Thursday, September 16, 2010

Harbor Cruise












A couple of days ago when the weather cleared up and the day turned sunny, I decided to take a mini-cruise along the harbor. Argosy, the company that operates the cruise, offers all sorts of cruises ranging from dining and dancing cruises, to sightseeing tours, to private events for a variety of budgets. Whatever your cruising fancy, they have something to offer. I opted for the one-hour harbor cruise, which took me all along the colorful waterfront and the shipping terminals. This is the classic Argosy cruise, as it was the one that started it all back in 1949 when the company opened. Now the family-owned company has a fleet of eight ships running cruises morning, noon, and night to locations all around the sounds, lakes, and islands of Seattle.

I learned some interesting tidbits while I snapped photos left and right: Seattle has the second busiest ferry system in North America (the busiest being Vancouver, BC), and the fifth busiest in the world; the architect who designed the Space Needle (more about that particular landmark in a future post) thought that all buildings in the twentieth century would look like the Needle – a rather odd conjecture, given that the Space Needle is 604 feet high, yet has only three usable floors; Seattle is one of the most trafficked pleasure-boating locations in the world; and 1201 Third Avenue, the beige and green glass building in the Seattle skyline, is consistently voted Seattle’s most beautiful building by residents themselves, and its emerald glass design started the architectural aesthetic of glass buildings in Seattle. The use of glass in many of Seattle’s buildings helps reflect sunlight, and in a city that has over 200 overcast days a year, that helps the downtown area appear brighter than it may actually be outside. The glass buildings also give Seattle a gorgeous skyline.

The harbor cruise was an absolute delight, and I plan on taking the company’s Locks cruise, which goes through the Ballard Locks, as well as the Kirkland Lake cruise, from which I’ll be able to see the homes of the area’s rich and famous” – which of course includes Bill Gates. It’s hard to get richer and more famous than that!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting tidbits from K. Keep up the good work! Love, mama

Anonymous said...

Cool cruisy photos and beautiful Mermie Specters... :) - A Secret Admirer