Seattle - A City Rich in History, Tech, and Innovation - Day 2

After day one of visiting Seattle, we crossed Lake Washington, and retreated to the Woodmark Hotel, just outside Seattle in Kirkland, WA.  As mentioned before, when I booked the hotel, I had dreams of boating, jet-skiing, and even getting a massage, but we soon learned a wedding was in town, and all the boat rentals were taken--even the kayaks!   The wedding was under this beautiful tent right outside our hotel room.  It was a wonderful reminder of life before COVID.

As it turned out, we didn't spend much time in Kirkland.  I took a few sunset strolls and had a chance to view the nightlife as an outsider.  On Saturday, families got together around 6 p.m. and all congregated outside on several streets with tons of restaurants.  Eventually, we did the same, getting burgers at a place called The Slip and ice-cream at Coffee and Cone.

Most families seemed to be engaged in animated conversation, and it was apparent to me that although Kirkland is a city with 92,000 people and growing, it still had a hometown feel.  The lavish homes in the area with the beautiful gated gardens and views of the lake also spoke to the wealth of this community.  (You can rent a seaplane here.)  When we told Lew's friend John we were staying in Kirkland, he rolled his eyes, unimpressed.  As a "Seattleite," John is a person that likes to immerse himself in history and culture--for him, Kirkland has neither.

The next morning, Lewie and I had a delicious breakfast and took a little walk around the hotel property.  (We were going to attempt a bike ride--there's an awesome bridle trail in the area--but we soon learned that part of the ride would include a busy highway and some steep terrain.  In other words, not a great bike ride for folks like us that cycle an average of 3 miles per year.)

The rough waves of Lake Washington reminded me more of an ocean than a lake.

After breakfast, we planned our day.  We would spend our afternoon at the Museum of Natural History and Innovation (MOHAI) and then get together with Lew's friend John for a little "inside" tour of Seattle.  It was an awesome visit!

Going to MOHAI, as it turned out, was a wonderful complement to the day before.  Since we had already learned so much about the history of Seattle from our walking tour, going to this museum only solidified what we had learned.   For example, there were early pictures of Seattle when the city buildings were made of timber, there were pictures of the fire, and there were artifacts of the Native American tribes that lived in the area, etc.

The MOHAI is the beautiful white building in the background.

The second part of the MOHAI was the Bezos Center for Innovation, named after Amazon's Jeff Bezos, of course.  Lewie LOVED this part of the museum as it spoke to the entrepreneurial spirit of starting a business.  We learned about the two major technology start-ups in Seattle--Microsoft and Amazon--along with some of Seattle's other major cultural and business accomplishments--grunge music, Boeing, Starbucks, Costco, Google, Adobe Systems, Expedia.

Lewie was amazed to see how all of these businesses started, really, with one big idea;  of course, it took grit and confidence, too.  There were lots of quotes, and in the end, the main takeaway from the Center was that good ideas and the ability to execute those good ideas all come from collaboration--no one crosses the finish line alone.  

Before leaving the MOHAI, which is located in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, we took in one more full view of the landscape.  There were teenagers and twenty-something year olds everywhere sunbathing, paddle boarding, swimming, and jumping into the water from a nearby bridge.  We couldn't believe how different this part of the city was from the Downtown and Pioneer Square area we visited the day before.

Yes, those are huge inflatable sofas on the "beach."

The Second Act of the day started around 5 p.m. when we drove to the Queen Anne neighborhood to visit Lew's friend, John.  Having played in a band together when the two of them attended the University of South Carolina, they had plenty of memories to share.  When the band disbanded 20+ years ago, Lew moved back home to his family in Connecticut where, of course, he met me!!   John left South Carolina and went straight to Seattle to play music.  

Having now lived in Seattle for over 20 years, John knows the city like any native.  In fact, the first thing he told us is how much more expensive his rent has become "now that Amazon owns the city."  

"Amazon owns the city?" we asked.

"They might as well.  Since I've moved here, they've probably put up at least twenty or so skyscrapers."

After he made the comment, I did a little research, intrigued to learn more.  Come to find out that as of 2020, Amazon DID OWN at least 40 buildings in Seattle, and they "amassed nearly 3 million square feet of real estate," according to GeekWire.

John then proceeded to tell us how the city is growing by the day.  "We probably have 1,000 or more people move here each month."  I did some research again and learned, Seattle's population grew by 21% since 2010, and its growth places the region among the fastest-growing in the country.  "Seattle was one of 14 cities to add more than 100,000 people over the past decade."  

Our first stop on our "inside tour" of the city was seeing the Fremont Troll.  The troll is a concrete sculpture, completed in 1990, that is huddled beneath the Aurora Avenue Bridge in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. I didn't realize it right away, but he's apparently clutching a Volkswagen Beetle in his hand.  

Our next stop was to a very interesting recreation area called Gas Works Park at the north end of Lake Union in the Wallingford neighborhood.  John explained that the park is sitting on the site of the old Seattle Gas Light Company. (The Gas Light Company was a coal gasification plant in the U.S. that operated from 1906-1956.)  Once we found a parking spot (which was difficult), we walked around the area and saw lots of remnants from the plant.  Evidently, the park was designed by a landscape architect named Richard Haag who won an award for the project.  There were pipes and leftover factory parts jutting out of the ground everywhere, and yet, the 19-acre park has a playground, a paved track for bicycles, skateboarders, and rollerblades, and a gorgeous view of the Space Needle.   There were tons of young people and families sitting on blankets, picnicking, etc.   

After Gas Works Park, we stopped to eat some delicious Mexican food before visiting two more places.  Lew emphasized how much I wanted to see the Space Needle, so John made an extra effort to bring me to the best spots where one could see and photograph this iconic structure.

Spending our last day in Seattle with John was perfect.  He drove us through many of Seattle's neighborhoods, which really helped us understand that there is so much more to this city than just the Space Needle, Downtown, and the giant tech industry.  (The neighborhoods, parks, and beaches were quite charming!)

I left the city still wanting to have seen and experienced so much more, but I certainly could not complain about how much we accomplished in our short two days.  The next morning, we would be out of the Woodmark Hotel in Kirkland and driving to Sun River, Oregon to begin week two of our amazing Pacific Northwest vacation.