This is a very vague guide to the Redmond and Seattle regions of Washington state, USA.
It claims to neither be a precise or complete guide, but should be enough to help a H2G2 reader decide if it is a place of interest.
This review is based upon a visit to the Redmond/Seattle area in February 2002 for almost a week. The researcher was fortunate to know a friend who worked for Microsoft
1 and was prepared to let him kip on his floor for a few days. This turned out to save a lot of money. Hotels in the area are quite expensive.
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| Redmond? Where is it? How do I get there? |  |
Redmond is about thirty miles east of Seattle. From Sea-Tac international airport
2, you travel north up the 405 for about 50 miles. This road is quite clear (compared to the
M25) and has a "Car Pool
3" lane enabling you to zip past the other traffic.
The only two things separating Seattle and Redmond are the city of Bellevue
4 and Lake Washington
5.
The
public transport system is very prompt, and highly recomended if you can't afford a hire car. The express bus journeys only stop a few times before reaching Seattle, but still take a while. You probably won't notice this, as everyone in the region seems to be bursting to talk to you. At least, upon hearing one researcher's
stuffy English accent they couldn't resist. If there is no one on the bus to talk to you, looking out of the window is just as interesting. The only bad point is the bus driver, who will never fail to be less than helpful.
If you are staying in Redmond city centre, the first thing you should do is follow the blue signs to the
library6. In the outer entrance hall you can find all sorts of useful tourist information, including a very thick, free bus time-table.
As of Spring 2002, there was one notable problem with the bus service - there are no buses that travel directly between Redmond and Sea-Tac airport. This can prove a problem when you have no other means of transport and face the prospect of lugging a heavy suitcase off and on to a number of buses.
The great thing about Redmond (unlike a number of other US cities) is that you can easily walk around the centre and suburbs without getting burnt
7 frozen
8 or mugged.
The town seems to be split into a number of segments. Places which you can't avoid when walking around Redmond include the Library/Civic centre region (164th Ave NE), the
shopping mall and cinema complex (NE 73rd St) and the supermarket.
The weather is pretty cold in February (but not as cold as in the UK at that time). It rains and rains. Then it rains some more. The rain isn't
wet rain, more of a light mist falling from the sky. After the first day, you don't notice it. The locals don't care about the rain. The only people seen with umbrellas are tourists.
Don't make the mistake of buying or dragging along an umberella when visiting Seattle. After 1/2 an hour of Seattle's wind, your "Patented Wind Resistant Frame" umberella will be snapped and thrown into a dustbin9.
Of course, how could anyone forget
Microsoft? Well, it's not
that noticable. It is easy to imagine towering buildings with buzzing Microsoft neon signs. The reality is something reminising a light industrial estate (albeit a smart one). There are block after block of low rise yellowish white buildings with little Microsoft logos in the centre. Whilst one researcher was fortunate enough to receive a guided tour of a building by his friend. Don't expect a tour of the buildings, although there is the minimalistic Microsoft musium where you see lots of snazzy imagineered
10 hardware and software behind plexiglass. The gift shop above sells Microsoft software and the usual pens, t-shirts, caps and mouse mats.
If you have a rainy day that you can't fill, walk down to the mall and stand in awe at the biggest Borders bookshop in the world
11. It is an alien experience for a Brit to visit a bookshop where you can read books you haven't yet bought in the coffee shop. The rest of the mall is a bit of a let down with cheezy fake 1960's diners and the usual shops that sell trendy tat.
As with all US cities, you can find a number of
fast food outlets. These are useful if you can't be bothered to make breakfast. Upon your return home, be sure to only eat salads for the next few months!
If you are a hardened fast food junkie, FatBurgers near Redmond city centre is the place to be seen. It is McDonnalds on steriods. So much meat, so much lettice. Well worth the trip (and the larger waistline).
The cinema(theatre) is a social experience to witness. Here is a chance to view Americans completely relaxed. Your homework is to compare and contrast the experience with your home nation's cinema experience.
It is possible to perform a whirlwind tour of Seattle in one day, but it probably deserves a weekend if not longer. The following attractions were all visited in one day...
Whilst chatting to people on the bus, one researcher missed his stop in Seattle and ended up in the
international district. This is well worth a visit. You can see the football stadium, and
Puget Sound (The bay). Of course, it is a fair walk back to the city centre. No one will tell you that the
buses in Seattle are free! There are also trams which run both above ground and underground.
Everyone who has seen Fraiser will know the Seattle skyline is dominated by the
Space Needle. Opened in 1961/1962 it stands 605 feet tall. Home of the 1962 world fair it was a symbol of the technological achievement of the time. There is an observation tower at the top. On the windy day, the tower will wobble a fair bit. They seem to leave the out-side observation deck open during all weathers. Make sure you keep a good tight grip on your camera's lens cap. Oddly enough, its original designs were drawn on the back of a coffee mat, which draws neatly onto what Seattle is REALLY famous for...
Starbucks. The first Starbucks was opened in Seattle's Pike Place fish market in 1971. If you wander down to the Pike Place market (next to the shore), braving the fishy smell to land a catch of a "Worlds First Starbucks" mug you will be disappointed. One researcher even had requests from friends back in the UK for such treasures. Sadly,
America Generica struck once more. The first Starbucks in the world looks just like every other starbucks that you have visited. No shiny mugs, just more coffee.
When venturing into American Starbucks, be sure to spend time listening to the lingo. Whilst Americans easily demand what they want, the following quote is quite standard for the British traveler venturing into Starbucks territory
"It took me four attempts to explain to the Starbucks girl what I wanted. (A small, black coffee)"
Considering the Starbucks Density (SbD)
12 of the "Home of Coffee" with that of Central London derrives some interesting results. Whilst no empirical mesurements have been carried out, it is believed that the SbD of coffee houses in Seattle is marginally exceeded by London's
Covent Garden district.
Saving the best until last,
Bill Speidel's Underground Tour is a little known tour of the Seattle underground. This isn't a tour of the metro system or mob-land but a historic tour of old Seattle. At this point, a brief history of Seattle will help to explain:
- Seattle, the logging town is built at sea level. As more people arrive, the town starts to sink and flooding is frequent.
- The local government decide to raise the level of the city by 8 to 30 feet depending upon location. The residents and businesses disagree, saying that they will have to pay to raise the height of the pavements(sidewalks).
- The government goes ahead anyway.
- Now the sidewalks are between 8 and 30 feet lower than the road.
- People begin to get hurt whilst stepping from the road onto the pavement. eventually the local government pays to raise the pavements.
- Now there are two street levels. the new, higher open air street, where people enter buildings on the 1st floor13 and the underground street with bricks above and to the side which allow access to buildings on their original ground level.
- The black death appears in the city. The local government orders the floors of the underground to be concreted over and the underground streets closed.
- Bill Speidel opens them up this century and charges $9 for a very funny and informative tour.
Walking about in Seattle you feel quite safe. The only suspicious area is between the main shopping district and the Space Needle. It seems as if time has stopped in the early 1980s.
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| Is there anything outside Redmond and Seattle? | |
Yes!
The
Boeing factory is an absolutely huge building. You will be unable to visit if you rely on public transport, as buses don't stop nearby and you can't take bags on the tour. When ranging up the information desk and asking about where to put belongings, the receptionist will tell you to put them in the back of your automobile... after you had asked which bus stopped closest to the centre! Speaking to locals on the bus, it is worth the visit.
Mt. Rainier is a fair distance inland (to the east) of Seattle and Redmond. For all glacier-hunters Mt. Rainier is a must. Make sure you check the weather in the region before you set out. In February you can only drive up half way. By this point the snow level will be above your head. There are a number of stop-points along the road where you can see lakes, raging rivers and mountainscapes
14. This is the rugged America that is often hidden by commercialisation.
Well, lets hope this entry hasn't put you off. If you are not a sun-baby and are looking for a chilled
15 relaxing time, this could be one of the best breaks you could have. Chances are, you won't bump into another non-American tourist during your visit. If you are from the UK, a very good tip is:
Buy a BT PhoneCard Plus. There are rumours that they are being phased out at the moment, but they allow you to call home by dialing a 1-800 (freephone) number from payphones. You are then connected to the reassuring BT woman who will guide you through the connection process. A £5 card will last for a fair while. Using them in the UK is a real pain though - perhaps this is why they might be phased out.
Finally, the thing which may surprise you the most is that Redmond is quiet and relaxed. You can wander around some of the streets for hours and only see a few people walking past. Perhaps the locals knew something that the researcher didn't!
Good luck with any Seattle/Redmond Trips!
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