Experience Music Project Museum

We returned to the Space Needle area to visit the top of the Needle.

A little different view of the Needle.

Always lines in this tourist magnet town. 

"What do you have there, ma'am?"

A view of the harbor and the location of the dock where we will embark tomorrow.  This ship is the Norwegian Jewel.

When Al was about three years old, he was sitting in his grandmother's lap.  Looking up at her, he said, "Grandma, your face is cracked!"  Perhaps she smiles now as he has inherited the "cracks".

Next a visit to the EMP Museum that

    "...is a leading-edge nonprofit museum, dedicated to the ideas and risk-taking that fuel contemporary popular culture."

The Jimi Hendrix gallery.

A gallery dedicated to Punk Rock, that along with Jimi Hendrix, originated in the Seattle area.

Costumes from the Star Wars gallery, that cost eight dollars more.  We did not go.

Ruth in the Indie Game Revolution Gallery.

A gallery dedicated to the work of Chuck Jones and the Loony Tunes family of cartoons that enlivened movies of the 1940's and 1950's.  First the newsreel, then the cartoon and finally the main feature.

Inside the circle.

That is the gallery that the older folks spent most time in.  The younger ones in our crowd spent time in the Hendrix and Punk galleries.

Chihuly Garden and Glass

We were visiting a strange garden near the Seattle Space Needle.  

There are flowers here that cannot be found in Midwestern gardens or any place in the world except here.  Hail would be a big problem because these "flowers" are made of glass.  These are the results of a master glass-blower named Dale Chihuly. 

Another strange formation with an image of the Space Needle visible.

Many shapes and colors are included in this garden display.

Large flower shapes measuring about 2 feet across.

A boat is filled with many wild and fanciful shapes and colors.

A garden inspired by the artist's remembrance of his grandmother's garden.

This kind of glassware is not for every day use measuring about 18 inches in diameter.

Sue is standing next to some beautiful creations giving some sense to the scale of the glassware.

Tillicum Village

 

Tillicum Village is  located on Blake island in Puget Sound near Seattle.  Today a state park, it was the birthplace of Chief Seattle as told to us by our storyteller on the cruise from Seattle to Tillicum Village. 

Our excursion started with a bus from the Lynnwood Transportation Center that Anna uses each day for work.

The experience is provided by Argosy with twice-daily trips. 

Ruth and Sue under beautiful flowers located everywhere.

Out ship is coming in to pick us up.  Two ships, the Goodtime 2 and Goodtime 3 rotate for cleanup after a cruise.

Tide was out and the angle of the gangway was quite steep. Mandatory photographs for later sale on the dock.

Anna and Sue enjoying the trip...

...but Ruth is toughing it outside to get a better view.

Arriving at Tillicum Village.

Clams in a cup were offered to new arrivals.

Salmon, the feature of the meal served on Tillicum Village, cooking in Native American style. 

The dining room for the buffet meal that included a stage. 

After the meal very energetic dancers rendered a depiction of Native American dances typical of the area.

One of the dancers posing with a large mask whose jaw can be opened and then closed with a loud bang.

One of the servers posed with us.  Here we have Anna, Anna and Sue.

Surveying the boats in the harbor. 

Then after several hours, we are on the way back to Seattle. 

We sighted some very brave kayakers sharing the sound with a ferry in the distance and us. 

End of the cruise to Tillicum Village and we enjoyed the day. No, we did not purchase the photograph. 

Visit to Chateu Ste. Michelle

 

We arrived in Seattle in fine shape.  After a day to “catch up” with our daughter, Anna, and husband, Chris, we went on our first excursion.  But wait, this is Seattle, or rather Bothell, and one cannot start their day here without Starbucks.

So a discussion was held of where we are headed and other important information of the day.

 

Now we are off the Chateau Ste. Michelle, Washington State's oldest winery is surrounded by 105 wooded acres located in Woodinville, WA. 

A map of the grounds directed us to the library, point A, for our wine tasting experience.

The Library is in the main building on the grounds.

Don provided us with samples of various wines along with cheeses and chocolate to tease the palate along with a description of the estate and vineyards. 

Sue tried one of the wines and---

---then it turned out okay.

Our group of Chris, Ruth, Al, Sue and Anna.

Next we toured a bottling line, and we were safely behind glass.

 We noted that several bottles were skipped with no foil covering the cork.  The process engineer in me had to find out how this is corrected.  Sure enough, a detector shunted the bottles off the the side and and a worker moved the bottles back for another try.

Pictures of the many grapes used in the winery.

 

Lots of wine.

And a bit of pride!

A restaurant where one can have a taste of wine with a sandwich.

Another tasting area.

Wine for sale.

"Did you give us the discount?"