Starr Treks: alaska trip 5/27/15 Issaquah WA

STARR TREKS WEDNESDAY 5/27/15 ISSAQUAH WA

We drove 1 exit further from the RV park exit on I-90 to get to the park and ride so we could take the bus downtown. There was a 3 story garage with free parking, which was very nice. Then we couldn’t figure out whether there was a ticket office or some machines that sold passes — I finally asked a man, who turned out to be a bus driver. He said the fare was $2.50 exact change, but that seniors were only $1!!!! He said just tell the driver we were seniors from out of town— indeed they let us on for $1 each! It was interesting to be on a commuter bus— virtually every rider was glued to their cell phones— no one reading newspapers or books like we did when we commuted in med school. We weren’t sure where to get off the bus— wanted to go to pioneer Square. I asked a man sitting next to me on the bus, and he was very nice— said he was getting off at the stop we needed to get off at, and he walked a block with us to direct us exactly where we needed to walk another couple blocks. We arrived at the Underground Tour ticket office just around 8 am— they were just starting a tour, so we joined a group of about 8-9 people. The lady guide was quite amusing, and had lots of stories to tell as we went in and out of several buildings where underground tunnels ran in that neighborhood. She discussed how early Seattle had many problems with sinking since the waterline was so close. Sewers were a particular problem. They actually got an opinion from Thomas Crapper, a Brit, on how to work on sewer drainage so that toilets were not exploding when the tide came in! In 1889, there was a huge fire that ignited sawdust, a whiskey factory, then a gunpowder factory, destroying all the wooden buildings in the area. The city was rebuilt on top of the street level floors of buildings that were sealed off when streets and sidewalks were elevated — in brick instead of wood. The guide spoke about the ration of women to men —1 to 9 in the early days, then in the early 1900’s more like 1-3. When a census was taken, they got job descriptions for the women— most of them were called “seamstresses”— and they decided to tax them on their job! Between buildings at street level, the guide pointed out large squares in the sidewalk covered with small cubes of glass— they were skylights for the tunnels. When we got into the tunnel, we could see the “skylight” over our head that we had walked on earlier. It was an interesting tour.

We walked a few blocks to the Klondike Gold Rush Museum. It was a nice little free museum. I liked it because it described the gold rush that I had just been reading about in James Michener’s Alaska. Seattle was know as the “Gateway to the Klondike”— all the gold seekers had to bring a ton of stuff with them to live on, so entrepreneurs in Seattle made big bucks selling people what they needed to go north. The gold rush really only lasted about 2 years — many were disappointed. One of the early Klondike pioneers was a Mr Nordstrom — later, in 1901 he joined up with another guy to manufacture shoes, then later got into retail clothing, resulting in Nordstrom’s dept stores. A few women were featured in the museum as well— I can’t imagine how people survived their gold prospecting adventures.

We then got directions to walk to the Harbor Cruise they are doing extensive renovations on the seawall, so it was a big mess down there. We had trouble finding a place to cross the street to get to the piers— we purchased the CityPass here. We walked around a little— saw the big ferris wheel that has been there only 3 yr. One car has a clear glass floor, so you can look below as well as to the sides. The weather was very cooperative— sunny and clear. The guide on the boat pointed out the various buildings downtown, the Space Needle, 2 areas where cruise ships embark (tourist revenue is $2 million per ship for the local economy!), a grain terminal, shipping terminals with huge cranes, and a Polar Pioneer oil rig that is very controversial— is parked without a permit — planned use for drilling for oil up north. The guide pointed out different areas of the city— one was Queen Annes — formerly Victorian Houses, but now a lot of alts and condos. He said that the show Frazier was based on a house in this area! He pointed out the music museum (will go there tomorrow), noting that Jimi Hendrix was a Seattle native and is featured in the museum.

After disembarking, we walked over to Pike Place Market — this involved climbing many many stairs— Seattle is VERY hilly. It was like a gigantic flea market on many floors— full of shops, restaurants and people. We got in line at Pike’s Chowder restaurant for some chowder and shrimp/dungeness crab sandwiches with sourdough bread— very tasty. We then walked back to the seafront to go to the Aquarium — it was nice— enjoyed the jellyfish and the seals & otters the best. We were pooping out at this point, so walked — climbing many stairs and hills again — to the bus stop. It was around 3 pm, so not so much traffic.

A friend from Alamogordo, Betsy Racoosin, drove over to the RV park to see our “digs”. We shared some wine and a hunk of cheese we bought at the marketA friend of hers recommended a restaurant in Issaquah called Fins Bistro. Betsy had scallops, Larry had halibut, and I had Copper River Salmon (from Alaska) — I was going to get regular salmon, but the waiter said this is special— only available for 3-4 wk in May— so I went for it, even tho it was pricy. It was very red in color, and it was indeed delicious.

Tomorrow, we will head downtown again. We are pretty tired!

underground tour