12 October 2022
A four-hour bus ride from Vancouver brought us to the central bus station in Seattle and from there we took the metro to the University district (Washington State) with a distinct student vibe. Our small but cute College Hotel was close to the campus and is almost permanently booked out with professors and other University visitors. A Vietnamese restaurant just beside it provided much-needed sustenance after our long journey as we planned our next steps.
Once again, we took advantage of the free city walking tour to find our marks. The meeting point was down by Pike Place Market, beside the waterfront. The oldest continuously running food market in the US with over 200 local vendors selling everything under the sun, it represents a refreshing counterpoint to the global dominance of nearby Microsoft, Amazon and Starbucks (whose first shop is also down the road with a permanent queue outside it) who are all based in the city.
Over the next few hours we listened to an informative local guide who gave us the rundown on the city’s brief history, local landmarks and personalities who have marked its past.
Seattle, with a population of 737,000, is one of the fastest-growing large cities in the United States. The area was inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers arrived in 1851. Today, Seattle has high populations of Native, Scandinavian, European American, Asian American and African American people.
Logging was Seattle's first major industry, but by the late 19th century, the city had become a commercial and shipbuilding center as a gateway to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. Growth after World War II was partially due to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. The Seattle area developed into a technology center from the 1980s onwards with companies like Microsoft becoming established in the region; Microsoft founder Bill Gates is a Seattleite by birth. Internet retailer Amazon was founded in Seattle in 1994, The stream of new software, biotechnology, and Internet companies led to an economic revival in the city.
Seattle also has a significant musical history. Between 1918 and 1951, the jazz scene nurtured the early careers of Ray Charles and Quincy Jones among others. Seattle is also the birthplace of rock musician Jimi Hendrix, as well as the origin of the bands Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Heart, Alice in Chains, Foo Fighters, and the alternative rock movement, grunge.
Seattle’s original downtown is full of beautiful old buildings in Romanesque Revival style. We strolled down Pike Street with its bars, restaurants and quirky boutiques to Pioneer Square, which was full of ivy-covered buildings. On the way we observed the city’s first skyscraper, Smith Tower, built in 1914, and still using the historic, manually operated elevators to the 35th-floor observatory.
The guided tour ended on the waterfront and so we then visited the Seattle Aquarium on Pier 59. It was small by US standards but very interesting: we learnt all about salmon, met a few adorable sea otters, and greeted the various sea creatures of the Pacific Ocean, such as puffers and giant clams. We watched scuba divers feed the fish, gawked at sharks swimming overhead in the underwater dome, and even touched a sea anemone.
An elevator ride up the city’s iconic Space Needle would have no doubt given us a great vantage point for the whole city and bay but instead, we took a bus from the waterfront to Kerry Park. The picturesque Queen Anne spot looks down at the Seattle skyline from the north. It’s the ideal place to get the quintessential view of the city, featuring the Space Needle, Elliott Bay, downtown skyscrapers, and (on clear days) Mount Rainier, a dormant volcano which dominates the city skyline.
We had dinner at a Seattle culinary landmark, the Maneki, one of the oldest Japanese restaurants in the city and still family run. It served great sushi and sashimi in a friendly atmosphere at reasonable prices.
Seattle still had plenty to offer but we felt it was now time to hit the road again and head off into the sunset in the direction of our next goal - Yellowstone National Park.
Commentaires