After such a long day yesterday I got a bit of a late start.
Breakfast today was leftover Banh Mi pizza from yesterday. It was still good cold, but I couldn’t finish the whole piece. I left some for later so I wouldn’t be too full to walk.
I decided to check out some of the highlights shown on a visitor guide map. Some of the highlights weren’t really worth visiting, as you will soon see.
On my way to the light rail station I walked through Pikes Place Market again.
Pikes Place Market
I finally found the entrance to the light rail station (after checking the map I found out the station was actually underground). The station was nice and unlike a subway the low part for the trains wasn’t very low at all.
all day pass for the light rail – no one actually asked to see it Inside the station the light rail inside the station…
I decided to go south to Chinatown to start as they highlighted the Chinatown Gate on the map. The gate was found easily next to the entrance of the underground light rail station. I also walked over to Hing Hay Park where there was someone playing a musical instrument.
map in the light rail station Chinatown gate King Street Station light rail station is in the background Hing hay park Hing Hay Park Hing Hay Park
I took the light rail to the next station – Pioneer Square Station aka homeless campgrounds. The homeless camp was mostly in front of the county courthouse, I’m not sure why. Homeless people were also at the iron pergola beyond the Smith Tower. My advice: skip this stop if you are visiting Seattle.
Inside the light rail station was some historical information.
Shortly after exiting the station (and walking away from the flashing police lights and homeless camp) I found some interesting buildings, including the Smith Tower.
the Smith Tower
I walked over to Occidental Square where a couple of totems are.
Tsonqua & Bear Bear Tsonqua
I walked a little further and found the old harbor building I saw while in the Lyft and took a couple more photos.
I then walked to the Iron Pergola (aka homeless camp) and took pictures of it and the Tlingit Totem Pole in Pioneer Square Park.
Iron Pergola and homeless camp Tlingit Totem Pole
I walked back to the Pioneer Square Station and took the light rail to Capitol Hill station where there was supposedly a Jimi Hendrix statue… I decided to walk past the park, but the “reflecting pool” was half empty and the other half was in need of cleaning to reflect anything.
inside Capitol Hill Station the Jimi Hendrix statue…. not really worth the effort to find
Back to the light rail station and on to the Westlake station to see the spheres.
Inside the Westlake Station the Spheres…. quite interesting actually I couldn’t go inside, but I managed to get this photo
I thought I had time to walk to the hotel before going to the ferry to pick up the drone, but I didn’t want to take the chance and miss the ferry, so I walked to the ferry pier from the Westlake area.
the monorail and Space Needle the big wheel
I found out there were two ferries to Bremerton – a fast ferry which is a catamaran and passengers only and the state ferry which is slower and loads cars as well as passengers. I got to the fast ferry first and almost got on it. I walked further to the state ferry and took it instead as I wanted a scenic cruise as opposed to fast transportation.
round trip ticket inside the ferry terminal another ferry (likely headed to Bainbridge) Smith Tower and the cars waiting to get on the ferry Mt Rainier Seattle Space Needle and Seattle Inside the ferry. There were a few outlets to charge my phone (I brought the plug) foot ferry to other side of Bremerton
The trip was great and very scenic. I really enjoyed it. I highly recommend it for anyone visiting Seattle.
Once at Bremerton I walked around the marina and found an interesting statue and propeller that even had etchings on it. The USS Turner Joy was closed by the time I arrived, but I still was able to see the outside of it from the marina. There was also an WWII tugboat in the marina I was able to see. Before walking back I looked over at the harborside fountain park, which was 2/3rds true – it was harborside and a park, but the fountains had no water.
ferry returning to Seattle jellyfish WWII tugboat USS Turner Joy harborside (fountain) park
While I was walking the marina it was time to check in for my flight. I checked in exactly 24 hours ahead of time in hopes of getting upgraded on the way home.
The ferry arrived back close to schedule (I wasn’t paying that much attention to what time it arrived)
the on/off ramp for vehicles here comes the ferry nearly there….
When the ferry left Bremerton I attempted to take pictures of the Naval yard, but the sun was in a bad location.
The best part of the ferry ride is seeing Mt Rainier and the Seattle skyline. It’s a good idea to check the position of the sun to get a good view of Mt Rainier.
Mt Rainier the entrance to the ferry terminal
Now it is nearly 8:00 PM and I need to find food. There was an Ivar’s fish bar near the ferry terminal, so I decided to eat there tonight. I ordered smoked salmon chowder and salmon fish and chips.
that’s a real bird…. Salmon fish and chips smoked salmon chowder
Since tonight was my last night in Seattle I wanted to get some aerial photos with my drone. I didn’t fly for too long, there was heavy helicopter traffic which made me very nervous to be flying despite the fact I could easily see my drone with the flashing lights. It is just hard to tell the altitude of the helicopters flying by…
Since I was flying out tomorrow I took some time to pack and try to get under the 50 lb limit for my suitcases (it wasn’t easy even with loading up my carry on luggage.
