There were clouds hanging from the ceiling, and the view of the water was lovely. We had burgers and fries and the most awesome onion rings! It was great to see Anne; I felt like the years since we'd last talked just disappeared.
The plan was to have lunch and then she would direct us on a sight-seeing tour of Seattle.
The Red Robin is on Alaskan way, and this fountain was at the end of Alaskan Way. I managed to grab a shot of it on the way by.
We saw the Space Needle in the distance.
Then I got a closer shot of it...It's quite impressive--but Hubby has an extreme dislike of heights (no one said "fear," did they?) so we just looked at it from the outside!
There were other interesting-looking buildings. . .
I especially liked this church; I think it was Greek Orthodox.
In the heart of Seattle is Volunteer Park, situated on 40 acres purchased by the city for $2000 from J. M. Coleman in 1876. Over the years, some forest was cleared and the Seattle Asian Art Museum, pictured above, was constructed;
there is a large reservoir with a waterfall which is really quite beautiful.
From the side of the reservoir you can see the Space Needle and Puget Sound in the distance. Of course I saw this as a photo opportunity!
There was also a huge sculpture that looked very much like a large tire for a wheel on some piece of road equipment!
Or maybe a licorice doughnut that didn't quite turn out right! But, of course, I'm no art critic, and am of very limitied culture, being trailer trash and all!
There were beautiful flower gardens everywhere you turned. There was also a children's play area. But the flowers were breath-taking.
There was also a fish pond. It was loaded with all kinds of colorful fish. I tried to photograph them, but the skies reflected on the pond made it difficult.
I did my best to try to catch them when the sun's glare did not obstruct the view.
I apologize that my efforts didn't turn out better than they did. Several shots I didn't post at all, because of the reflections.
I loved the gold-colored one, but he was very elusive and hard to film!
There was also a monument to William Seward--Remember Seward's Folly? At the time his purchase of Alaska was considered a frivolous act. But if he hadn't made this deal, we might have never gotten to know Sarah Palin! (It's debatable whether or not that would have been a great loss!)
His statue stands in front of the Volunteer Park Conservatory, home of many unique and tropical plants.
The building is surrounded by flowers, all blooming brightly.
And the varieties inside! These had beautiful leaves of a reddish hue. I just had to share them.
So many different colors, sizes and textures!
And virginal white...so pretty!
One section of the Conservatory was filled with Rain Forest plants. You truly felt like you were in the jungle; and they keep the temperature hot and humid.
The poster above refers to the bell below, which was quite delicate.
We were instructed to not touch it for fear of damaging it.
And everywhere. more blossoms!
Every color and variety imaginable!
Even different types of Cacti.
In all, it was a really amazing collection. There was a room full of orchids which was not open that day, but we could peek at them through the window glass. They, too, were breath-taking.
We left Anne at the dock to catch the ferry home to Bremerton and headed back to Kirkland, where we were staying. Good bye to Seattle--and Lake Washington.
Lake Washington was strange; the bridge spanned the middle, and on one side of the bridge the water was extremely choppy; on the other side it was totally calm.
BTW, I kept an eye out for Jason and Molly from the Bachelor, but they were nowhere to be seen!
Tonight we have dinner with the munchkin and her Mom and Dad before heading down the Pacific Coast highway. Today has been a total Veg day.....We needed to chill and relax a bit before striking out for our first view of the Pacific Ocean!
I hope you will come along as we follow the west coastline of Oregon and California...
