October 29 - November 2, 2019
It is a special blessing to have siblings who are also best friends! Since we are scattered from the top to nearly the bottom of the west coast, I don't get to see them as much as I would like, so I thought I'd take advantage of a pause in our travels to visit my sister Babs and her sweet hubby Bill at their home in Shoreline just north of Seattle.
We had a great few days of just hanging out together, playing lots of rounds of our favorite card game Spite and Malice, watching movies, talking and reminiscing, taking walks around Barbara's wooded neighborhood.
Halloween was a sight-seeing extravaganza in the city of Seattle itself. Lunch was at the Seattle Center's Collections Cafe adjoining the Chihuly Garden. They sit at the foot of the Space Needle across the square from the weird and wonderful buildings of the Museum of Pop Culture.
The Seattle Center is filled with great attractions, including museums, cafes, playgrounds for kids, fountains. A must-see destination for visitors to Seattle!
Both the Collections Cafe and Chihuli Gardens were fascinating. Apparently, the famous glass artist Dale Chihuly was a collector and the glass covered display trays built into every table in the cafe and the cabinets lining the walls held a different collection from normal collectibles like antique toy cars to much stranger items such as toy irons. The colorful ceiling was hung with a large collection of accordians.
His display of glass in the Museum and Garden was breath-taking. We walked through huge rooms filled with immense glass sculptures. Many of the rooms had themes. One room was devoted to glass art inspired by plant life.
A couple of rooms were a tribute to sea life.
Another was filled with giant vases, and another with glasswork inspired by Native American art. Ceilings were hung with glass flowers. (You may be familiar with the Chihuly ceiling at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.)
Inspired by Native American Art
A plaque described the inspiration for these gorgeous glass boats.
The artwork continued out in the garden with glass towers and other colorful items placed here and there among the plants. The sunny day and blue skies illuminated the artwork, setting off its beauty and color.
The fun continued with a walk through the nearby Olympic Sculpture Park containing more modern art by a variety of artists. I have to admit, I don't really "get" modern sculpture, but it was fun to see it dotting the landscape, and I loved the "canyon" of high metal walls.
That walk led us down to the pier area where we took a ride on the giant Ferris Wheel on the docks, getting great views of the city and Puget Sound. Then we saved our tired feet with a ride on the Monorail back to the Seattle Center, which was operated by a little pixie decked out for Halloween.
And, of course, what is a trip to Seattle without a stop at a Coffee Shop?!
On my last full day there, we took the ferry over to Bremerton for lunch with my brother-in-law Jeff and his son Chris. I love that ferry ride with the views of the Emerald City behind us, the blue water of Puget Sound all around us, and the high mountains of the Olympic Peninsula ahead of us. It is really a gorgeous spot.
I think it was that night that we attended a performance of Shakespeare's The Tempest, but it was a rather odd performance and we were both very tired, so we ended up heading home at intermission.
The visit was much too short, but I was so grateful for the chance to get plenty of sister hugs and family time.
If I didn't live here, these photos would sure enough make me want to visit! Thank you for the reminders of a fantastic time, Joanie.
ReplyDeleteI have so many of these same photos! I'm so glad you had a wonderful time while you were here!!
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