huge hassle. After AFB left, I decided to just park around the corner. But besides those things, it was clean and met our basic needs. We dropped our bags off and left to stock the fridge. I was glad when we returned and we could just rest.