Downtown Seattle Part I (Gum Wall, Pike Place, and Olympic Sculpture Park)

Pow!  Yesterday, I used public transportation, my second favorite form of transportation after airplanes (trains are high on the list as well) and made my way in to the heart of Seattle.  The bus ride in and of itself was a lot of fun as was the adventure once arriving in Seattle.  I got off at University Street.  My agenda for the day had been predetermined by weather.  If it was raining SAM (Seattle Art Museum).  If the clouds would hold the water for a bit I'd make my way past Pike Place and down to Olympic Sculpture Park.  The clouds held their water droplets long enough for me to enjoy a few sculptures.  

After Olympic Sculpture Park I made my way back up towards Pike Place seeing as how it was only noon or there abouts.  I stopped at The Pike Brewing Company for lunch and then made my way over to see SAM.  The following pictures are from my adventures down to Olympic Park and then back again, stopping before lunch.  I'll throw up another post later with Part II of the adventure.  Here are a few photos from Downtown Seattle Part I:

(Ferris Wheel, a Seattle icon located in a terrible spot)

(Post Alley, home of the Gum Wall)

 (Gum wall from a distance) 

 (Quite a bit of gum, layers upon layers upon layers of gum)

 (As is tradition, I added gum to the wall, again.  My piece was the long stringy black piece in the middle of this photo.)

(Famous Pike Place Fish Co., home of the FISH philosophy which I remember from my Residential Advisor days)

 (Famous sign from the back)

 (Here is the iconic sign from the front - Public Market Center)

 (Corner of Pike St and Pike Pl)

 (A busker trying to earn his keep)

(A wonderful and colorful array of fruits and veggies from the Farmers' Market)

(Sports Fields and Mount St. Helens in the background)

(PURGE  - not sure what was being purged, perhaps rain)

(Olympic Sculpture Park)

 (And so the sculptures begin - Space Needle in the background)

 (A seagull friend of mine with Alaskan Way in the the background)

 (He even stayed when I took a picture)

 (Artsy shot of the Space Needle through a glass sculpture)

 (Another sculpture.  Olympic Park is sponsored by Seattle Art Museum.)

(Not sure if these runners were apart of the park of just a sculpture in front of a business)

 (Another sculpture from a distance)

(A roller blade wheel with brush on top)

(This guy.  This guy may just be my new hero.  I'm walking out from under the overpass and see this guy rounding the corner.  He paused for a moment and the next thing I knew there was a bright orange disc flying at me.  He was still quite far so I was in no immediate danger the disc landed in front of the roller skate wheel with a brush on top.  I thought nothing of it.  Took a few photos as the man wheeled his possessions towards the sculpture.  He got to a point where he was in line with the Frisbee and stopped his cart.  He walked over, picked up the Frisbee and returned to his cart.  I heard him mutter something and with his might he flung the Frisbee once more.  If you look closely and depending on your eye sight you may just be able to see the orange Frisbee in the middle of the opposite lane close to the white lines almost parallel to the white and red sign.  This, it appears, is how this man keeps himself occupied.  Tossing a Frisbee and then retrieving it only before tossing it again.  I once again found myself slightly jealous.)

 (Jump shot, a little blurry)

 (Jump shot round 2)

 (A shot Elliot Bay)

 (Another sculpture.  I think it was supposed to represent a fish or sea creature of sorts.)

(My favorite sculpture of the day - '&')

(Got to spend a little time on a beach, even though it was a bit cold.  I do enjoy my beach time and smell of salt water, holds a special place in my heart.)

 (A big boat)

 (Different angle of the first sculpture)

 (This is a telephone pole that has been littered with staples)

 (This was as I made my way back to Pike Place - it's an umbrella)

 (Whale fins with maple leafs cut out of it???)

 (Pike Place Market)

(1st Starbucks - not a fan of coffee, but thought I'd take a shot for those of you who are)

(Final shot of the Public market sign from a different angle)

Seattle with the Friedrick Clan

As I am sure many of you know, Katrina and I broke up the day before Thanksgiving.  It was a bit of bad timing to say the least and while I had plans to go see my buddy Joel in Seattle, it wasn't for a week later.  However, I gave him a call up, and like a champ, he told me to fly in to Portland and enjoy Thanksgiving with the Friedricks, who are like a second family.  I had a blast seeing everyone and saw some great things in Seattle.  Plus, it was fantastic to see Mama Friedrick and Momo!  So, here are a few of the photos from my trip to Seattle.  

 (Joel focused during a ping pong match.  Every time I've been there, they tend to get a bit intense.)

(Cooking time with Martha Stewart, also known as Mama Friedrick.  She makes some amazing food!)

(Trip into the city - Space Needle)

(One of the highlights of the trip was the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit.  This man can do some amazing things with glass.)

(A few bowls he made)

(Bamboo made out of glass, which is an oxymoron of sorts)

(Imagine having this as your ceiling - each of those is different colored pieces set atop clear glass)

(Here's a little different angle)

(And here is a shot of just a few of the glass pieces) 

 (The art inspector himself, a critic to the end)

(I guess the best way to describe this would be an indoor glass garden with a twist)

(Joel got a little shaky with the camera and the shutter stayed open a bit and this is what came out, but I still liked it)

(A lot of shapes on a boat)

(Some balls on a boat)

 (The two together.  It was hard to comprehend, but I really did find this amazing.  However, I am curious if he blows the pieces and puts them in or designs the pieces and then hand crafts each one?)

(One of the many chandeliers throughout the exhibit, each unique.  Each one of those is its own blown glass, which is astounding, at least in my opinion.)

(This piece was huge, absolutely huge.  This room was probably two to three stories high.)

(Once again, the art critic had a special eye and got this shot)

(A little crazy hair - there was also an exhibit outside which was interesting)

(If you want, you can buy a vase, for a few thousand dollars.  I think I need to look into blowing glass for a living.)

(Momo with the Cascade.  I hope she's not upset I put this on here.)

(Joel and Momo making dinner)

 (My buddy Buddy)

 (Here they are, the happily married couple in their semi-new kitchen, in the sense that it's new since I've seen them last, along with the whole house)

(Light show with over a million LED lights)

(A dragon...)  

(This reminded me of Lite-Brite from back in the day)

(The lighting worked out perfect for this one)

(Had to get this one with the Osaka sign in there)

(If you don't like gum, turn away.  Because that is a gum wall and right now, there's gum in my mouth.)

 (Now it's between my fingers)

(And I'm adding it to the wall)

 (Close up shot)

(Unfortunately, the first piece fell off so I had to do it again.  Good thing we had a few packs of gum.  We even gave a piece to an older lady so she could put some on.)

 (Next jump shot)

(My buddy and me)

 (Momo hanging out on the opposite side.  For some reason, I really like this photo of her.)

(Walking along the street) 

(For those of you that enjoy Starbucks, here's a picture of the first one)

 (I guess that is new to the area, the ferris wheel, but it is in such a terrible spot and I can't imagine the view is any good.)

 (Pike Place Market sign)

 (The golden pig)

 (Me and Sasquatch)

(We had to go to Momo's favorite candy store and this was there so she got a photo)

(We also got chocolate covered bacon.  You would think it would be amazing, but it wasn't.  I'm not sure if it was too smokey or too sweet and too salty, but it just didn't work.  But, I tried it.) 

 (Photos on the way out) 

(Jump shot for me, even though it took Joel about 10 times to get the photo right)