Today my friend Christine arrived as planned, and we spent the better part of the afternoon at Seattle Center. We got there via the monorail which, with outside temperatures in the mid-40s, had kept us warm with heated seats! It took awhile to figure out where the warmth was coming from. Nice.

In less than 10 minutes we rode from one end of the monorail to the other, ending at Seattle Center. First up: the Space Needle. Despite Steve's recommendation that I skip the Needle ("someday it's going to blow over"), I inhaled for the 80+ seconds it took to ride up and then ignored the height we'd arrived at. The view would have been better yesterday or the day before, but despite the overcast skies it was interesting to see the whole city laid out before us. Elliott Bay, Bainbridge Island, Bremerton to the west, the city of Seattle south of us (and Rainier nowhere to be seen), It was cold and windy on the observation deck so that didn't last long.

Next came Experience Music Project (Cris's recommendation) which was really unusual. A few photos of artifacts that I took are here. The era depicted (mostly the 1970s) was a time when I was busy doing other things than listening to Jimi Hendrix and AC/DC, so it wasn't so much nostalgic as just interesting. A couple of amazing Michael Jackson videos (including "Thriller")  could be watched on a 100" screen.

Much of the interest in Seattle Center is based on its 50th birthday. Put together in 1962 for the World's Fair, the Center anticipates a big birthday party all year.

We tried to see the Chihuly glass and garden exhibit, but it doesn't open until the 21st. Some of the  glasswork is already in place in the gardens, and it's bound to be a spectacular showing. Christine is seen in the photo with the base of the Space Needle and two of the Chihuly pieces.


Dinner at The Book Bindery was wonderful. Christine is a foodie, and quite a group of us depend on her to locate the best places to eat during CSE meetings; she got it right tonight (again).

Tour of nearby Tillicum Village will take up much of tomorrow.