Seattle Strolling (???!!!!) E.M.P. and Chihuly

I hope you don't mind me repeating myself too much, gang, but I've gotta say - again - Seattle is one of our all-time favorites.  Soooo....  although we have some more stuff we would like to share from our visit to the Northern Leader, we're going to take a break and go downtown for some sightseeing.  We''ll come back a little later and show you the progression of the ship from its earliest days in Tacoma through the January launching and on to this week's events.  But, first, lets go downtown for a while.

After we returned from our visit to Blake Island and Tillicum village we simply couldn't resist

 heading down to Pike's Market to check out the amazing shops, seafood booths, food vendors of all kinds and the creative artwork by local artisans.  We were awaiting the arrival of our niece from Cheney, WA and her family and Linda's cousin Michael and his wife who live in Seattle.  We had paid for extended parking when we got here for the island trip so we left the cruise terminal and headed north on Alaskan Way toward Pike Street.  As always, we were totally spellbound by all the sights, sounds and smells of this working seaport.  Pike Place Market alone will almost put you into sensory overload and this day was no exception.  We had a great time wandering around and began heading back to the car after a couple of hours.  At that point we got a call from the Cheney gang so we planned to hook up with them for lunch.  We weren't sure where we were all located so we decided to meet near the Pier 54.  After walking all the way back we found them and started talking about places to go for lunch.  A local Quiche restaurant was one of their favorites so we decided to head for it.  THEN we found it was all the way back at Pike Place Market!!!!  Linda had already walked about a zillion and a half miles and I thought she was going to demand that we carry her back!!  But we did make it - only to find out that the restaurant we were looking for had already closed.  Sigh!!!  But, no problem, the market has a kajillion great places to eat and we wound up at another of our favorites.  After a great meal and some more walking around we were headed back for the car when we got a call from Linda's cousin Michael and his wife Reshu.  They were hoping to meet
up with us too and we decided it would be hard to miss the Space Needle so we chose it as our meeting point.  We got there and managed to find everyone again and decided that the kids would enjoy the "Experience Music Project" better known to everyone as the EMP.  The facility - which also houses the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame - is a 140,000 square foot structure that looks like two enormous cylinders - one silver and one red - that someone tried to melt down, tear and lift one side of!!!  The exhibits are absolutely stunning and the options for experiencing music are breathtaking.  Now I'm not using those words lightly, folks, and we have some pictures and videos that, I think you will
agree, unequivocally prove them. The really weird thing for folks like Linda and me (who have been out of our teens for just a tiny bit longer than our nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews) was the fact that as we wandered through the Sci Fi museum and hall of fame ... those guys were totally familiar with all of the strange characters on exhibit!!!!!  I couldn't believe how much Justin and Michael knew about the exhibits - and even Reshu and Courtney knew waaaayyy more than I ever could about the science fiction characters.  Wow!

First, though, the music; when you enter the EMP your senses are literally assaulted by "the unbelievable."  You immediately find yourself at the foot of a gigantic tower of guitars!!!  And - this ain't no ordinary tower;  there are actually automated guitars in the structure that are constantly playing a complex, beautiful composition - one note at a time.  It is difficult to explain.  I tried to get an audio/video recording of the thing but I'm not sure I'll be able to get it on the post.  We'll keep trying.  Anyway - we visited the comprehensive Jimi Hendrix exhibit and were swept back in time to an era when amplifiers and guitars - and their musician partners - were just learning their untapped potential.  Hendrix who also happened to be a "home town boy" from Seattle was truly a pioneer in electric sound generation and had a band that was as radical as they came.  I think everyone on the planet has images of Woodstock somewhere in their brains and recalls icons of rock like Richie Havens, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stones and on ... and on ... and on ... playing forever to the most appreciative audience ever assembled.  And then, at the end of the concert, the closing act appeared - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (or as he said at the time - the "Gypsy Sun and Rainbows" and, later, "Sky Church.")  Little did we know that one year and one month, to the day, after that appearance, he would be dead at age 27.  But - his legacy lives on at E.M.P. and new rockers have the opportunity to hear his music and make their own - often jamming with strangers all over the building.  What an amazing place. We also got to see the actual, original robot from "Lost in Space."  Most folks have forgotten his name - so if you have, it was "Class M-3 Model B9, General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental Control Robot" not to be confused with "Robby" from "Forbidden Planet."  (Whoa!!!)  I wish I could name some of the characters shown in the Sci Fi museum but that is the province of younger folks.  But - as we said at the top, we want to provide proof of the "awesomeness" of this place.  (But, I'm having trouble with the video and I'll postpone adding it to the post until tomorrow.)  I was startled to see that the 2013 inductees into the Sci Fi hall of fame included two names I knew quite well - J. R. R. Tolkien and David Bowie!! We had a great time at the E.M.P. and decided that we would proceed down the street to another remarkable place - The Chihuly Studios.  It is an amazing place and we'll take a break before we take a look at it.  Since we still had some very active and boisterous youngsters with us we thought it might be a bit safer if we split up at this point and plan to meet at the christening ceremonies the next day.  We'll come back in just a bit to take you to a place that will just blow your mind.  But for now, rest up.  You're going to need your energy for the walk through the studio!!!  See ya..