October 31, 2016 - Seattle Day Two - Walking Pioneer Square Park Area

Title: October 31, 2016 - Seattle Day Two - Walking Pioneer Square Park Area
Hike Info : Description :  Background : Extra Photo's

 

Trail head:Travelodge by Space Needle, 200 6th St N, Seattle, WA

Hike Info:

Type:Walking

Destination:Pioneer Square Park

Distance:  5.99 miles

Start Time:11:33

End Time:   6:58

Travel Time:   7:25

GPS Tracks

Description:

Actual Places We Visited	Planned Places
Ex Official Underground Tour Pioneer Square Park Smith Building Glasshouse Studio Occidental Park Starbucks Klondike Gold National Park Metzker Map Store Piroshky Piroshky The Confectional	Metzker Map Store Stoington Gallery Akanyi African & Tribal Art Gallery Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum Fireworks Fine Crafts Gallery Maynard Building Pioneer Square Park

I would have thought that we would have started earlier today rather than later. But we were delayed a bit because of rain-guess we are wimps- and indecision. But we do start out. We are going to go to Pioneer Square Park and do an underground Seattle tour.

But then, we pass by 2^nd Street and Vine and I ask Sherri isn't that the Ex Official store (outdoor clothing) she and Rose talk about? Sure enough is. This is the “home” store so in we go. We walk around the store for awhile. Sherri picks up some light weight undergarments. I thinking that uuughh, its a clothing store, just go through the motions of looking through the store. But I am sucker for close out stuff. There is a nice looking waterproof jacket with a fleece removable liner for a price of $90-at least half off. So I managed to spend more money there than Sherri. In my defense, I wore that most of the time in Seattle from then on. It repelled water pretty nicely.

We walked down 2^nd Street, past Pike Public Market and the Seattle Art Museum. I am starting to think, where are we? Where is this place. About that time, we see a sign for Beneath the Streets. That must be it! So down we go, probably about 20'. There a receptionist, took a reservation for about an hour away-pleasant conversation with her. So we had an hour to kill.

Gary and the Chief

Totem Pole by Pioneer Square

Totam Pole by Pioneer Square

So we wandered across the street to Pioneer Square Park and started to look around it. Along the way, we see another underground tour place, but we have already paid so we are sticking with it. As we pause to look around, a woman asks, are we tourists? We must have looked clueless, but we said yes. Then she says that locals do not know there own city. It is the tourists who know where things are. We are wondering what does she want? We quickly find out as she asks do we know where the underground tour is? By golly, we do! We tell her where both of them are and which one we signed up for. She wanders off and we start looking. We see the statue of Chief Seattle, along with the totem pole which we found out was stolen by Seattle's founding fathers. There is a note from Seattle City Walks that the pergola stands over the finest underground restroom in the United States.

Smith Building

We then go over to the Smith Building and try to figure out how to go into it. We talked with a security guard-Seattle seems to have a lot of them. He said to check inside of the shop for tickets. We have only about half an hour until our underground tour. The tickets are $12 a piece-more than the Columbia Center from yesterday's trip. So we decided to just wander around for the time.

Entrance to the underground tour

At 1pm, we descend again into pit again and wait for the tour to begin. By the time it does, there is about ten of us, including the person we met by Pioneer Square Park. Our tour started off in an underground theater with old church pews with our guide giving us a background to what we are going to see. He shows us around the underground part of the building, explaining how it came to be underground.

Above us-sidewalk

Back into the underground

Then back upstairs to Pioneer Square Park. There he talks about the totem pole, the Chief Seattle, pergola. Also the oldest operating bar in Seattle. After walking another block, he has us dip downstairs again. More fascinating history about how the streets went up one level. Then were sealed in 1906 to stem a potential bubonic plague. We finally end up at the Comedy Underground.

Underground sidewalk

Old time sky light

Entrance to Comedy Underground

Supporting wall to sidewalk above

After the tour we empty out into Occidental Park. This is a peaceful looking place. Craftman type shops ring the park. We stop in on one, a glass blowing place called the Glasshouse Studio. The glass in there is pretty nice-we are being very careful not to touch. After looking around for 15 minutes, what catches my eye is the actual glass blowing process. That mesmerizes me for another good 15 minutes.

Glassworks

Occidental Park

Guess Where?

 We continued our southward journey for another block or two where we spot a Starbucks. Sherri tries her luck again with her gold card and comes back miffed. Still her coffee was good. And it was a good place to rest a bit before our next stop.

That would be just down the block. We pass by this building a time or two before realizing this building was what we were looking for. It is the Klondike Gold Rush National Park. First, I am not sure why this place has a national park designation, not something else-like a historical place. But once in the building, there is enough to fill up at least an hour if not two just wandering, reading the exhibits. During the walking around the “park”, the exhibits follow four lives, including the life a female child. The exhibits show the various routes stampeders used to get to the gold fields. After reading about each route, I wonder, were these folks crazy? There was no good way to get there and once you got there, life did not get easier. The question is why a gold rush park in Washington? Because it was Seattle where the stampeders started from. One thing which caught my eye was the amount of supplies which each person had to bring-a year's supply of food an materials, over a ton's worth. As we were leaving, one thing which caught my eye was there was a national park boundary sign. Cute.

By now, we are pushing five and it is starting to get dark and we are getting hungry. We go past the #2 fire station and then through Occidental Park again. But by this time everything of interest is closed up. So we are left with only the quietness of a nearly deserted park in fall. A good sight.

Now the question is where to eat? We think that if we can reach Pike Market in time, that piroshky shop would be worth the try. I used to make piroshky's when we first got married, so we are interested in seeing how they compare. So with a half an hour of walking we come to Piroshky Piroshky. The overcast is darkening when we get to the shop. There is a line, but it is short; the store is closing in a few minutes. So we order our pirosky's-I order a beef and cheese-on second thought, two of them, and Sherri a broccoli and cheese. Then we spy a Nutella one and order that. All of these came out to under $15-some of it is that they wanted to get rid of their stock before they closed.

There is a park overlooking Puget Sound. Just a nice looking area. We enjoy Seattle's Great Wheel along with the shipping. While it is a bit cool (my new Ex Official jacket is warm), the piroshky's taste really good. We thought we would eat one a piece, but we decided to split the remaining beef and cheese. Good to the last bite.

Now what would be a good thing after a long day like today and a good meal? Maybe a piece of chocolate? Where can we get one of them? Ah, yes. By the priosky shop was a place called The Confectional. So we trot back to there and pick up some goodies from a good natured young lady who is waiting for Halloween. Tastes good.

Andrea recommended that we look into two places. One of these is the Metzker Map Store, which just happens to be within two blocks of us. Wonder if it is open? On the way, we pass a place called Rachel's Ginger Beer. While we do not stop, we think of our our Rachel. But on to Metzker Map Store. Its open! So in we walk. Andrea is right, this is someplace which is heaven to someone who likes maps. I wandered around starry eyed, pulling maps out and examining them, looking at walls covered with maps. Then I talked with one of the people on the floor and it was like communing with a brother. Just so excellent of a place. Not sure why this is not on as a tourist stop.

But it was been a long day and it is time to head back to our hotel. So off we go, looking at windows, but not stopping. It seems like it is a lot later than 7pm when we get in, but is what the clock says. After writing up a few things and talking about what to do tomorrow, it is time to turn in.

Background

Trip Advisor:

• Pioneer Square Park. 4 stars This is a neighborhood park in the old part of Seattle. This park is small and will take about 20 minutes to look around. There are three things in this park: a statue of Chief Seattle, a copy of the original totem pole-the original was burnt in a fire, and the pergoda. If you come here, it is because of the history of the area rather than the attractions-there are some shops close by.
• Beneath the Streets. 4 stars. This was an enjoyable tour combing visual and oral histories of Seattle. Our guide was an actor and you could tell that he knew how to present his material. We learned a good deal about the early history of Seattle from Chief Seattle to the totem pole by Pioneer Square Park to the old Seattle bar to how come the street level buildings are at the second floor. The one thing which I was a bit disappointed about the tour was that a good part of the tour was above ground.
• Glasshouse Studio. 5 stars. What attracts you is the beauty of the glass work, but what really keeps you in the place is the furnaces and the glass blowers. You quickly realize that glass blowing is more than taking a big breath and blowing. My recommendation is that before you go to the Chihuly Gardens, you stop and at the Glasshouse Studio.
• Klondike Gold Rush NP. 4 stars. This is a hidden gem in Seattle. When we were there, only a couple of people wandered through. But I learned more about the Klondike gold rush here than I have anyplace else. The exhibits talk about the people and the routes people used to get to the Klondike. Since Seattle is the kick off for the Alaskan gold rush, this museum concentrates on that role as well as giving an overall view of the gold rush. So when in Seattle, put about an hour and a half into your schedule for this stop.
• Piroshky Piroshky, 4 stars. This place is close to Pike Market and it serves, well, pirosky. For those of us who have not tasked a real Russian pirosky, These tasted real good. If you come close to closing, they will be discounted. Try the beef and cheese or the Nutella ones. As an added bonus, walk a few steps and enjoy your pirosky while overlooking the sound. Good eating.

Occidental Park is a public park located in the historic Pioneer Square District. The park is in the heart of Seattle’s largest art gallery district. The S Main Street bisects the facility and the northern half of the park is also called Occidental square while the area to the south is also called Occidental Mall.

The site of the Occidental Park was once the Savoy Hotel. The former pioneer Square Savoy Hotel was torn down to establish a parking lot. The park spanning over half an acre was built over this parking lot during the general renovation of Pioneer Square in 1971. The park is a cobblestone plaza open to the public where tourists, art lovers, shoppers and wanderers visit every day.

Works of art at the occidental park include totem poles carved by eminent Chinookan carver Duane Pasco. The totem poles depict the welcoming spirit of Kwakiutl, a totem bear, the tall sun and raven and a man riding on a whale. The park also has a fire fighters memorial with bronze sculptures of fire fighters in action by sculptor Hai Ying Wu. Granite slabs surrounding the sculpture have the names of firefighters who died doing their duty from the Great fire of 1889 till the present. From Seattle City Walks

The Pioneer Square Park also known as the Pioneer Square Plaza is a small triangular brick and cobblestone plaza located in the middle of old Seattle. The area around the Park provided the lumber for Henry Yesler’s steam powered sawmill that was the first industry established in what later grew to become the city of Seattle.

Pioneer Square Park features a totem pole made by the Tlingit tribe of southeastern Alaska and a bust of Chief Seattle perched upon a drinking fountain. The park is lit by turn of the century lamps that preserve the early ambiance of Seattle. In 1909, an ornate iron pergola was built for the first international fair held in Seattle, the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exhibition of 1909. The pergola now stands over an underground restroom. The restroom at Pioneer Square Park is considered the finest underground restrooms in the US. The structure also shelters people who wait for the streetcar. The pergola was knocked down by a speeding truck in 2001 and fully restored in 2002. From Seattle City Walks

Extra Photo's

Intersting mural by Pioneer Square Park

Seattle Oldest Bar

Smith Building and Columbia Center

King Street Station