My last few days in Seattle were spent doing a variety of different things to finish off my time in the US. First off was some more sightseeing – I’ve done most of the tourist-type things around the city in the past, but a couple of the more recent attractions were still on the list, starting with the Olympic Sculpture Park – around 9 acres of reclaimed industrial land just outside the CBD that has been turned into a large scale sculpture park (surprising I know, given the name and all).
Very cool idea, and some funky sculptures and gardens to check out. The price is right as well – free! A very worthwhile way of spending an hour or two strolling around with great views of both the sculptures and out over the harbour and city, and there’s even some benches and grass down beside the waterfront at the edge of the park where one could, say for example, doze off in the sun at the end of it all. Somehow I managed not to, but it was a close run thing…
The weekend dawned hot and sunny, which was kinda handy given that the plans revolved around grilled meat and cold beverages. Yup, it’s BBQ season for sure.
Saturday was reasonably low key, other than my introduction to the wonders of REI – for the Kiwis and Aussies reading this, think Kathmandu on steroids. Outdoor clothes and equipment as far as the eye can see – if money and luggage capacity weren’t limiting factors I think I could have spend the entire day and a few month’s salary in the place. In the end I managed to walk out with only a couple of things, which I thought was pretty restrained.
Once things cooled down slightly in the evening a few of the neighbours came over for a bbq, which was good fun. I even got talked into breaking my cardinal travelling rule (never discuss politics, especially in the US) but thankfully everyone was of a like mind, even after a few beers…
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Disclaimer: I’m actually writing this from Melbourne well over a week later, so there’s a good chance I’ve forgotten half of what I did and will be making up the rest. Just so that you know…
After a great night’s sleep and an awful lot of time wasting, I managed to jump on the bus and get into town by the crack of noon. Actually even that’s a lie, it was closer to 1. Very slack, I know. Had lunch with Nick and then got to be the ring-in random for the surprise birthday afternoon tea at his work. This was also my introduction to another exciting new culinary experience – fudgesicles. As the name implies, they were like a popsicle but more fudge-like. Only 28 thousand calories per serve. Yum.
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My last full day in Boston was unofficially designated ‘wander around aimlessly and see what you can find’ day. So that’s just what I did. First step (well, first few thousand steps) was to walk back to the area around Harvard University for a bit more of a look around, as I’d cut it short the day before due to shops closing etc. It was a pretty decent hike in the sun, but the great views from the Harvard Bridge as I crossed the Charles river made it all worth while, as did the fantastic strawberry and rhubarb icrecream from a little shop across from the uni. Mmmmm …… gooooood ….
Walked back into Boston proper and along Newbury St, one of the main boutique shopping / eating / drinking areas. Astonishingly I didn’t stop for a beer, although I did manage a pretty good organic burrito for lunch. Down to the Public gardens again later in the afternoon, where I managed a two hour sleep on the grass (well, except when woken up by a low flying frisbee…) – apparently that walk to Harvard and back took a bit more out of me than I realised! Ahh the benefits of not having to be anywhere at any particular time. And having weather good enough to snooze in the park with!
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After a rousing breakfast at Finagle a Bagel (yes, it is possibly the stupidest name for a food outlet I’ve ever come across, but they do a mean bacon and egg bagel so I’ll forgive them) I hit the subway and shuttle bus out to the John F. Kennedy museum. I’ve always been fascinated by that period of history and JFK in particular so I was expecting good things, and I wasn’t disappointed. Some really interesting stuff on his early life and election to president, Bay of Pigs, space race etc, as well as significant sections on Jackie and Robert Kennedy as well.
Obviously being a memorial museum, the man was presented in the best possible light and the many areas of controversy in his life were glossed over or ignored, but I didn’t really expect anything else. There were loads of original letters, gifts and other items on display, including his favourite sailboat mounted on the grass outside the museum which I thought was a nice touch.
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My last few days in Seattle were spent doing a variety of different things to finish off my time in the US. First off was some more sightseeing – I’ve done most of the tourist-type things around the city in the past, but a couple of the more recent attractions were still on the list, starting with the Olympic Sculpture Park – around 9 acres of reclaimed industrial land just outside the CBD that has been turned into a large scale sculpture park (surprising I know, given the name and all).
