Day 2 begins

So the hotel internet pooped out, probably immediately after I lauded it as the first thing that went right on the vacation. (I'm not complaining!) No really, things are okay. I have a cold--delightfully named disease that I tend to get in the summer--and went far too long without eating, so I shouldn't have been typing. Anyway, I feel better about Seattle in general, now. Everyone seems to be pretty damn friendly and fairly intelligent and clean and in many cases, hip. It's like a cross between San Francisco and Vermont.

We spent much of our tourist time yesterday in the Seattle Center, which is the area immediately around the Space Needle. I couldn't stop thinking about Itchy and Scratchy while I was at the needle itself, especially when I saw the gift shop. It's like a much-reduced version of the CN tower in Toronto, but it's actually pleasant to be in the observation deck (no winter coat required). We used the view to orient ourselves so we could walk around a bit.

Outside we found lots of urban birds in the park. Crows (not sure of the species--probably American crows, but they sounded a little off, and they were on the small side) were common and came quite close to us. They seemed to be filling the starling niche in that part of town (I saw maybe two starlings and probably 60 crows). Large gulls (California Gulls?) were being fed in the park, and we sat and watched interactions between them and the crows, the pigeons and the house sparrows. I saw a white-crowned sparrow, and got a craptastic picture of it. Hopefully I'll see another. Haven't done enough research on the trees yet--some gorgeous Asian-looking spruces, lots of cedar/juniper things, tons of London planetrees, and a whole row of plum trees along the street our hotel is on.

The Seattle Center has a bunch of memorials and fountains. I can't quite put my finger on it--they weren't solemn exactly, but dignified--it felt like they were celebrating humanity, not patriotism--even the 9/11 memorial. It was nice. Not that I'm not patriotic, but I don't think the best response to a national tragedy is to wave an American flag. There was a memorial to the vicitms of a shooting rampage (that I'm embarassed to have forgotten about) that had magic markers attached to it so you could write your feelings on it. Surprisingly, that's what was actually written on it, no "Pearl Jam Rulez" or "You Suck Dead People" or anything like that. Are people here more civilized? Maybe. Unlike Boston there's actually a skate park, and there was someone in it painting a landscape painting of it.

We ate finally at a bar (big surprise) which was fine. I won't go into the size of the fried cheese block that I ate. No, Alexis, I didn't photograph it (I did photograph my artichoke dip) but Rebecca would have loved it.

I'm keeping us in the hotel room longer than we should because the internet is working. Local news (Top story: Police are stopping speeders on Interstate 5!) tells us that today will be the pick of the week. It may get up to 77 degrees. We're going to walk to the waterfront and then drive to the rainforest. Now it's a vacation!

The pictures

Read previous entry for context.
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First Impressions of Vancouver

Bigger (much), and scarier than Seattle. Really big. Scary in that "real city" sort of way. But my perspective is skewed. We drove in on the highway, which turned into a wide residential street, through miles and miles of residential grid. We went over to the "City Centre"
(actually the northwest end of the city) which is giant and looks like a futuristic dystopia from a distance. New Hong Kong or something. Up close it looks like New York (which is why, I suppose, it stands in for New York in movies and tv so often) or Chicago. We chose a spot with some history, as it turns out. That link features the parking spot where our rental car is, at least for the moment.

I'll fix up my pictures of today's activities, and post 'em in a bit.

365 Urban Species. #215: Fireweed

Photos by urbpan. Location: near 6th and Broad Street, Seattle.

Urban species #115: Fireweed epilobium angustifolium

The ecological state of a city is that it is always in the first stage of succession. Concrete and asphalt resist colonization by all but the most aggressive plants. Most of the areas that have some welcoming soil are constantly mowed, resetting the sequence of ecological succession, making the city a place for pioneer plants. On the west coast, one of the most successful native pioneer plants is fireweed. It is named for the fact that it is the most conspicuous plant to grow after a forest fire. It was one of the first plants to grow in the ashy devastation of Mount St. Helens. The roadsides of Alaska are lined with fireweed, swaths of magenta bordering any summer drive. Fireweed is attractive to bees, and honey collected from hives near fields of this plant is noted for its light color and delicate taste. The fireweed in these pictures grows in a neglected edge of soil between a parking lot and a construction site in Seattle.

Panoramas of discovery

( wide photos ahead! )