May 30 - Exploring Seattle via Link, light rail

 We woke up a little later today because the place we are staying is in the basement - great for sleeping in since it is so dark. We got ready and walked to the nearby light rail station. We rode 5 stops to the station near Pike Place Market. We strolled through the market (mostly I drooled over the fresh flowers) and were pleased to find that the recently revamped Waterfront Park had opened. Additionally, they had developed/redeveloped more the waterfront, making it walkable. It was really lovely - the weather was clear and sunny - just a gorgeous day for us to wander around and enjoy the waterfront.

This is the area that had recently been redeveloped - so nice to be able to walk through and down to the waterfront.

There were a trio of giant murals on the buildings facing the redeveloped area - eagle, otter and seal.

We started getting hungry, so we opted for a waterfront seafood restaurant. Figuring that a place that has been in business for decades was a good bet, we went to Ivar's - very big mistake. I won't belabor it here, but it was an extremely disappointing and long dining experience. After finally getting out the restaurant, we considered what we should do - and realized that there was a Klondike Gold Rush Historic Site in Pioneer Square. So we walked to the site and really enjoyed learning about the history and economic conditions that led to the gold rush in 1897, which was really responsible for Seattle's metamorphosis from regional town to major city/center of commerce for the Pacific Northwest. We had previously really enjoyed the historic site at Skagway, which emphasized the arduous journey that thousands of people attempted. The historic site in Seattle provided the context for the gold rush.

Once we had thoroughly explored the site, we strolled through the Pioneer Square area, which has a concentration of period buildings from the turn of the 19th century. Then, we happened upon a very unusual public park - the Waterfall Park, which is also purportedly the place where UPS was founded.

At this point, we decided we were ready to see more if the area using the light rail. We found the nearest station, jumped on the next northbound train and rode it to the end. Then we got on the return train and rode it to Chinatown to get dinner. Walking into Chinatown, our route took us by a park where at least 2 people, and sometimes more than that, were having an extremely loud, demonstrative argument. They were so out of control that you couldn't even tell what they were arguing about. It went on for a very long time but no one actually threw punches or became physical towards the other person. Eventually the police showed up and they did a good job of not escalating the situation. We were looking for a place to eat while this was going on and decided on a Cantonese place that faced the park - the yelling eventually stopped while we were eating.

Leon ordered lo mien, but it definitely different from what we usually get. I ordered something that i really wasn't sure what it was, but it turned out to be a tasty (and extremely large) soup with clear noodles, shaved beef (very tender), napa cabbage, wood ears, tofu and some other stuff that I am not sure what it was. I ordered "mild" - glad I didn't go for "medium" which is my normal level of spicy at Indian/Thai places. The mild definitely had all the kick I could handle!

Leon ordered this strange drink called "salty lemon with 7up" - he drank it but I thought it was gross. That's a picture of it in the foreground.

We rode the light rail back to our neighborhood, where we went to this little place call "mild drunk" for a dipped cone. We shared that, then returned to our place for a quiet night before turning in around 9:30.