Since we didn't walk back for biscuits and gravy at the Stehekin Pastry Company on our
last day there, C made us her delicious version for breakfast this morning! What a treat!
Our agenda for today was to visit a couple places in Seattle. RH, having been baptized into the crazy way we travel, was still willing to tag along with us, but C couldn't go because she had other things she needed to get done today.
On our way into the city, we stopped by the
salmon hatchery in Issaquah. After seeing them in the wild, it was fun to get a closer look at the chinook and coho through the windows of the fish ladder.
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| Bruce and Kareem |
Wing Chong Luke emigrated from China with his family at the age of 6, settling in Seattle. A leader since his days as student body president of his high school, he served as the Assistant Attorney General for the State of Washington in the Civil Rights Division from 1957-1962. Elected to the Seattle City Council in 1962, he was the first person of color on the council and the first Asian-American to hold elected office in the Pacific Northwest. Sadly, in 1965 he was killed in a small plane crash in the Cascade Mountains at the age of 40. The Wing Luke Memorial Foundation was established in honor of his legacy, which led to the creation of the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience in 1966.
The Wing Luke Museum is an affiliated area of the National Park Service, which means that although it has been designated by an act of Congress or the Secretary of the Interior and is considered linked in importance and purpose to places managed directly by the NPS, it is not one of the 423 units currently in the National Park System. (But it does have a stamp!)
While waiting for the 11:00AM tour of the East Kong Yick Building, we checked out the Bruce Lee exhibit, "Be Water, My Friend." An avid reader, the entirety of Bruce Lee's personal library (2,800 books!) resides at the museum. It was a pretty cool interactive exhibit!
The tour started in the Yick Fung Company, the storefront next door to the museum entrance. The mercantile sold imported goods and Blue Funnel Line steamship tickets to China and provided assistance to newly arrived immigrants. I was pretty tickled to recognize the packaging of some of the representative goods on the shelves - my parents would buy the exact same items (canned bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, hoisin sauce, etc.) from the Asian grocery store when I was growing up.
Next we went upstairs to the third floor of the building to see examples of rooms that were used in the Freeman SRO hotel...
...as well as those rooms which were used for meetings of family associations.
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| Mahjong |
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| The building's lightwell has been enclosed for preservation |
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| R getting a kick to the head |
After the tour, we went through the exhibits on the 2nd floor on our own. I thought the exhibit, "Honoring Our Journey", about the pan-Asian Pacific American immigrant and refugee experience was really well done.
As we walked back to the car, we were tempted by the aromas coming from the restaurants we passed, but we already had a lunch spot in mind -
Biang Biang Noodles in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. My city driving skills are rusty, so I was happy that we found street parking where I could pull straight in. Even though it was just after noon and the restaurant was busy, we didn't have to wait long for a table. Definitely recommend this place!
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Clockwise from top: Mapo Tofu Hand-Pulled Noodles, Fried Chicken Bao,
Green Onion Pancake, and Cumin Lamb Hand-Pulled Noodles |
After lunch, we walked around the neighborhood for a bit. RH brought us over to see the Black Lives Matter street mural on Pine Street and to point out the area which had been part of the
Capitol Hill Occupied Protest in 2020. Then we got some ice cream from
Molly Moon's to fill in the few empty spaces left in our stomachs.
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| Honey lavender ice cream with lemon curd (x2) and salted caramel with chocolate hard shell |
The next stop was the REI Seattle Flagship Store, which was huge! There is actually a ranger station inside, which is staffed by the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and Washington State Parks. And yes, there is a stamp here, too!
From there we went to the Seattle Center to see the
Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibition. Well, R and I visited, while RH sought out someplace to watch the Mariners' first post-season playoff game in 21 years. Priorities, people!
The art that Dale Chihuly and his team have made using glass is simply amazing! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...
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| Sealife Tower |
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| Persian Ceiling |
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| Mille Fiori |
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| Float Boat |
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| Chandeliers |
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| Chandeliers |
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| Macchia Forest |
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| Glasshouse |
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| Garden |
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| Citron Icicle Tower |
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| R's artsy selfie |
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| The exhibition is right next to the Space Needle |
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| Watching the glassblowing demonstration was fascinating! |
Afterwards, we caught up with RH and watched the last couple innings of the Mariners' shutout of the Blue Jays. Then after dropping him back off at home, we went to meet our best man J and his wife M for dinner at
Tipsy Cow Burger Bar in Redmond. Really good burgers and fries and even better company!
When we were finished eating, we didn't want to take up the table any longer but still wanted to hang out for awhile. So we tried to find a coffee shop, but every place we checked was about to close. What?! Where do people go on a Friday night in Redmond?
We ended up going to Redmond's Bar and Grill for dessert. I was not happy with the chocolate lava cake I got (super dry and no lava!), but we definitely appreciated having more time to catch up.
Tomorrow we fly home!
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