August 17, 2008 - The Space Needle

Note: Photos for this day have not been posted yet.

I went to Mass at St. Jerome's Church which is just seven minutes from the hotel. The same priest I met on the feast of the Assumption was present and planned to celebrate the Mass. However, a priest from Africa was in the area and asked him if he could celebrate. The visiting priest was so very enthusiastic and gave a very nice homily. He was very holy and it was obvious that he was so very happy to be a priest. We have a priest shortage here in the United States where there is so much wealth and materialism. Yet in Africa, where there is abject poverty, there are enough priests to serve the people there plus eliminate the shortage here. And, they tend to be some of the most enthusiastic and holy priests one could ever meet. We take so much for granted here. If we had more priests from impoverished countries, it could help to rejuvinate the church here.

Although I had not planned a visit to Seattle when I was putting this trip together, during the weekend I decided I ought to see the Space Needle. Afterall, I saw "very important" landmarks like the Spam Museum, the Corn Palace, and the world's largest buffalo statue. I figure the Space Needle was just a wee bit more dignified than those.

The GPS indicated I should get there in just under three hours. Of course, that's without massive traffic jams. As it was a Sunday afternoon, everyone was returning from vacations and getting ready to go back to work. Getting to I-5 took a very long time. There were several small cities to go through just to get to the interstate. There were traffic jams along the way.


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I-5 was even worse. There were several accidents. On many occasions traffic came to a dead stop. It would move for a little while and then stop again. If this is what it's like on a Sunday afternoon, I would never want to drive this stretch of I-5 during work commuting hours! I was so spoiled with the interstates in between Ohio and eastern Washington, going through so many underpopulated areas.

It was a long, grinding trip (I'd trade the winding wilderness of US-101 for this, any day). Ultimately, it took about four and a half hours to get to the Space Needle.

I pulled into the first parking garage I could find as I didn't want to be driving around a major city looking for parking areas. Of course, I found out later that I managed to pick the most expensive parking area in the vicinity at a flat rate of $6. I saw others with hourly fees. I was probably only parked for about ninety minutes.

The sky was overcast (of course, Seattle has a reputation for that so I guess I was getting treated to typical Seattle). Photos will not be great.

But, it was definitely worth it. The Space Needle is interesting. There is a whole tourist area surrounding the Space Needle with gift shops, food vendors, a sci-fi museum, etc. I didn't have time to see anything other than the Space Needle.

I really didn't know much about the Space Needle prior to this trip. I knew it was in Seattle and I had seen a picture of it. That's about it. I actually did not know people could go to the top. Of course, once I learned this I decided I had to go to the top as well. The cost was $16 for the elevator ride. But, when else would I be in Seattle?

There is a short spiral climb to get to the elevator area. You have to show your ticket to someone as you go inside the structure. As you walk further, staff ask if you want your photo taken as a souvenir. If you do this, you can pick up the photo at the gift shop for a fee. I had a photo taken but passed on picking it up.

Everything is themed around the space race in the 1960s. The elevator ride is considered a "life off." The elevator ride took exactly 41 seconds. I didn't time it; the elevator operator told us the time, along with various other facts about the Space Needle. There are three elevators. One is red, one is blue, and one is yellow. I rode the yellow elevator going up and the blue going down.

The observatory offers an opportunity to see Seattle and the surrounding area from every direction. I got a number of photos. The inside area allows the purchase of snacks and drinks, including alcholic beverages. There is a stairway to a restaurant which revolves. I did not visit the restaurant.

I stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Tacoma. It was open late. The food was good. A lot of Mexican restaurants have "deep fried ice cream" as a dessert item. Ice cream itself is bad enough for you but putting a deep fried coating on top only makes it that much worse. However, I decided just this once to try it. It's not worth the damage to one's arteries.

The trip back to the hotel was much faster. There were absolutely no traffic jams and I was able to drive at the speed limit.