Portland 02/28/14 | Day in Seattle

Because we were in such close proximity, I was absolutely set on getting us in on a day trip to Seattle! Plus, as an early birthday gift to my brother, I wanted to take him to the EMP Museum so he could check out the Jimi Hendrix Exhibit as well as various other things that interest him. But we later found out that there were also segments of the museum dedicated to sci-fi/horror and one for fantasy as well. I was pretty excited after hearing that.

The day was off to a rocky start. We left as scheduled, but our schedule soon got derailed when I got pulled over for speeding shortly after getting into Washington! I was going a speed I normally never go, but in the rental, the ride was so smooth, I kept speeding without even realizing and constantly had to check my speed. Lesson learned the hard way, unfortunately. After that we stopped for a less than mediocre breakfast at the closest stop (which happened to be a Denny's) and I got a free meal for having some kind of label cooked into my potatoes. Silver lining maybe? I was obviously pretty melancholy after that, but as soon as we saw Seattle's beautiful cityscape, I was recharged!

We hit the sci-fi section first and it was a bit of a letdown for me. There were some interactive bits, but usually when there are interactive bits in museums, it means children, and it means children who don't want to share. Basically we came in after a very bratty girl who kind of irritated me the entire time we were walking around, and I ended up passing up on a few things just to get away from her, but what can you really do? On top of that, some of the displays seemed rather pointless (a copy of Battle Angel Alita sitting in a pile of gears? Was that really necessary at all?), and pretty underwhelming. There were a few points of interest, but basically, unless you love standing around reading walls of text, there was not really much too the sci-fi section, unfortunately.

The Lego exhibit was pretty interesting. I've never really been interested in Legos, even as a kid, but the tallest buildings in the world in Lego form were enough to impress me! Though apparently not impressive enough for me to take any good shots of them! I'm a lousy archivist/chronicler/what-have-you! But I had a lot of fun with my brother. I would always suggest traveling with someone who doesn't mind hamming it up for photos! Makes for a lot of fun shots!

I think the Nirvana exhibit might have been my favorite. To be honest, I've never been a huge Nirvana fan, not for lack of enjoying their music, but I wasn't really exposed to them much until later on, long after Kurt Cobain had passed and the fervor for their music had died down considerably. I think they're excellent, and the exhibit had some really great interviews and displays that actually moved me. I don't often connect with musicians, just music, but after reading some of the information, I couldn't help but feel connected to the iconic band.

The fantasy exhibit was also a bit of a let down for me. It had a few interesting displays, and felt like I was in Disneyland for a minute, but other than that, there wasn't much to it! I did like the dragon though.

After leaving the museum we spent the rest of the day wandering around a few streets, trying to use up the time in my expensive parking spot, then traveling to the University District to find a record shop (which apparently did not impress my brother) and finally meeting up with an old internet friend for the first time! Overall, my brother and I felt like Seattle was too much like Los Angeles in the structure and atmosphere, and while it had beautiful spots, mostly we just wanted to get out of there and get back to Portland. Granted, we both agreed we really didn't have enough time to really take in the city. My judgment is reserved until I can return one day!

^{Footnote:I'm hoping my photos will improve during the trip's progress. These shots were a bit disappointing, but I think I got more used to the camera as the days passed! I'm also hoping to figure out how to better organize my posts so they aren't so very long. I don't really like using read more, but if I can't cut down on the photos I want to use per post!}