I spent the week after my birthday in the city of Seattle with Alan and Jeannie.
After a night of conversation and catching up, the next day was reserved for playing tourist as any good traveler must.
The Space Needle
The observation deck was really amazing. The 360 view around was spectacular.
For those who have never been, there are plexiglass(?) or glass barriers that lean out so if you stand at the edge you can see down. Not for everyone, but if you are on the observation deck, you are already bold, go for it.
Further, there are plexiglass benches to stand on and lean back against the sloping barrier for fun tourist shots.
The warmup to getting that shot was me gingerly leaning back with a fair sense of apprehension, but I did it.
There is another floor where the glass is below you and the room slowly rotates.
I was surprisingly more bothered by leaning against a sloped barrier than standing directly over a view like this.
After the obligatory Space Needle gift shop, it was off to the MPOP (Museum of Pop Culture).
Of course I was immediately interested in the Sci-Fi exhibit. This turned out to be movie props some very cool movies. There were spaceships galore, Star Wars, Blade Runner and some classic tableaus to be seen.
and this one I snapped for Josh.
Notably Cindy, I did NOT see anything from Inspector Spacetime. 😉
Then to the Jimi Hendrix Abroad exhibit: the obligatory music link for this post. This turned out to be much cooler than I even expected. I really dug the hand written lyrics.
Also on display was the strat from Woodstock.
The hat from the Smash Hits album cover.
Part (?) or the whole soundboard from Electric Ladyland (or a replica, you can never really be sure) was on display. Next to some info about the studio and shots of Jimi working on it
Right next to the Hendrix room was a room of famous guitars. I got to see 2 blues greats guitars.
Then last but not least… the Nirvana room.
This was cool not so much for the well known albums, but for the personal artifacts of Kurt and images of the start and eventual rise of the band from early local gigs and show posters to working with Sup Pop. Visiting that store later.
If you’ve never been, you should check it out. There were other very cool exhibits too. That concluded the days sightseeing.
The Aural Retentive 