Underground Tour - Seattle

 A while ago, I took a little trip, down the mighty mississip, whoops sorry, got going on another song there, and you're welcome for the earworm. giggle

I was in Seattle, a city I've driven through many times over the years and never had a chance to stop and sightsee in. 

Not this time.  I took a couple of days, and explored, a little.  A friend had suggested I take the Underground Seattle tour. 

Seattle  downtown before the fire

I'd never heard of it and the thought intrigued me, so I did a little research, found a parking spot down by Pioneer Square and then booked a tour with Bill Speidel's Underground Seattle tour.  And had a blast.  Our tour guide was a hoot and told lots of great stories, some of which might actually be true.  Or at least have some slight resemblance to reality.  Just kidding, I did more research after the tour and discovered that while our tour guide might have embellished a little the basic facts were there.   

Drawings showing how they were raising the streets

I also took lots and lots of pictures, with my camera.  

You can read more about Underground Seattle history, here and here.    

As I recall our very humorous guide telling the story, when Seattle was first built, it was built on a flood plain, which of course means it was subject to flooding.  According to our guide, this was exacerbated by this new found invention by Thomas Crapper, the toilet.   People loved to flush, and this meant that most everything got flushed into the bay.  Then the catastrophe, a devastating fire happened, when an un-watched pot of glue boiled over and set the town on fire.  This took out almost the entire downtown.  Over 25 blocks burned.  Including this department store, where you can see an original Thomas Crapper hanging on the wall of a woman's restroom.  

The town had to be rebuilt asap, but funds were low.   The powers that be, decided that despite this unfortunate happening, there was a silver lining.  They decided to raise the entire downtown by 12 to 30 feet higher than the original buildings.  This meant that many of the building storefront's first story were now in the basement, as it were.  And no more flooding.  Well, rebuilding is expensive, and while many of the merchants had done well previously, they simply did not have the funds to rebuild.  According to my tour guide, there was one class of merchants who did have the funds to rebuild and they were more than happy to lend the other merchants the money. 
These particular merchants were none other than the original Entrepreneurs, ladies of the evening, soiled doves, or prostitutes, if you will.    They'd stashed their cash, and made it available to whoever wanted to rebuild.  The rebuilding began.  However, people still needed to shop for necessities, and some of the merchants built ladders and steps up to the new surface so that people could still buy stuff.  Can you imagine climbing this in long skirts carrying your purchases?  I can't. 

And the tunnels also needed light so people could see where they were going, so they put in a form of skylight.  Glass prisms were embedded in the new sidewalks which in turn let light down into the passageways.  You can still see and walk on them in the sidewalks up above.  Many of the original prisms have turned into an amethyst color over the years.

The original arches are still evident in many of the passageways.  
This tour has not been 'prettied' up, and much of the detritus of the previous century is still evident around. 
Over the years, a large portion of the underground was host to the homeless, many hotels and other businesses used their former first floor, now basement, for storage and during prohibition, many barrels of illicit booze was stored here as well.  In other words, bootleggers used the underground for their business as well.  

Here's a few more pictures of the tour.  

Original hotel signs to let you know where you were.

And apparently in the '70's a porn flick was filmed down here and this is part of their set, which was never removed. 

Stairs leading back up to the street.

 And did I mention they had a couple of, hopefully new and unused, Thomas Crappers on display? 

I think I'd like to take this tour again, but next time, I think I'll linger and take even more pictures. 

Saying goodbye

I had to say goodbye to a piece of property that we'd owned for many years last year.

We bought it to build a house on, but decided a few years later that we really didn't want to build, but just enjoy it.  

It was on the beach and for a long time we lived there in a motor home, and then in a 5th wheel trailer.  

I walked the beach many mornings, accompanied by my late husband and our two dogs.  They loved playing on the beach, swimming in the water, chasing balls.   It was an idyllic time for all of us.  

And even after we bought a real house, and lived there, we'd go to the beach and stay overnight and it always felt like an adventure.  I'd wake up several times during the night to look out the window by my bed, to see if I could catch the first light that showed me dawn was on the way.  Just like a kid at Christmas, I couldn't wait for dawn, and then I'd be outside, with my camera trying to capture the first tip of the sun as it rose.  Some mornings were so magical, and I was lucky enough to catch them with my camera.   This particular day, not only was the sky pink, but the sea and everything surrounding me was this glorious color. 

The hours and hours of play, throwing the ball in the water for the dogs, (both of whom are now across the Rainbow bridge)  and them retrieving it. 

A lucky capture.

Chimi got to the ball first, but usually dropped it on the way in, and Mauli would bring it the rest of the way.

Chimi first into the water, with Mauli following close behind.

Anticipation...

So many good memories.

Highline Seatac Garden

 I got to visit these gardens last January, while they had snow on the ground in Seattle.   Then saw them again the following June.   And what a contrast.   And it's been awhile since I've been back, but wanted to share some of the incredible beauty you can find there.   At least if you like wandering through beautifully maintained gardens.  

And you don't need to scroll to the end to find out just where these magical gardens are.  

Just a few very short miles from Seatac Airport in Seattle, Washington.   The Highline Seatac Botanical Gardens.  You can read more about them here.    

These pictures were taken on separate visits in the past.   I think you can probably tell that they were also taken at separate times of the year as well. 

Japanese Garden Winter and Summer.  Spectacular in both seasons.

Rose Garden, many weddings are held here and the roses smell so delightful.

Rose Garden in Winter

Iris

Rose Garden Arbor

Rose

Azalea

Peony (manipulated a little)

Multi colored Rose

Bamboo

Iris and Lilies

These are just a few of the many pictures I took, but honestly, if you're in the area, Seatac Airport in Washington State, you need to take an afternoon and check out the Highline Seatac Botanical Gardens.   

A little bit of magic (and an easy stroll), just a couple miles from a busy airport.   Well worth a stop in.