I’ve Been Space Needled!

Our vacation to Seattle was a success: we did the full-on tourist thing, visiting the Space Needle, Seattle Art Museum, Pike Place Market, Experience Music Project, Sci-Fi Hall of Fame, and many other venues and shops. The weather was also better than expected, with no rain after the night we arrived and temperatures nudging close to twelve degrees.

The four-day excursion also brought us to a place called the Can Can, which featured performers/dancers. It wasn’t Can-Can dancing, and it wasn’t Burlesque; I can’t really describe it as anything other than entertaining. My ladyfriend swooned over one of the dancers, whom I’ll admit was a handsome man thing. I swooned over a coffee barista at the Space Needle, so she and I are even in that regard. We certainly had our fill of dining out for a while - with no grocery store and no hotel-room fridge, we were going out for meals every night (and I think we’d had enough of that after night two).

We hit up the shopping on the way back, with a visit to a Target store and the Premium Outlet Mall. Evaluation: bedding and housewares are cheaper. Clothes, at the outlet mall, are a great deal. Everything else is pretty much the same price, once you work in the exchange rate and the fuel used to get there. But we did come home with some new bedding, I bought some $25 pants from Banana Republic and $50 Nike shoes, and my ladyfriend came home with some a couple new shirts.

There was still a weird sense when visiting the US, even though it’s no more or less safe than Vancouver, and the people are pretty much the same, that we’re still not quite fitting in. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s probably not helped by the growing anti-US sentiment that Canadians seem to have. Or maybe it’s just the fact that we’re tourists, and we’re not supposed to feel at home. But it is odd, that driving just two and a half hours south, something still seems completely different.

I’m glad we decided on Seattle rather than Vegas, which was the original idea. Weather in Vegas for the time we were in Seattle: rain and highs of 13. Ha! Take that, sin city!

4 Responses to “I’ve Been Space Needled!”

  1. big bro  on January 30th, 2010

    We felt a similar way when we went through the Czeck Republic - except we felt like we were on a different planet. The funny thing was that everywhere else in Europe we went we felt totally comfortable, even with everyone around us speaking a foreign language.

  2. wizened old soul  on January 30th, 2010

    You know, when I went on a brief foray into US, and that was years ago, I felt the same thing, which, as you state, is only accentuated now..an “Otherness”. And the deals are still the same–bedding can be a real bargain, price-wise, should you hit it right.
    Well, I am so glad you had a good time. As I said, Seattle has a lot to offer, whatever your interests and time frame. Welcome back!!

  3. Tony  on January 31st, 2010

    Seen a handsome man thing!

    Karen and I were spotted as Canadians for saying “laa-tay” instead of “law-tay.” We are fine with being spotted as Canadians.

  4. Cameron  on February 1st, 2010

    There are two things about Seattle which make it seem like a completely different part of the world for me: Overpasses and black people.

    Overpasses: They are EVERYWHERE, and definitely make me feel like I’m in a “big American city”, instead of the “Emerald City: Jewel of the Northwest”

    African-Americans: Considering our geographical proximity to Seattle, the number of black people in Seattle, compared to Vancouver, is surprising. I’m not saying it’s a problem, by any means, it’s just there’s a considerable demographic shift as soon as you cross the 49th.


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