Off to downtown Seattle this morning to have a look at the Space Needle. The structure was envisaged in 1959 on a table napkin and construction was completed in 1962 for the World Fair. The aircraft warning beacon is 184 m above the ground and the observation deck is 158 m above the ground. The foundations are made out of a solid block of concrete 36 X 36 X 9 m. The centre of gravity of the building is only 1.5 m above the ground.
Space Needle Seattle
We got to the space needle by mono rail. This was built at the same time as the needle to give access to the needle. During the World Fair 8 million people travelled on the monorail. There are only two stops, the start in downtown Seattle and the end, the Space Needle.
The views from the top were absolutely fantastic. It was quite windy and cool at the top but the view made up for it.
In the park below the Needle there was a large fountain that played to music. There were quite a few sea gulls that were flying around and one or two tried to get a drink but were chased off by the water spouts.
After leaving the vicinity of the Needle and returning downtown by monorail we had lunch at a chinese restaurant called P. F. Chang's. The best spring rolls I have ever eaten. The rest of the meal was really good too.
We had a good good walk around Seattle after lunch. Ian was still checking out Nike products prior to his visit to the Nike employees store in Portland on Sunday. We also visited the Peoples Market which reminded me very much of the Queen Victoria Markets in Melbourne. The flowers were fantastic.
Karen and Ian then took us to a place called Gameworks. It is a large area where there are lots of arcade and computer games. It also has a restaurant and bar. We or I should say Ian and Karen were ready to play games. Karen and Ian were playing "Deal or No Deal" which is similar to the game on television. They talked us into playing as well. They did very well but we didn't do too well at all. We then had a go at air hockey. We did better here but not as well as Karen and Ian.
We headed back to the hotel by light rail. A very good system. Reasonably quick and the price was pretty good as well.
We went to an Italian restaurant called "The Olive Garden". This is a restaurant chain. Must be very popular because we had to wait 20 minutes for a table. A really nice meal. I don't know where Karen and Ian find all the nice places to eat. Back to the motel and prepare for our trip to Portland tomorrow.
Deb and Den
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