Heat wave in Seattle

Mairead and I met Dan and Amanda in the lobby of the motel at 9:20 am. Amanda arranged for a Lyft driver to pick us up - a very nice, comfortable black SUV. Because of traffic we were going to be 10 minutes late for our 10 am reservation for brunch at the Space Needle. Amanda called the restaurant from the car and was told there was a 15 minute grace period. We just made it. Amanda checked in - then we had a security guy checking bags - then we were sandwiched into the elevator that took 46 seconds to reach the restaurant which is at 500 feet. They even had an employee who accompanied us in the elevator giving us a little history on the Space Needle - it was built in 1962 for the World's Fair - it can withstand 200 mph winds - the restaurant revolves about once every 45 minutes.  I'm sure he was also  there to distract us from being squashed into that elevator.

The seats in the restaurant rotate like at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Cambridge back home. There were plenty of empty tables so we had one beside the window. The decor must have been the original from 1962 - it looked very retro now.

The day was overcast so we couldn't see the mountains - I was hoping we could see Mt. Rainier in the distance - Dan and I saw a lot of that mountain top the last time we were here. We could see Lake Union and the Marriott where we stayed the last time.  We could see the restaurant where we ate and the park where I walked. The sea planes were flying by - Mairead wants to try that the next time she comes. 

We could see the ferries and boats in the harbor. There was also a Navy ship docked. Then we saw a Coast Guard ship and another Navy ship.  It was getting foggy over the water.

There were lots of construction cranes as well as roof top gardens.

The food at Sky City was fabulous!  It was a 3 course brunch - it was difficult to choose a starter - but I finally ordered a spinach, strawberry, and goat cheese salad. My 2nd choice was asparagus and gruyere tart - Amanda had that, and it was great. Mairead had the seasonal soap, and Dan had clam chowder.

My entree was a garden vegetable scrambled eggs with white and purple cauliflower, Amanda had eggs Benedict with Dungeness crab, Dan had Dungeness crab and Oregon shrimp salad, and Mairead had blueberry pancakes. When I looked outside, it seemed more foggy.

Then Amanda, Mairead and I had a dessert with rhubarb while Dan had berries and cream.  By this time we figured out it wasn't fog outside but smoke from the Canadian forest fires. I could see it blowing between buildings. Mairead and I went up to the observation deck, but I couldn't stay out on the open observation deck because of the crowds AND the smell of smoke. By now we could hardly see the boats in the harbor because of the smoke.
I heard on the news later that the ships were there to open Fleet Week to honor those who serve our country.

We were headed to the monorail to go to Westlake Center. As we walked over, Dan and Amanda decided to have a caricature drawn by one of 2 guys sitting near the monorail entrance. We then took the monorail - when we got to Westlake Center, Dan decided to head back to the hotel while Amanda, Mairead and I decided to walk to Pike Public Market.  It was hot! 90+ and a drought. Sweat was running down my back and into my eyes! 

We walked through parts of the market - saw the fish sellers throwing fish to each other. Mairead and Amanda tried some smoked salmon and gave it a thumb's up.

Mairead took a picture of the huckleberries - Dan has been raving about huckleberry ice cream since he had it when we were in Idaho Falls.

We stopped at a cafe that was supposed to have air conditioning. I don't think they know what air conditioning is in Seattle! We decided to Lyft to Pioneer Square. Another Toyota Prius picked us up - the Prius is very popular with Lyft drivers, taxis, and people in general in Seattle. When I saw the distance to The Gold Rush Museum in pioneer Sqaure, I was glad we "Lyfted."

One of our ancestors was a gold miner - he traveled to Australia, British Columbia, and finally Idaho in search of gold.  I had always wondered if James Moriarty had traveled through Seattle so I had wanted to visit this museum run by the National Park Service to see what life was like for the gold seekers. And it was hard - miners carrying heavy back packs of supplies over snow covered mountains. Living in flimsy tents or wood cabins in all kinds of weather. So many left their families behind and then never found gold. The majority of miners must have been tough, strong, determined men to undergo such hardships. It seems that the merchants, saloon keepers, and hotel keepers are the ones who made it big - they must have been the well dressed folks in the museum's pictures.

We decided to get something to eat and a cold drink - Amanda found the Merchants Cafe which is one of the oldest Restaurants in Seattle - built about 1890, it seems stuck in the 1920s - old lamps and decorations, pictures of women who used to work in the brothel that was upstairs. There was a speakeasy downstairs.
We all tried huckleberry cider which was quite tasty. I had ordered a grilled cheese without the cream cheese so when the sandwich came with the cream cheese, the cook made me another one without cream cheese. I ate one half of each and brought the rest home to Dan.

It was still 91 degrees at 5 pm when we headed home with another Lyft driver. The smoke from the Canadian fires was still dense.

I was too hot and too tired to do anything. I took a shower because we have an early start tomorrow. Our flight to Anchorage is at 8 am. The front desk clerk told us to be in the lobby by 6:20 am, and we would have plenty of time to get to the airport on the 6:30 shuttle. So now I am going to pack my bags and go to bed.