We are staying in the United States this summer, albeit, the furthermost outposts. We are going to travel around Alaska for one month and then on to Hawaii for the last two weeks. I was stunned to find out out that Alaska air has about six flights a day between Anchorage and Honolulu. I guess since it is a straight shot south it is basically the equivalent of New Yorkers popping down to Florida for a long weekend. In any event, each place is as exotic as we could get while not needing a passport. Slowly, slowly we are circling around to exploring our own country.
To be perfectly honest I was a little less excited than normal while prepping for this trip than for others we have taken recently. I mean, we are not going to need another language or currency or even a sim card to to get around. If we run out of shampoo we can find the same old brand in any store, unlike trying to sort out the deodorant from the hair spray in cyrillic. We are not even leaving America for cripes sake! But seeing the glaciers before they disappear is definitely on my Must-Do bucket list so that is the reason we are going.
To be perfectly honest I was a little less excited than normal while prepping for this trip than for others we have taken recently. I mean, we are not going to need another language or currency or even a sim card to to get around. If we run out of shampoo we can find the same old brand in any store, unlike trying to sort out the deodorant from the hair spray in cyrillic. We are not even leaving America for cripes sake! But seeing the glaciers before they disappear is definitely on my Must-Do bucket list so that is the reason we are going.
On the upside, going to Alaska does give us the excuse to visit my sisters-in-law who live in Seattle, Washington and their adorable son Ronan. This will be our jumping off place for the trip proper. We will take a quick bus from Seattle up to Bellingham where we will board the Alaska Marine Highway ferry to Ketichan, our first stop on Alaska’s inside passage.
Now I will admit it. Except for a flying visit to Eureka, Oregon I have never been north of San Francisco. When I envisioned Seattle I thought, ok, big city with lots of coffee shops. What I didn't realize is that there is just so much GREEN here in the Pacific northeast - you step two minutes away from the center of town and you are engulfed in trees. It is quite disconcerting for a city girl.
What I love about Seattle is it is the perfect smash up of anti-establishment youth culture and immense wealth. So you have all these skateboarders wandering around with head to toe tats (including quite elaborate face designs) but a ticket to the science museum costs an eye bleeding $29 a person. You can’t tell the multimillionaires from the nearly homeless.
Now I will admit it. Except for a flying visit to Eureka, Oregon I have never been north of San Francisco. When I envisioned Seattle I thought, ok, big city with lots of coffee shops. What I didn't realize is that there is just so much GREEN here in the Pacific northeast - you step two minutes away from the center of town and you are engulfed in trees. It is quite disconcerting for a city girl.
What I love about Seattle is it is the perfect smash up of anti-establishment youth culture and immense wealth. So you have all these skateboarders wandering around with head to toe tats (including quite elaborate face designs) but a ticket to the science museum costs an eye bleeding $29 a person. You can’t tell the multimillionaires from the nearly homeless.
My sister-in-law lives in Fremont so our first day she walked us around this area which has got to give Portland a run for the "quirkiest place on earth" label. Start with this statue of Lenin - the god father of communism striding across the corner of 36th St, and Evanston Ave outside a falafel joint and a gelato shop. Unlike most depictions where he is a philosopher, here he is heroically leading the way through crashing waves of chaos. Unfortunately like most Lenins in Russia, he came crashing down himself after the Berlin wall fell. Some Seattleite native happened upon him in a post communist scrap heap in Slovakia and for whatever reason decided to bring him to the home town of Microsoft, Google, UPS, Boeing and Starbucks among other capitalist entrepreneurs. According to a small plaque, the statue is actually for sale though he has become somewhat of a neighborhood mascot with special hats bestowed upon him for New Year, Halloween, Christmas and the 4th of July.
The next stop on our tour was the notorious Fremont Troll. If you have ever been nervous at night do not sashay past the Aurora Bridge in the dark. That is a real Volkswagen bug he has trapped in his hand, by the way. The kids had a blast clambering all over him and pretending to be caught themselves. This troll was the winning design in an open public arts contest and it is now impossible to imagine anything else lurking under there.
Another one of Fremont’s beloved neighborhood attractions took major commitment and vision.These are two giant topiary Dinosaurs along the waterfront. It has taken 12 years for the ivy to just reach the face of the mother Appatasaurous. Behind them is the running track where you see Seattle in all its youthful athletic glory, a constant stream of ultra fit people not only biking and jogging but kayaking down the river. One thing we have learned - this is a town with a lot of hikers.

Just across the street from the dinosaurs is a) Theo’s homemade chocolate factory where even if you don’t take the available tour you can still gorge on baskets of free samples and b) this striking manhole cover. Its not quite the same thing as the notice saying Fremont is the "Center of the Universe" (located at N 35th, Fremont Place & Fremont Ave N) but it does show that you have to keep your eyes open for touches of whimsy throughout the area.

It is amazing how irreverent Seattleites are about their public street art. While Lenin gets the ccasional Uncle Sam hat on the fourth of July this sculpture group at 34th St. at Fremont Ave. are completely bedecked in donated clothing. Called Waiting for the InterUrban this group of ordinary people (and a dog with a man's face) waiting for the trolley has been completely dolled up in sweaters, hats & scarves. For the final touch, somebody, for some unknown reason, then decided to turn it into a homage to Tayler Lautner from Twilight.
The last thing on this tour is the Seattle rocket. Apparently a group of legitimate Fremont business owners heard of a cold war rocket being dismantled and thought it would be the perfect landmark for their town. After some comedy of errors the rocket was eventually retooled and achieved lift off at the corner of Evanston and 36th. The rocket is now adorned with the Fremont crest and motto, "De Libertas Quirkas," which means "Freedom to be Peculiar."

Well, maybe not quite the end. On the way back to the house we passed by this patrol car, owned by the Fremont Brewing company, clearly advertising their willingness "to Ferment and Serve". We love Fremont in all its "Quirkas" and are excited to see all the other parts of Seattle in our time here.