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Key Attractions Experience Music Project The recently opened Experience Music Project (EMP) celebrates American popular music, for which Seattle is famous, beginning with the 1970s and Jimi Hendrix right up to the 90s grunge scene. It combines technologically advanced interactive and interpretive exhibits and more than 80,000 music artefacts, including the world’s largest collection of Hendrix memorabilia, an extensive recorded sound archive, film, photographs and stage costumes. The Guitar Gallery’s Quest for Volume exhibit explores the origins of amplified instruments and the Sound Lab contains the latest in musical gear and audio technology. The unique architecture by Frank O Gehry has been described as ‘the Jacket of the Space Needle dropped on the ground’ with an unmistakable purple and red metallic exterior. 325 Fifth Avenue North, Seattle Center Tel: (206) 367 5483. E-mail: experience@emplive.com Website: www.emplive.com Transport: Bus 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 24 or 33; or monorail. Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 1000-1800, Fri and Sat 1000-2300. Admission: US$19.95, may vary according to event (concessions available). Seattle Center Built for the ‘Century 21’ exhibition at the 1962 World’s Fair, the 30-hectare (74-acre) Seattle Center is home to the city’s most recognisable landmark: the 185m-tall (605ft) Space Needle. The Needle was designed by architect Edward E Carlson as a tribute to the vision of spaceship culture during the Cold War era. The underground foundation was so huge – at 91m (30ft) deep and 366m (120ft) wide – that it required 467 cement trucks and an entire day to fill the hole, the largest continuous concrete ‘pour’ in the West. Once completed, the foundation weighed as much as the Needle itself. The steel construction followed, using massive spiky legs to hold the spaceship observation deck and revolving restaurant on top. It takes 45 seconds in a glass elevator to reach the pinnacle. The Seattle Center is also home to the Pacific Science Center, which offers hands-on exhibits of lasers and holograms and includes the Seattle IMAX Dome Theater and the Children’s Museum, designed for the energy and imagination of younger visitors. Numerous civic festivals, such as Bumbershoot, Folklife and Bite of Seattle, take place here. Seattle Center 305 Harrison Street Tel: (800) 964 7695, toll free in the USA and Canada or 443 9800 or 684 8582 (events information). Website: www.seattlecenter.com Pacific Science Center 200 Second Avenue North Tel: (206) 443 2001. Website: www.pacsci.org Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1700, Sat and Sun 1000-1800. Admission: US$8 (exhibit or IMAX only); US$7.50 (IMAX only); US$13.50 (exhibit and IMAX). Space Needle Tel: (206) 443 2111. Website: www.spaceneedle.com Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 0900-2300, Fri-Sat 0900-2400. Admission: US$11 (concessions available; free for restaurant patrons). The Children’s Museum 305 Harrison Street Tel: (206) 441 1768. Website: www.thechildrensmuseum.org Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1700, Sat and Sun 1000-1800. Admission: US$5.50. Transport: Bus 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 24 or 33; or monorail. Seattle Art Museum ‘Hammering Man’, a massive sculpture of a manual worker, stands at the entrance to the Seattle Art Museum (or SAM), a striking postmodern building designed by Robert Venturi. Upstairs are noteworthy permanent exhibits of art from Africa and Native American Northwest, as well as touring international exhibitions. 100 University Street Tel: (206) 654 3100. Website: www.seattleartmuseum.org Transport: Bus tunnel stop University Street; bus 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 13, 14 or 16 to University Street. Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1700 (until 2100 Thurs). Admission: US$7 (concessions available); special exhibitions may cost more. Pike Place Market The Pike Place Market is the oldest continually operating Farmers’ Market in the USA. Situated just above the Waterfront, it features abundant fresh seafood and produce, as well as local handcrafted items. There are marvellous views of ferries and freighters passing on the bay below, street performances and a variety of unique pubs and restaurants. The original Starbucks, which brought the words espresso and latte into the American lexicon, is located here, as well as several small Mexican and other speciality groceries. First Avenue and Pike Street Tel: (206) 682 7453. Website: www.pikeplacemarket.org Transport: Waterfront Streetcar; or bus 15, 18, 22, 23 along First Avenue to Westlake Mall. Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0900-1800, Sun 1100-1700. Admission: Free. Waterfront Centred on Waterfront Park (above Pike Place Market), the promenade and piers that line Elliot Bay are in constant action, with maritime industries, shops and restaurants jostled together, ferries and freighters docking and the occasional seaplane flying overhead. Harbour tours, island cruises and fishing excursions are easily available from here. On Pier 59, the Seattle Aquarium has sea otters, a Pacific coral reef and other marine life on display. Right next door, the Seattle IMAX Dome Theater provides numerous big-screen experiences, the most popular being the ongoing film of the 1980 eruption of Mount St Helens shot from a helicopter. Pier 66 is home to the new Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal, where world-class cruise liners dock, amid other attractions, such as a state-of-the-art international conference centre, restaurants and a marina. Also at Pier 66 is Odyssey, The Maritime Discovery Center, with hands-on exhibits where visitors can pilot a virtual container ship through Puget Sound or haul in plastic fish on a fake factory trawler. Nearby, the bare wood deck of Pier 62/63 becomes a concert venue every summer, where artists perform amid an expansive setting of skyscrapers, boats and sunsets. Seattle Aquarium and Seattle IMAX Dome Theater Pier 59 Tel: (206) 386 4320 (Aquarium) or 622 1869 (IMAX). Website: www.seattleaquarium.org or www.seattleimaxdome.com Opening hours: (Aquarium) daily 1000-1700 (winter); daily 1000-1900 (summer). Admission: US$8.50 (Aquarium); US$7 (IMAX); US$14 (combined ticket); concessions available. Bell Street Cruise Terminal Pier 66 Tel: (206) 615 3900. Website: www.portseattle.org Odyssey, The Maritime Discovery Center Pier 66 Tel: (206) 374 4000. Website: www.ody.org Opening hours: Tues-Sat 1000-1700, Sun 1200-1700. Admission: US$6.50 (concessions available). Transport: Pedestrian bridge from Downtown Seattle and all major bus routes to the Waterfront; the Waterfront Streetcar runs from Pioneer Square. Pioneer Square Pioneer Square is south of the main Downtown area, a 17-square-block National Historic District, which showcases Seattle’s early history with the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and the unique Underground Tour of the sunken storefronts. This was the home of the original ‘Skid Road’, a term born when timber was slid down Yesler Way to a steam-powered mill on the Waterfront. Seattle’s oldest neighbourhood, Pioneer Square is full of restored redbrick buildings containing numerous shops with everything from antiques to handmade toys, as well as bookstores and art galleries. Smith Tower (506 Second Avenue, at Yesler Way), which overlooks the square, was the tallest building west of the Mississippi when it was completed in 1914 – at 42 storeys (159m/522ft). By night, especially on weekends or after a baseball game at Safeco Field, crowds jam the many restaurants, bars and nightclubs. Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park 117 South Main Street Tel: (206) 553 7220. Website: www.nps.gov/klgo Transport: Bus or Waterfront Streetcar to Pioneer Square. Opening hours: Daily 0900-1800. Admission: Free. Underground Tour 608 First Avenue Tel: (206) 682 4646. Website: www.undergroundtour.com Transport: Bus or Waterfront Streetcar to Pioneer Square. Opening hours: Daily 0930-1800 (ticket office); tour times vary (1100-1600). Admission: US$9. Chinatown/International District Across Fourth Avenue, uphill from Pioneer Square, this neighbourhood was settled by Chinese immigrants in the mid-1800s. Today, a broader Asian community includes Japanese and Filipino residents and such cultural offerings as a thriving restaurant district, a Buddhist temple, herbalist shops, antiques stores and Karaoke bars. Hing Hay (the ‘park for pleasurable gatherings’) has a bright pagoda donated by the City of Taipei and Kobe Terrace (named for Seattle’s sister city in Japan) displays a 3600kg (8000lb) stone lantern. The popular Uwajimaya Market is the Northwest’s largest Asian store, with services including a grocery, bookstore and sushi bar. The small Wing Luke Museum is the USA’s only museum devoted to Asian-American history, with displays on immigration, the arts and traditional medicine. Built in 1909, the Nippon Kan Theatre (628 South Washington Street) was the cultural heart of Seattle’s Japanese community until the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II. The building was ‘rediscovered’ in 1978 and is now a designated historic landmark, hosting myriad events. Uwajimaya Market Sixth Avenue South and South King Street Tel: (206) 624 6248. Website: www.uwajimaya.com Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 0900-2000, Fri and Sat 0900-2100. Wing Luke Asian Museum 407 Seventh Avenue South Tel: (206) 623 5124. Fax: (206) 623 4559. Website: www.wingluke.org Opening hours: Tues-Fri 1100-1630, Sat and Sun 1200-1600. Admission: US$4. Transport: Bus to International District stop. Museum of Flight At Boeing Field, south of Downtown, towards Sea-Tac airport, the Museum of Flight has a collection of more than 130 aircraft, largely vintage, some hanging from the glass ceiling of Boeing’s original factory, the Red Barn. This permanent exhibit is unquestionably a tribute to the airlines giant but nonetheless covers the entire history of flight from Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings to the NASA space programme. 9404 East Marginal Way South Tel: (206) 764 5700 or 5720, recorded information. Website: www.museumofflight.org Transport: Bus 174 south from Downtown. Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700 (until 2100 Thurs). Admission: US$9 (concessions available). Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture This museum on the University of Washington campus has a special focus on paleontological history, with dinosaur skeleton displays and fossils and cultural exhibits of the Pacific Northwest, covering more than 30 Native American tribes. Travelling exhibits have included Sir Ernest Shackleton’s doomed exploratory voyage to Antarctica in 1914. 17th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 45th Street, University District Tel: (206) 543 5590. Website: www.washington.edu/burkemuseum Transport: Bus 70, 71, 72 or 73 north from Downtown Seattle to the U-District. Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700 (until 2000 Thurs). Admission: US$5.50 (concessions available). Woodland Park Zoo The 36.8-hectare (92-acre) Woodland Park Zoo, considered among the top ten zoos in America, is a world leader in freeing animals from cages and letting them roam free in natural settings. Among new habitats are a butterfly exhibit, the ‘Trail of Vines’, ‘Northern Trail’, a tropical rainforest, the African savannah and an elephant habitat reminiscent of Thailand. 5500 Phinney Avenue North Tel: (206) 684 4800. Website: www.zoo.org Transport: Bus 5 north from Third Avenue and Pine Street (Downtown) to Westgate. Opening hours: Daily 0930-1600 (winter); daily 0930-1700 (summer; until 1800 May-mid-Sep). Admission US$9.50 (concessions available). |
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