Just another grey day in Seattle

The Navigator in action!

Yesterday, Padawan and I took the afternoon and toured around Seattle. We were going to a letterboxing mini-gather at the Old Spaghetti Factory, and decided to letterbox a bit in Seattle. Mostly, we ended up driving through a lot of really, really cool Seattle neighborhoods!

We only got one letterbox out of a whole stack of clues, but that's cool - it was fun to get away for a bit. The one we got was in honor of the Aurora Bridge Troll, a sculpture that resides under the bridge. I never knew it existed until I read the clue - apparently it must be on some sort of tourist must-see list, because there was a ton of tourists there climbing and snapping photos. Gosh, I hope they actually get to see some nicer looking things on their time in the PNW!

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Some fun facts to know about Seattle:

Seattle is ranked the most literate city by Central Conn. State Univ. Everybody reads here. The Seattle Public Library system has the highest percentage of library card-holders per capita in the country.

Seattle has the highest percentage of residents with a college degree or higher. Don't worry, there are still fools behind the wheel and cluttering up the freeways.

The Seattle General Strike in 1919 was the first general strike in the country. 60,000 shipyard workers walked off their jobs. All power to the people!

Seattle is boasts the original Skid Row (now called Yesler Way).

Seattle is the northernmost U.S city with a population of over half a million.

Seattleites buy more sunglasses per capita than any other city in the nation. So much for the myths of rain and clouds here. Seattle's offical low and high temperatures are 0 (31jan50) and 100 (20jul94).

At 76 stories and 937 feet Columbia Center is Seattle's tallest building and is 12th tallest building in the country. Smith Tower, built in 1914, was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi at 42 stories. Floors are now being sold as condos.

Seattle sister cities I want to party in: Mombasa, Kenya & Reykjavík, Iceland

Seattle was the first city in the US to play a Beatles song on the radio.

The world's first gas station opened in 1907 on East Marginal Way.

Seattle was the first American city to put police on bicycles. Seattle has the highest percentage of people riding bikes to work compared to other US cities its size.

Seattle's houseboat population is the country's largest at almost 500 and largest outside of Asia.

Seattle's Harbor Island is the largest man made island in the nation.

The Farmer's Market at Pike Place Market is the longest continuously operating farmer's market in the US (1907).

In 1961, the restaurant atop the Space Needle became the country's first revolving eatery.

Kim Basinger, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Julia Roberts all turned down the role of Annie in Sleepless in Seattle. Meg Ryan got the part instead.

Seattle was home to the second chapter of Black Panther Party, founded in 1968, after Oakland CA.

The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (SR-520) is the longest floating bridge in the world. The Mercer Island Floating Bridge (I-90) was the first floating bridge in the world (1950). Both are traffic jams waiting to happen. BTW three of the world's six floating bridges are in WA.

The Washington State Ferry System is the largest in the country and the third largest in the world, carrying over 25 million passengers annually. Seattle's Pier 52 is the busiest ferry terminal in the U.S.

High tech? WA has the highest per capita share of technology-dependent jobs among all the states in the country. And it's not just all Microsoft either. You can spit without hitting a software company.

Seattle's total land area? 53,718 acres of which 6,189 acres are parks and open areas. That's 11.52%! The parks in Seattle rock. The Port of Seattle parks in town are hidden gems awaiting discovery.