First Glimpse of Seattle: Volunteer Park and Chowder

I'm quite a few entries behind! Just call me the A.D.D. blogger.

The first weekend in WA, I ventured into Seattle, which I can't capture and conquer in one day.

Coming South from Tacoma it's about a half hour to forty-five minute drive, depending on traffic. You pass a Boeing field at one point and as you approach Seattle you have Safeco Field- home to the Mariners - and CenturyLink Field - home to the Seahawks. Then you see the beautiful smogfree Seattle skyline. And after, you pause to catch your breath.
Various views of downtown from the South:

 

I started in Chinatown, one of the southern points of Seattle, crossing through downtown and eventually into Capitol Hill. I wanted to see as much of downtown before making a stop.

Hilly streets and view of the water.

Yes, as in most downtowns -the only thing stopping me from saying all is the fact that I haven't been to every single downtown, yet - there are one way streets. If you've heard a thing or two about Seattle then you know about their hills. I was at the top of a very steep hill and saw an extremely fat cat at the bottom who could barely move. I just hoped that he was smart enough to avoid walking down a hill, away from his home, because there was no way he was going to ever make it up a hill with his morbid obesity.  I drove on. Cat remained. His fate? A mystery.

I found Seattle's equivalent of West Hollywood! What gave it away?  Rainbow flags in front of every store front and the hectic preparation for the Pride Parade set to occur the next day.

I quickly passed by Seattle U and what I did see brought me to conclude that they've got a beautiful campus (no pictures however). Since I'm at the topic of colleges, I must stop. I'm used to certain set of schools: UCLA, USC, CSUN, etc. The first days here I heard "U Dub." What? It was only when someone pointed out that everyone refers to the University of Washington, UW as "U Dub", did everything start to make  sense. "Oh you're looking for such and such? It's right next to PLU. You know where that is, right" Um, no. PLU? Oh Pacific Lutheran University?  Ok, let me go Google that...

Next stop was Volunteer Park in Capitol Hill. It was beautiful!

The Water Tower.

The view behind the Water Tower, as I pull into the park.

View of the Space Needle from the park! Driving on the road, pictured above, the Needle is to the left.

Me in front of SAM: Seattle Asian American Museum. I am looking at the Space Needle, for point of reference.

 

The Space Needle and I.

Venturing up the stairs of the water tower.

Now you'll see views of the area surrounding the water tower, such as downtown Seattle:

I'm not sure what we're looking at in the picture. Just enjoy the view :)

Look at the population numbers! At one point, Omaha, NE had more people than LA!

View of Space Needle from the top o' the tower. You are going to see a lot of pictures of this landmark in my blog.

Partner in crime, helping me explore the water tower.

Another view of Downtown Seattle.

Huge trees everywhere we go. This one is in Volunteer Park. 

The Ducks of Seattle! Definitely a tourist tour I will have to take!

Downtown Seattle. That's the convention center.

Driving underneath.

New England Clam Chowder, Seafood Bisque, and Scallop Chowder from Pike Place Chowder.

Clam Chowder and Dungeness Crab sandwich! I've had chowder once a week since arriving in WA. Delish!!

More views of Downtown:

Seattle's baseball and football stadiums.

Beloved Mt. Rainier in the distance.

Seattle Sunset. In later June, Sunset was around 9pm!