Cruisin' Seattle

We settled down in Poulsbo, WA which is one bridge away from Bainbridge, WA which is one 30 minute ferry ride away from Seattle.  We're in a very nice park.  We set up and could not get ANY electricity in the RV.  The owner suggested an RV repair facility not too far away.  So, Ed disconnected, we went to bed early (since we were pretty much in the dark), got up early, and hit the road.  Turns out the guy is an electrical specialist.  He found a loose wire behind the breaker panel, reconnected it, did an oil change while we had breakfast, and we were on our way back to the park.  Thank God, no more issues.

Poulsbo is a cute little town with a killer market much like Whole Foods except it's a local area chain.  They bend over backwards to make the customer happy and everyone working there is so happy...

It seems that the biggest industry here is fireworks - at least at this time of the year.  They are for sale just outside the city boundry...every four inches!!!  Had to photograph the biggest fireworks

mall we have EVER seen.

Found a suitable dog sitter for Finn who picked him up and returned him after dinner.  We hopped on the ferry and took off to Seattle.  It was raining, of course.

We were on a ferry like this one crossing Puget Sound.

Our first view of Seattle - in the rain.

Here's the proof it's Seattle...

Off the ferry, left on 1st and a few blocks later - Voila!

Pike Place Market

It was just drizzling at this point.

Later it REALLY began to rain.

Here's that famous market where they throw the fish.  They usually do it when someone buys a whole salmon.  That usually reaches upward (sometimes way upwards) of $150.  That holler the price and then they toss fish.  It was so early they just tossed for us.

Good catch!!!

These next two pictures are just for me.  Call them

Susan's Seafood Porn.

aaahhh

First stop:  Le Panier.  Ed picked out a lovely french pastry.  I went a couple stores up the street to Piroshky for a smoked salmon/cream cheese bit of heaven.

Tall tables, way too few stools, so most people stand and eat and drink their coffee.  I invited a very nice gentleman to join us at our table.  Turned out Jim is a retired pilot who flew the big planes on international routes.  He and Ed got into aircraft talk and we all had a great time.  He truly needs to share an afternoon in Ed's library.  Isn't serendipity cool?!?!

Making cheese and cheese curds at Beechers.

Tasting cheese and buying curds at Beechers.

This little park is known as Pioneer Square. 

The sculpture is of Chief Seattle.

Think the city might be named for him...

It's also the location of Bill Speidel's Underground Tour of Seattle.

It seems that Seattle has had a long history of graft, opium, sex, debauchery and Red Light district shenanigans all making the city what it is today.  We traveled what was once the first floor of the district, looked at old plumbing, called for help under the corner skylight in the sidewalk....

...saw the remains of the first electric elevator in Seattle, and heard stories about the building of the city, the rebuilding after it burned down, and came to life again in the 1880's.

Mostly we just laughed for two hours.  Our guide, Gayle, left no inuendo unturned and

kept us on our toes.  We were targets because of our matching jackets.  She was just great!

We took a walk up the hills to see the new Central Library.  A most amazing building!

We made it to the top and back down through a mix of escalaters, ramps, and elevators.

Howie Schargel meet us at this spot.  He had provided us with a wonderful list of activities to keep us busy for the day.  His Sarah picked us all up and we headed out to explore other parts of Seattle.

We had the BEST time sharing the evening with them!   They showed us the apartment building they are moving into this week, treated us to dinner at one of their favorite spots, took us to see an amazing overlook of the city...

...and Puget Sound.  It was wonderful to see Howie again and a real treat to meet Sarah.  They are both such special people.

Our last look at the city as we pulled out on our way back to the park.

What a great day!!!

Ed took a sidetrip to the Naval Undersea Museum.  It's all about undersea technology and marine science.    The sail on the left is from the USS Sturgeon nuclear sub.

Ed saw these interesting antique autos in the parking lot:  A Baker electric car on the left and a Model T on the right.  Both are from the very early 1900's.

This submarine is capable of diving to 20,000 ft.  It was used by the Navy for research.

Underwater robots are used to recover sunken items such as torpedos.

There's a very nice selection of diving equipment.  This suit was

used in the 1940's.

The Japanese used midget submarines in WWII.  They were used

at Pearl Harbor.

It takes a lot to fire a torpedo under water.  This is the torpedo tube mechanism out of a sub.

The Naval Undersea Museum is a very interesting specialized collection.