And like San Francisco, Seattle does not have a subway system to get you around town. However, to avoid San Francisco traffic, they have come up with a very interesting solution to buses overwhelming downtown street.
Thus, here is the Metro Tunnel...
And from the picture above, you can pretty much figure out how it all works.
Underneath Seattle is this enormous tunnel through which city buses can operate. It's weird. You go down two long escalators underground until you find this...
You would think that being so close to the ocean, it would be problematic building this below sea level. But it seems that the hills are so steep that by the time you get four blocks from the wharf, you're so far above sea level that it's not a problem!
Anyway, the system is undergoing a massive renovation that begins in two days -- so the celebrations downtown were going crazy...
Seriously, they had acrobats. Sort of a poor city's alternative to Cirque de Soliel.
There were all these street performers hired by the transportation authority to celebrate the fact that the tunnel was closing for 18 months...
...after which time the buses would return to the underground that is "better than ever in 2007" -- hey, whatever tickles your fancy is fine with me.
Well, Seattle is also home to the Science Fiction Museum, thanks to the generosity of Paul Allen (the other founder of Microsoft). He put much of his personal collection in the museum, including his collection of Star Trek phasers...
Although I have to admit I was most excited about the Battlestar Gallactica stuff. For those of you who remember the original series, you'll recognize this guy...
Yes, it's a daggit named Muffit. In the front of Muffit is a TV Guide from 1979 which shows that this costume was once warn by a small monkey -- in the days before robotics and animatronics in Hollywood -- and so that's why Muffit always walked like a monkey.
Seriously, I always wondered that.
I am quite happy to be able to check one of life's great mysteries off my list.
The museum is also filled with the costumes and robotic figures from many science fiction hits...
Yes, that's the Terminator after his skin is burned off in one of the movies, a Cylon Centurion from Battlestar Gallactica, and I'll give bonus points to anyone who can identify that short little robot on the bottom right of the above picture.
It's Twiki from the old series, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century!
And of course, we cannot forget this little green fellow...
This museum is right near the Space Needle, which is a poor substitute to the Stratosphere in Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada (the Space Needle is only about half as tall as the Strat). Well, since we were there, Cari and I were going to try to visit the Space Needle as well.
Then I remembered the words of Yoda.
"Do or do not. There is no try."
So we did not and had lunch instead.
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