Check Out an Artsy Traveler Weekend Getaway in Seattle
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Although I’ve lived in Vancouver all my life, I’ve only been to Seattle, three hours to the south, a handful of times, not counting stops at the airport en route to somewhere else. It’s just never a city I think of visiting when contemplating a weekend away. Well, my loss. A weekend away in Seattle is a fantastic Artsy Traveler option for this Vancouver-based gal.
My reason for a quick visit was to see a production of the musical Six which will not be coming to Vancouver. I’d seen Six in London the year before and knew my daughter would love it, so I suggested we take a weekend trip.
Here’s how it went!
Getting to Seattle
Although Seattle is only a three-hour drive from Vancouver, that number can easily double thanks to delays at the border and horrendous traffic around Seattle. I don’t fancy risking that much time behind the wheel, so we opt to take the train.
Taking the Train
Good call! The Amtrak train from Vancouver to Seattle takes just under four hours and costs about $60 return—a bargain by any stretch. The train goes all the way to Eugene in Oregon, stopping at several towns along the way, including Bellingham, Edmonds, Tacoma, and Portland. Much of the journey is very scenic.
We hop on the train in central Vancouver at 6 pm Friday evening and arrive at King Street Station in downtown Seattle at 11 pm. The seats are fairly comfortable and the views of the ocean after leaving the border at Blaine exceedingly lovely. Note that there is very little food available on board. If you’d like to eat well, pack a meal.
TIP: Check out the Amtrak website to buy tickets.
A taxi takes us swiftly through quiet downtown streets to the Paramount Hotel, a stone’s throw from the Paramount Theater where we’ll be seeing Six the next evening.
Staying at the Paramount Hotel in Seattle
The Paramount Hotel in Seattle is overpriced, but then so are all of the nicer downtown hotels in Seattle. Once you get over the sticker shock, it’s a good choice–comfortable with a friendly staff and an excellent breakfast. And its central location is a plus—steps from the monorail to take us to the Space Needle and Chihuly Gardens and a pleasant downhill walk to Pike’s Place Market.
Here are other accommodation options in Seattle.
A Day at Seattle Center
The next morning, we’re up early, and after breakfast, off to find the monorail. Built in 1962 for the Seattle World’s Fair on the site of what is now Seattle Center, the monorail trundles dutifully between downtown and Seattle Center where we plan to spend the day. There’s a LOT to do there for the Artsy Traveler.
It’s a gloriously sunny day and so we decide that our first stop should be the Space Needle. I have a vague memory of visiting Seattle when I was about seven years old in 1963, the year after the Seattle World’s Fair. I do remember standing at the base of the Space Needle and looking way, way up and thinking it was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. It was so ultra-modern—just like The Jetsons, which was a favorite of my brother’s and mine in those innocent times.
Going Up the Space Needle
We arrive at Seattle Center, a 74-acre complex in the heart of the city housing top attractions such as the Space Needle, International Fountain, Chihuly Garden and Glass, Pacific Science Center, Museum of Pop Culture, and Seattle Children’s Museum. Although it’s still quite early in the day, crowds are already forming, particularly to go up the Space Needle.
We’re worried the wait may be too long, but the attendant assures us that the lines will get much longer as the day continues. He’s right, we discover later, when we descend the tower and find the line three times longer than it was when we went up. Fortunately, the line snakes past displays chronicling the building of the Space Needle and its opening on April 21, 1962.
Finally, we get to the elevator and are whisked to the top in a dizzying ascent. The attendant welcomes us and tells us about the Space Needle in an impressively timed spiel that lasts exactly 90 seconds. She does this about 25 times an hour all day long.
What’s Up Top at Seattle’s Space Needle
At the top of the Space Needle, the attraction is, well, a view, but what a view! The city of Seattle spreads below us and in the distance are the massive bulks of Mount Rainier and Mount Baker. We circle the viewing platform a few times and then head down one level to the much-vaunted glass-bottomed viewing area. It’s a little freaky to step out onto the glass and look straight down, particularly because the glass portion is rotating.
The view over Lake Union in Seattle particularly interests me. Lake Union Publishing (so named because it is located near Lake Union in Seattle) is the publisher of my first two historical novels: The Towers of Tuscany and A Woman of Note. So I have a bit of a soft spot for it. The view from so high up is pretty darned stunning.
Someone kindly offers to take our picture. We settle onto one of the benches thoughtfully provided around the perimeter of the viewing platform.
We finally descend to the earth and prepare for our next attraction—and the one I’m looking forward to most—Chihuly Garden and Glass.
Visiting Chihuly Garden and Glass
Ever since my first visit to Venice back in the 1990s, I’ve adored glass art so it’s no wonder that I’m a huge fan of Dale Chihuly, who is one of the world’s foremost glass artists. In a career spanning many decades, Chihuly really has put glass art on the map. His pieces sell for thousands, even millions for the really big ones, and he’s been the mastermind behind numerous massive installations in Venice, Jerusalem, Sweden, and more.
From the moment I step into the museum, the creativity and sheer gorgeousness of Chihuly’s work entrances me. A series of beautifully curated rooms display several of his most iconic series. Each room is more jaw-dropping than the one before.
Winter Brilliance
An explosion of sharp, white stars greets us when we enter the first room. Called Winter Brilliance, the stars were commissioned by Barneys New York in 2015 for its holiday window display. A quote from Chihuly accompanies the display: Ice is one of my favorite materials to work with because of the way it interacts with light. It inspired me to create the icicle form.
Sealife Room
The Sealife Room is dominated by the massive 15-foot Sealife Tower that takes its inspiration from the sea and Puget Sound. According to the plaque, The Towers evolved from Chihuly’s desire to present sculptures in places where ceiling structures could not withstand the weight of his Chandeliers (we see them later in the museum). This impressive piece gets even better when examined up close.
Around the perimeter of the Sealife room are several smaller sculptures of sea creatures. I am totally captivated by the whimsy and the detail. Chihuly truly is a master!
Here are just a few of my favorites.
Persian Ceiling
Gasps abound and necks crane back as the crowd (which is considerable) moves into the next room to behold the Persian Ceiling. Chihuly began the pieces in the Persians series as pedestal compositions, then mounted larger forms to walls and suspended them as overhead compositions. The effect truly is immersive. I feel like I’m walking into a kaleidoscope and long to stand in the middle of the room and twirl myself, head thrown back.
Large Room Full of Glass!
I neglected to read the name of the next room because I was too busy swooning. I mean, honestly, the sheer inventiveness of the forms, the riot of color, the creative ways in which the pieces are displayed are simply breathtaking.
Chihuly’s Drawings
Chihuly also creates two-dimensional works that often form the basis for his 3-D glass sculptures. As the partner of a visual artist, I was fascinated by these pieces. He apparently began making these drawings after dislocating his shoulder and losing sight in his left eye. His Burned Drawings explore color and texture in new ways. He draws on heavyweight watercolor paper with acrylics, dry metallic pigment, charcoal and graphite, and even burns the paper surface with an acetylene torch.
I love the freedom of these drawings–the texture and the gestural nature of the forms. Chihuly states: Drawing really helps me to think about things. I’m able to draw and work with a lot of color and that inspires me.
Ikebana and Float Boats
Just when I’m thinking the displays can’t get any more jaw-dropping, we walk into the next room to see the Ikebana and Niijima Float Boats. One of the wooden boats is filled with Ikebana elements–long, flower-like glass stems inspired by the Japanese art of Ikebana. The other contains Niijima Floats, inspired by Chihuly’s trip to the Japanese island of Niijima and by childhood memories of discovering Japanese fishing net floats along the beaches of Puget Sound (Chihuly is from the Seattle area).
The placement of the boats on a polished black floor produces pristine reflections that double the sensory pleasure of the installation. The orbs in particular look so inviting. They remind me of giant version of the marbles I played with as a child.
Chandeliers
The next room bristles with Chihuly’s Chandeliers. Inspired by his interest in architectural settings and how art interacts in spaces, Chihuly has mounted various installations of the Chandeliers over the years. One of the most notable was the 1995-96 project called Chihuly Over Venice during which Chihuly had thirteen Chandeliers hung at outdoor sites throughout Venice. The current room includes five installations inspired by Chihuly Over Venice. Here are two of them.
Macchia Forest
I’m seriously starting to suffer from the Stendhal effect as we drift into yet another room full of treasures. The variety and depth of Chihuly’s creative output is staggering. I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite room, but the dizzying display in the Macchia Forest room is a strong contender. Chihuly began the Macchia series in 1981 with the desire to use all 300 colors available to him in the hotshop (where the glass is made). The word macchia means “spot” in Italian.
While devising the series, Chihuly realized that the color in glass panes in a stained glass window look more vibrant against a cloudy sky than a blue sky. As a result, he created these pieces by adding a white layer in between – like a “cloud”. Each of the works is speckled with color, which is the result of rolling the molten glass in small shards of colored glass during the blowing process. A lip wrap of a contrasting color is then added to complete the piece. I could have stayed in the Macchia Forest all day!
Chihuly Films
The awesomeness of the Chihuly Garden and Glass doesn’t stop with the indoor displays. We crowd into a theater to watch five short documentaries about Chihuly’s work. It’s fascinating to find out how he oversaw his teams to produce huge installations all over the world, including Venice, Finland, and Jerusalem.
Glasshouse and Glasshouse Sculpture
By the time we make it to the massive atrium adorned with one of his largest works (and that’s saying something), I’m reeling. The massive glass sculpture suspended from the glass roof defies gravity and description. It is touted as the centerpiece of Chihuly Garden and Glass and is the result of Chihuly’s dream to create a glasshouse with artwork within it. The design draws inspiration from two of Chihuly’s favorite buildings: Sainte-Chappelle in Paris (no surprise there) and the Crystal Palace in London.
At 100 feet long and comprised of many individual elements, the Glasshouse Sculpture is also one of Chihuly’s largest suspended sculptures.
Into the Gardens
I realize I’m gushing in this post about our visit to Chihuly Garden and Glass, but I can’t help myself. The complex is one of the finest I’ve seen anywhere in the world. Not only is Chihuly’s work fabulous, but the way it’s displayed, with plenty of informative descriptions, is truly inspiring.
We float from the lovely air-conditioned museum into the hot garden. But who can think of heat with so much beauty all around? Plants combine with glass objects to produce a magical series of outdoor rooms, each more whimsical than the one before. I am in seventh heaven!
This is Artsy Travel at its finest.
I defy anyone to visit Chihuly Garden and Glass and not smile. The whole place is a celebration of pure joy.
Visit Chihuly Garden and Glass seven days a week. It’s located in Seattle Center at the base of the Space Needle and steps from the monorail station.
Lunch at Seattle Center
After enjoying the gardens, we enter a very large indoor market with several food outlets. Julia opts for okay tacos and I make the mistake of ordering the seafood special at a fish and chips place. A massive mound of french fries vies for greasy supremacy with a large hunk of deep-fried fish, several deep-fried oysters, some deep-fried prawns, and maybe even a scallop or two. All fried. Heart attack in a basket. But, to be fair, it tastes amazing. My arteries will never be the same.
A Visit to MoPOP
Thus fortified, we go to MoPOP – AKA the Museum of Popular Culture. Julia wants to see the special exhibition of the art of LAIKA, a stop-motion animation studio.
LAIKA redefined stop-motion animation with the instant classic Coraline back in 2009. Since then, LAIKA has been nominated for an Oscar five times. In the Hidden Worlds: The Films of LAIKA exhibition, we get a behind-the-scenes look at many of the company’s groundbreaking production techniques. Beautiful models plus several short films describe the techniques and make for a compelling exhibition, well worth the extra cost. I learn a lot about stop-motion animation and am impressed by the incredible patience required to make the various characters move.
Enjoying MoPOP
There’s a lot to enjoy at MoPOP, particularly for fans of popular music and genres such as science fiction and fantasy. Highlights include the massive guitar sculpture in the foyer and an exhibition of great figures in science fiction and fantasy that includes Mary Shelley.
As well, there are displays about films in three genres: science fiction, fantasy, and horror. I skip the horror display, but thoroughly enjoy the science fiction and fantasy displays.
If you’re into making music, MoPOP has several sound studios in which you can practice instruments and compose your own pieces. It really is a marvelous place, worthy of several hours.
Performance of Six
The sold-out performance of Six was raucous and loud (the audience) and well-performed (the six queens). It’s an enjoyable show with excellent singing and an entertaining premise. If you haven’t seen Six and you’re a fan of energetic singing with a sprinkling of Tudor history (Six refers to the six wives of Henry VIII), then get tickets when a production comes to your area.
Day Two in Seattle
We decide to spend the morning at Pike’s Place Market, a ten-minute walk from our hotel, and the afternoon with friends of Julia’s who take us on a drive to the beach. We could have opted to visit the Seattle Art Museum, but I’ll leave that for another trip.
Pike’s Place Market
On a hot and sunny Sunday morning, the market is hopping. We arrive around 10, just in time to join the hordes of cruise ship passengers from the three cruise ships currently docked in Seattle harbor. At times, it’s a struggle to make our way through the narrow aisles, but we enjoy checking out the many stalls.
As an inveterate lover of souvenirs, I purchase a blue glass heart in memory of our Chihuly visit, a beautiful glass pendant, and about two pounds of soap. After picking out what I thought was a pound’s worth, the attendant tells me I’m at 14 ounces and if I get just a few more pieces, I’ll have a pound and then I can get an additional pound for free. Always a sucker for a bargain, I keep adding pieces of scented soap (patchouli, lavender, peppermint and more) until I have my two pounds. I now have enough soap to last a year but that’s okay. It’s not like I’ll ever not have a reason to use it.
On the Beach and Home Again
We spend the afternoon with Julia’s friends on a long stretch of sandy beach outside of Seattle and overlooking Puget Sound. The water is very cold and none too clean. I take a very quick dip just to say I have.
At 6 pm, we board the train at King Street station for the four-hour journey home. As a result of delays, the journey is more like seven hours, but I don’t mind. I still prefer the train to driving! Even if it’s not always faster, it’s much more relaxing.
Our weekend away in Seattle was packed full and fun, with the hands-down highlight being the Chihuly Garden and Glass. It’s a marvel that is well worth the price of admission–and then some.