Seattle: What (not) to See [III]

While some people might say that a tourist attraction is a tourist attraction, a seasoned traveller knows that like the pigs in George Orwell's Animal Farm, some tourist attractions are more equal than others. Like any other city, Seattle has as many hits as it has misses. I can't claim to speak for all travellers. In fact, some of the sites on this list are great for families or the elderly... But when I'm in the city, I happily skip them.

When in Seattle, don't worry if you miss visiting...

Space Needle

"They're gonna build a skyscraper seven storeys high... that's about as high as a building oughta go!" sings one dated performer in the musical Oklahoma! The fact is, there was a time in recent history when skylines were short, flat things. When architects began building skyscrapers, everyone wanted one. Paris has the Eiffel Tower; New York the Empire State Building; Toronto the CN Tower. A major city just isn't a major city without a really big building, and while I could delve into the psychology of male politicians who started their lives as insecure boys in the junior high changeroom, that seems like an unneccessary digression. Suffice it to say that a big building is a status symbol, and Seattle's importance in the world is thus proven by the Space Needle, a 605-foot monstrosity built for the 1962 World's Fair. From the top, you can see the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay and the Downtown Seattle skyline. If you find panoramic views exciting, by all means, the Space Needle is for you. If you work on the 15th floor of a 22-storey building like I do, you probably won't want to bother.

Experience the Music Project

If you are travelling with (a) a young child; (b) a bored husband, boyfriend, brother or father; (c) an aspiring rock star; or (d) anyone else who is driving you insane or in any way disrupting your Seattle plans, drop them off at the Experience the Music Project, an interactive museum that allows kids of all ages to play, make all kinds of obnoxious noise and be generally disruptive in an environment where it is totally acceptable to do so. This is not an attraction for those whose taste in music could be described as ambivalent. It is also not for people who dislike loud noises (you know who you are, and should you choose to visit anyway, be warned: there is an installation called Sound Lab, and another called On Stage. Enough said.) It is, however, great family entertainment, and on a scale of comparative annoyance, infinitely preferable to Fun Forest Amusements Park.

Monorail

Seattle has a monorail. Like many other things in the city, it was built for the World's Fair in 1962. Sadly, it has been beset with problems ever since. Most recently, the entire system was shut down from November 2005 to August 2006 following a collision... and shut down again after only eight days in operation, until November 2006, after a stall that trapped 200 passengers. The trains have been running smoothly since their 2006 reopening. The Seattle monorail is like any other. If you've never been on one, try this out; a round-trip fair will only set you back $4. If you've already done this Disney monorail, you can probably guess that this one isn't going to change your life anymore than it did.

Check back soon for more Seattle travel tips!