Time for another ferry ride, this time from Friday Harbor to Anacortes, Washington.

We stayed at the Hotel Maxwell, which just opened the previous month. Very nice, great location, great price. everything fresh and new. AND, tiny pineapple cupcakes served in the afternoon.

We walked to nearby "Seattle Center," the site of the 1962 World's Fair. The site includes the Space Needle, the Monorail (which we ride to downtown) and the Experience Music Project, along with sports and theater venues.

Bang A Gong...Get It On.

Everything was so "atomic" back in the early 60's

Our beautiful room is transformed.

Gil fighting with the state of the art, "one-cup-at-a-time" coffee maker.

Today (April 16) was our Seattle Adventure day. We walked to Seattle Center, where we intended to catch the Monorail, but we were too early (it opens at 10:00 this time of year), so we walked all the way to Pike's Place Market, where we enjoyed the bountiful displays of flowers, produce, and fish, then chuckled at the clever "Shoe Museum," ate a basket of perfect raspberries and had a sample of the best Macaroni and Cheese in the world. Daniel also explored the Aquarium and Art Museum.

Some "Giant Shoes!"

Some "Spongy Morels" (World of Warcraft insider humor).

This poodle had us laughing. It was being quite proactive in its owners meat selection.

We continued walking south, enjoying the bustle of the city.

Our destination: Seattle Central Library, a stunning new building.

The library boasts of its state of the art book checkout system.

Raised lettering and words from various different languages make up the floor in the book check-out area.

Becky walks round and round the "stacks" on this gently sloping walkway.

The biggest router we'd ever seen.

Yes, hundreds of people - using the LIBRARY! Yay!

This level was REALLY RED! Slightly disorienting, but lots of fun.

We walked back north, did some investigative research on how to catch the airport-bound train tomorrow, then rode the Monorail back home. Got food at the fabulous World Market and Deli, up a few blocks from our hotel on Roys Street.

Refreshed, we walked to the Experience Music Project, where we enjoyed the astounding building.

Becky had fun remixing "Dolly Dagger" on a period mixing board.

A special photograph collection curated by Graham Nash.

The museum is probably best known for its outstanding Jimi Hendrix exhibit.

Gil also visited the Science Fiction part of the museum featuring the original "Lost In Space" robot...

...and Harrison Ford's gun that he used in "Bladerunner."

Next morning, we discovered an excellent place for breakfast on St Anne's Avenue, called "Mecca Diner." [Note for our next trip: turns out this street has lots of restaurants and a cinema.] Then, off to SeaTac Airport. Gil and I accompanied Daniel just for fun - who can resist a train ride? Our journey began with a walk, then the Monorail to its terminus at Westlake Center. We exited the Monorail, then took a nearby elevator down to the lowest level, then we used the "Link" ticket machine ($2.50 all the way to the airport - what a deal). Finally, we rode another elevator down one more level (or you could take an escalator) to Westlake Station to catch the Link light rail. The ride lasted about 30 minutes, with several stops. This inter-city train opened in December 2009, and makes the option of flying into Seattle and getting to downtown with no car a very easy venture. (At SeaTac, the Link is found at the north end of the terminal - good signage takes you across the roadway to the parking garage; keep walking until you reach the Link station.) Eventually, Link should hook up with Tacoma.

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