Vacation Trip - Art & Architecture

For four days, the weather in the Tacoma area was fabulously warm and sunny, not something you can bank on even in August. Day five dawned more typically cloudy and gray, which made us wonder if we should go through with plans to walk about Seattle. We even got spat upon as we drove to Bremerton to catch the ferry, but this tiny bright spot in the clouds convinced me we should risk the trip.


So what if the skies were as battleship gray as the actual battleships along the waterfront? And while we waited for the ferry, there was plenty of art to enjoy, all linked to either the maritime history of the area or the life below the surface of water.


Sculpture to ponder.


And sculpture to climb upon.


There were five of these conning towers lined up along this small park area.


Had we known this was Harborside Fountain Park, we might not have been so startled when they started spewing water like big whales through blowholes. One after another the fountains would rise. After a pause, the sequence might be different.


Inside the terminal, a different kind of art helped to pass the time.



I apologize for not getting the name of the artist. The tilework was so beautiful.


Here's our ferry arriving. Still looks very gray...


We opted for a late morning ferry, and nearly had the whole thing to ourselves. The return trip was right at the beginning of rush hour and all the window seats were quickly snapped up. Way in the back you might be able to spot more art on the wall.


I think it's about an hour ride, and the weather wasn't improving much. Here we are approaching Seattle, a large cruise ship in the foreground, the Seattle Space Needle visible along the skyline. I dismissed the bleakness of the view knowing we'd be spending time in shops and thankful that it wasn't raining.


While exiting, my eye was drawn to the industrial docks area. Those colorful shipping containers and the orange angular cranes cried out to me as fodder for a future abstract art quilt, If only the sun had been out so the colors would have popped on camera.


Then I turned my eye to the skyscrapers, long time favorites of mine.


Not as much detail as on buildings built earlier in the century, you still have to marvel at the decorative elements not visible with the naked eye from street level.


Our destination was Pike Street Market. Along the way we stopped at a Starbucks and took a moment for this photo op right outside its door. This is a woman craving warm fuzzies! I suddenly hear, "Adorable!" and notice 3 people in their 20's who immediately took turns striking the same pose after I got out of the way. Well, I guess that made me feel a little less embarrassed. Thank goodness, by the time we got to the pink pig, the crowd was too thick for Sherrie to pose me with it.


Once in the bowels of Pike Street Market, one has no idea what the weather is like outside. This is the shop where I found my bargain batiks. And as you see, I also found this bright length of fabric which I bought for Sherrie. When one has cloudy days, one finds one's own sunshine!


The clouds did eventually dissipate enough for blue sky and sun to appear. Here we say goodbye to Seattle now bathed in sunlight.