During the early 70's at the height of the oil embargo placed upon the OPEC countries by the Americans, inflation was at an all time high as gas prices skyrocketed. Boeing, the largest employer at that time in Seattle, laid off thousands of workers so much so that a sign was erected at the Sea-Tac airport that read, "Will The Last Person Leaving Seattle - Turn Out The Lights." This came at a bad time, coupled with the dwindling timber and forest industry as the younger generation was pressuring the lobbyist for a greener economy. Fast forward to today, Seattle's economy is burgeoning with the names like Bill Gates (Microsoft), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Jerry Baldwin (Starbucks) and last but not least, being the home of the very first Costso Wholesale store which opened in Seattle in 1983. It is also the home of REI, with its flagship store in the heart of Seattle.
Seattle reinvented itself, and rose from the ashes as these companies hauled in huge profits and made Seattle shine again.
The city was named after a chief, Chief Si'ahl, the leader of the Suquamish tribe. Situated on the Puget Sound, it boasts of breathtaking natural beauty, gentle rain-washed climate, and a community that is highly tolerant and diverse. The city encompasses a size of roughly 142 square miles. For comparison, the size of the city of Vancouver just north across the border in Canada is just 42 square miles. Both cities share very similar traits, especially in geography and weather. According to Mercer's Quality of Living City Ranking 2019, Seattle comes in at #46, one of the three cities on the western half of the United States that made the top 50. The others are San Francisco at #34 and Honolulu at #37. It is also one of the largest seaport that operates out of the Pacific Northwest region.
The Space Needle is the first thing that comes to mind when Seattle is mentioned. The city also made many world headlines by Hollywood's creation like Sleepless in Seattle and the dark surrealistic drama by David Lynch called Twin Peaks. Seattle as a medium-sized city has indeed put itself on the world map.
Around Space Needle is an area known as Seattle Center. It comprises of the needle, and the nearby art galleries of MOPOP and Chihuly. It is here that most tourists go when visiting Seattle. Its an easy walk along the promenade from Pike's Place to Seattle Center or take a ride on the light rail.
The promenade didn't exist as we see it today. Previously, it was a double decker viaduct roadway called the Alaskan Way Viaduct. It was literally an ugly front for Seattle. Then in 2019 it was removed and the open space gave new breath to the city's promenade. Alaskan Way is now a beautiful open road with scenic tourist attractions along its front. This includes the Seattle Ferris Wheel at Pier 57, and the Miners Landing.
There are also many universities and colleges in Seattle. The most renown being the University of Washington that takes up most of Seattle's east side to Lake Washington. The campus is a green respite with many courtyards and traditional buildings. Many would visit the Quad during spring to see the Cherry Blossom trees bloom. The campus also sprawls beyond its center with modern buildings and many educational support centers.
Rewind back to the early 80's, it was here at the Geophysics Lab of the University of Washington where 3 scientists first detected the seismic activity of what is to come - the eruption of Mt Saint Helens. It is from this very same lab, that Bill Gates and Paul Allen spent their time here on the mainframes, a few years earlier.
Another popular spot in Seattle is Alki Beach. From here there is a clear view of the ferries crossing the Puget Sound between Seattle and Bremerton or Bainbridge, as well as a clear view of Seattle's waterfront.
Alki is so popular that the city now closes the beach on major holidays and every night at 10:30pm. This is because it attracted not just the tourists, but also many locals who then used to parade up and down the causeway. It also started to attract folks drinking and ultimately fighting in this area; so much so that there is the occasional shooting. Just before we arrived in Seattle, there was a shooting at Alki Beach in which a young man was killed. When visiting in during the day, one would never guess that this was a shooting hot spot, as it certainly was not the first.
To our surprise, it was also here at the edge of Alki that we found a Hawaiian food restaurant called Marination Ma Kai. Visitors could try the Hawaiian Loco Moco, Kim Chee Fried Rice, and many other Hawaiian local favorites. The view from this spot was perfect for people watching as they fished from the pier or took a paddle out onto Elliot Bay.
Besides the Seattle Downtown skyline, the two large stadiums of Seattle were also visible from here.
Other attractions in the city include the Museum of Flight in SeaTac, Kerry Park in Queen Anne, and the Museum of Industry on Union Lake.
Seattle is also known for its night life as many musicians call Seattle home. As Covid-19 restrictions lifted we started to see swarms of folks patronizing the clubs downtown.
Since we were visiting during the summer we had to visit a few of the beaches in Seattle. The main swimming beaches were at Golden Gardens and at Discovery Park. Nothing like the beaches in Hawaii, but a beach nonetheless. Mostly rocky and strewn with logs! The Golden Gardens beach is at least swimmable and sports a wide front for basking, and beach sports. Many come here to spend the day basking in the sun (that rarely shines so brightly as it did during the heatwave).
Discovery Park is also home to seals, and a former light house. Many come here to walk the beach and the many nature paths in the area.
Seattle is also a place of many highways and byways. Surrounded by water from the Puget Sound and neighboring lakes; and connected by three major highways - 99, 5 and 405. In some ways it is a traffic jam of cars and boats!
Seattle is situated adjacent to the Cascades Range, an active volcanic arc that comprises of many active peaks like Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, Three Sisters and so on. This arc runs along a 700- mile line starting from Silverthrone Caldera in British Columbia to Lassen Peak in California. This subduction zone is just 50 miles off the coast of the Pacific Ocean, where the Juan De Fuca and Gorda Plates are subducting under the North American Plate. These tectonic collisions create tremendous forces which results in earthquakes and stratovolcanoes, as seen from the explosive nature of Mount Saint Helens eruption. As I blog this, Northwest FEMA is preparing for the big one, a 9.0 quake on the Richter scale that can cause severe damage and generate a huge tidal tsunami, resulting in an apocalyptic scene if you will. It is just a matter of when.
Seattle is fondly known as the Emerald City by its locals. This is due to the fact that it is surrounded by lush evergreen trees. To the west of Seattle, in the Olympic Peninsula, the average rainfall is well over 140 inches. The Cascade Range acts as a rain shadow, with the western face getting more rain than its eastern counterpart. It is in this temperate mountains that one can find very large coniferous trees, some dating well over a thousand years and over 200 feet in height. It is also bear country where an encounter with a bruin in the wild is nothing short of a surprise. Spend enough time in the wilderness and one can almost sense these animals as magical anthropomorphic beings, that can appear in dreams and visions. The old Chief Si'ahl once uphold a strong belief that if all the bears were wiped out, man will die from a great loneliness of the spirit. "For whatever happens to the beasts, happens to man" - Si'ahl, 1834. In the heart of Seattle's downtown, it is hard to imagine the wilderness that the chief referred to.
Although, Seattle has earned its place as a world renown city by the sea, there is another side to Seattle that is congested, filled with a growing homeless population, and with dissidents who aren't really tolerant, but are impatient aggressive folk living from day to day in an environment that is dying from the inside out. We didn't photograph these dystopian views of Seattle, so be weary as we were disappointed that a city that is within the top 50 of the Mercer list could be so alternate to the rosy pictures taken. But it is true, we saw and felt it everyday of our stay. As tourists, we can choose to be oblivion to these realities, but for those who call Seattle home, we wish them all the best in reviving their lost city - a city surround by beauty.
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