Seattle

We had two days in Seattle after taking the Amtrak bus from Vancouver. (Customs took forever as the bus seemed to reach the station at lunch break, and only one customs officer was working. We were behind a group of what I assumer were European backpackers, and they had to give fingerprints, etc, so the line was very slow.)

We stayed at the Moore Hotel - the absolute least expensive hotel in downtown Seattle. I was a little concerned after reading some of the reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised at our accommodations. Again, the bathroom was down the hall, but it was not a problem at all. The location is great, and I would heartily recommend this place.

The Seattle Art Museum is free on Thursdays, the day we arrived, so we took advantage of that, even at the end of the long day. The special exhibit was modern Aboriginal Art which we enjoyed.

Here is a requisite photo of Pike Place Market at sunset.

Throughout the trip we heard many buskers. This one got some of my money. 

I think my favorite thing in Seattle was the Underground Tour. Here is a little explanation from the website about the circumstances of the underground: 

After the fire, which destroyed some 25 square blocks of mostly wooden buildings in the heart of Seattle, it was unanimously decided that all new construction must be of stone or brick masonry. The city also decided to rise up from the muck in which its original streets lay.

It was this decision that created the Underground: The city built retaining walls, eight feet or higher, on either side of the old streets, filled in the space between the walls, and paved over the fill to effectively raise the streets, making them one story higher than the old sidewalks that still ran alongside them. 

The tour is very corny, but also extremely informative. We actually enjoyed the corny humor and also recommend this tour.

After some sub-par sushi, we strolled to the Olympic Sculpture Park. I especially enjoyed this Calder sculpture which looks similar to his flamingo in Chicago.

With a little time on Saturday before our train to Portland, we took the little trolley to the bottom of Union Lake and strolled through the Center For Wooden Boats. We also enjoyed watching children and their families sailing these little boats on a pond (you can rent a little boat), which reminded me of Stuart Little, and also of our trip to NYC two years ago.

One final note:  While Amtrak was great about changing our reservations on the spot with NO issues, and the Moore Hotel was great about adding a night to our stay at short notice, we do NOT have warm fuzzies about Chase Bank. On our way out of Canada, the owners of our guesthouse gave us $25 Canadian to buy a bottle of wine for our graciously understanding about their overbooking problem. In Seattle I thought we could change the money since we were close to the border and went into a Chase bank. They were all friendly to us until they found out that we don't have a checking account with them. I told them we had our mortgage with them, but that, apparently, was not nearly good enough. 

Really, Chase? You couldn't change over some dollars, charge us a commission and make a little money for yourselves and help us out? I have some unkind thoughts in my head about you.