Amazon headquarters in Seattle
Have you ever bought books online? Or not lived under a rock? You’ve probably heard of Amazon.com then. Turns out it doesn’t just exist on the Internet through a laptop. The headquarters are here in Seattle, WA. I’m finally here, after a quick pee stop in Olympia and a day in Tacoma, I made it to the birthplace of Starbucks. Speaking of which, I could really use one right about now…
This is Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle. George was driving slow enough for me to grab a fairly decent picture of it as we drove by.
Driving through this city is nothing short of an absolute joy. There’s just snow-capped goodness everywhere you turn. Even in the summertime!
Seattle sprawl. The white caps are snowy mountaintops, not clouds!
It’s a little picture heavy. Forgive me – there’s just so much to see on this drive. Now I really feel like a tourist, since I’m not in my native state. I’ve been snapping pictures like a madman, and lucky for you, only the best ones made it to the blog. My last post was a little more on the nature, so why not a bit of the personality of the area for now?
On my way to school not too long ago, a song came up on the radio that changed my attitude about everything, “Smells like Teen Spirit.” It was dirty, nihilist, and full of angst. And just plain fun. My parents did NOT appreciate it. They grew up pretty straight-laced, and after discovering Nirvana, I was anything but. Black nails, dressing in dull pastels, I looked and acted a mess. That was a good adolescent phase I went through. It lasted the better part of a week. Anyway, Seattle spawned Nirvana during the wake of the “grunge” music scene. You’d never guess that anything with the label “grunge” could come out of here, surrounded by mountains and beaches just outside the city, and views like the Amazon headquarters.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Owl City’s “Hello Seattle” since I’ve been here. I thought they were from here, but I looked it up and they’re from Minnesota. Either way, it gets me in the Seattle mood. Speaking of music, there is also a unique museum called the Experience Music Project Science Fiction Museum. George was intrigued when he saw a storm trooper signing autographs outside. We had to go in. For sci-fi nerds like my father, there is plenty of Star Wars and Star Trek geekiness to eat up. For music lovers, there is a lot of awesome rock & roll stuff– even a Jimi Hendrix exhibit!
The Seattle skyline, immediately recognizable by the Space Needle
There is an interesting feeling you get when meeting the people around here. They’re trendsetters, they’re creative. They love what they do and are serious about who they are. Doing a little looking online, Seattle’s also the most educated city in America. (I can learn a lot more from people like Bill Gates and Richard Karn than I can from Glenda, trust me.) Some people might think the people are stuck up because of this, but they’re really not! Many are very gracious and gave us some great help finding our next destination when George got hopelessly lost on I-5 coming out of Tacoma.
Clean air. Clear skies. Clean water. Innovative personalities.
And not to mention—the Space Needle! Ray was being a pest and was too afraid of heights to make it to the top. But George and I checked it out. We got some great shots of the city.
George is a bit of a baseball fan, but we’re all just a tad stinky right now. We’re all going to get showered and clean and hit up Safeco Field to catch a Mariners game since they’re in town when we are. The only thing I know about them is that Ken Griffey, Jr., used to play for them and he was a pretty big deal. I’m not much into baseball, but a little sporting event in a crowd would be a good side trip.
