Seattle and Bumbershoot Festival - trip report in complete post
Sep 8th, 2001, 12:28 PM
#1
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Seattle and Bumbershoot Festival - trip report in complete post
Part I)
A fantastic trip... Seattle is a clean, hospitable city to which I'll soon return.
I went specifically for the Bumbershoot Festival - a broadly encompassing
annual music and arts festival that runs for four days on Labor Day weekend.
The festival is incredibly well organized, inexpensive, has a wide variety of food
available and is easy to reach via monorail from downtown Seattle. It does get VERY
crowded but crowd control is handled well and I found fellow festival goers and security personnel to be
uniformly polite and friendly. Check it out at www.bumbershoot.org . Among the
highlights for me were Meshell Ndege Ocello, Sam Bush, the Wild Magnolias, Rusted Root
and blues artist Chris Smither. Musical offerings were quite eclectic and well presented with no sound leaking from one stage to the next despite simultaneous performances. A wealth of Seattle area talent was on display including Superkali, David Brewer blues band and funk artists
Phat Sidy Smokehouse - great sets by all.
Stayed at the Crowne Plaza on 6th Avenue and Seneca - paid $60 per night through priceline and have no complaints. Had a minor problem with the AC and they had a utility man to the room within minutes to fix it. Some hotels may be situated just a bit more convenient to evening activities but the walk was short and cabs were readily available (late at night cabs are easier to find a block away in front of the Hilton).
Spent half of the first day at the EMP Museum (Experience Music project). It was founded and built by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and recently donated to the city of Seattle. The building itself is designed by Frank Gehry (sp?) and is one of the most outrageous and innovative pieces of architecture I've ever seen. The exhibits were consistently excellent with many interactive opportunities and a great perspective on the historical and social development of modern popular music and instruments. This museum is everything that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should have been but is not (I enjoyed my visit to RRHOF but EMP blows it away). Admittedly, its focus is more narrow but everything from presentation to traffic patterns and visual presentations were far superior.
Sep 8th, 2001, 12:29 PM
#2
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Part II)
Had a few meals at Jack's Fish Spot including cioppino (Italian fisherman's stew), a smoked salmon cocktail and a steamed, cracked Dungeness crab (whole). Consistently excellent - Jack's is a fish merchant in the Pike's Place Market and has a few small stainless steel counters with stools for those who choose to eat there. Very basic to say the least but a great place for a quick and moderately priced meal. The salmon cocktail was about $4 , a cup of cioppino was $3 and the whole crab was $15 with butter. If you need a beverage just get it at the deli adjacent to them - I don't believe they offer any beverages. The Pike's Place market in general was fascinating and I wish I'd had time to explore it more throughly. I did eat out one evening at a restaurant recommended by the hotel bellman. It was Etta's Seafood on Western Ave. (past the far end of the market). Service and atmosphere were wonderful - friendly and attentive without being overly chummy or obsequious. Mode of dress was casual to moderately dressy like most places in Seattle. I had Dungeness crabcakes at $25 and a small spinach salad at $7. Both were outstanding but a tad pricier than I'd pay in NYC for comparbale quality. Food prices in general seem to be higher than NYC - a mediocre bagel was $1.25 (without butter or cream cheese!) at a downtown deli and a cup of soup was $5 (not a bowl!). The northwestern light, the affable nature of the people and the wealth of live music offerings were a great draw
and I can comfortably recommend it as a destination. There are also some excellent movie theatres including one that will soon be showing "2001: A Space Odyssey" in 70 mm format - even in NYC that is not available!
Fellin's "Satyricon" was also showing when I was there - this is a class town for film lovers. Espresso offerings are dominated by Starbucks but I did happen onto Ancient Grounds, a great coffeehouse and art display space on First Avenue near University. They have outstanding espresso, the beans all roasted by Cafe Vivace, which was recommended to me but I was unable to visit them.
I also lacked the time to explore the Belltown area, Pioneer Square or the Capitol Hill district but plan to do so on a future trip. Anyone wishing more specifics about the Bumbershoot Festival feel free to write direct by removing the #$% from my email address.
Had a few meals at Jack's Fish Spot including cioppino (Italian fisherman's stew), a smoked salmon cocktail and a steamed, cracked Dungeness crab (whole). Consistently excellent - Jack's is a fish merchant in the Pike's Place Market and has a few small stainless steel counters with stools for those who choose to eat there. Very basic to say the least but a great place for a quick and moderately priced meal. The salmon cocktail was about $4 , a cup of cioppino was $3 and the whole crab was $15 with butter. If you need a beverage just get it at the deli adjacent to them - I don't believe they offer any beverages. The Pike's Place market in general was fascinating and I wish I'd had time to explore it more throughly. I did eat out one evening at a restaurant recommended by the hotel bellman. It was Etta's Seafood on Western Ave. (past the far end of the market). Service and atmosphere were wonderful - friendly and attentive without being overly chummy or obsequious. Mode of dress was casual to moderately dressy like most places in Seattle. I had Dungeness crabcakes at $25 and a small spinach salad at $7. Both were outstanding but a tad pricier than I'd pay in NYC for comparbale quality. Food prices in general seem to be higher than NYC - a mediocre bagel was $1.25 (without butter or cream cheese!) at a downtown deli and a cup of soup was $5 (not a bowl!). The northwestern light, the affable nature of the people and the wealth of live music offerings were a great draw
and I can comfortably recommend it as a destination. There are also some excellent movie theatres including one that will soon be showing "2001: A Space Odyssey" in 70 mm format - even in NYC that is not available!
Fellin's "Satyricon" was also showing when I was there - this is a class town for film lovers. Espresso offerings are dominated by Starbucks but I did happen onto Ancient Grounds, a great coffeehouse and art display space on First Avenue near University. They have outstanding espresso, the beans all roasted by Cafe Vivace, which was recommended to me but I was unable to visit them.
I also lacked the time to explore the Belltown area, Pioneer Square or the Capitol Hill district but plan to do so on a future trip. Anyone wishing more specifics about the Bumbershoot Festival feel free to write direct by removing the #$% from my email address.
Sep 8th, 2001, 06:45 PM
#5
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Glad to hear you enjoyed your visit to our city, but I'd like to correct a couple of things you said:
the EMP was never "donated" to the city of Seattle. It's purpose from the beginning was a money making museum/venture. At $20 per adult, it's not a freebie or anything like that.
yes, things in the Pike Place Market area are expensive. That's because it's the tourist area. If you get out of that particular area (although there are great restaurants down there), you will find that things cost less. A bagel at Noah's for example is 65 cents.
Finally if you are downtown you can take the monorail from the Seattle Center (where bumbershoot is held) to Westlake Center and walk the four blocks to your hotel or take a bus which is part of the free zone in the downtown area. Again, I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your visit. We also have the Northwest Folk Festival in Seattle which has a great selection of musical acts and art as well.
the EMP was never "donated" to the city of Seattle. It's purpose from the beginning was a money making museum/venture. At $20 per adult, it's not a freebie or anything like that.
yes, things in the Pike Place Market area are expensive. That's because it's the tourist area. If you get out of that particular area (although there are great restaurants down there), you will find that things cost less. A bagel at Noah's for example is 65 cents.
Finally if you are downtown you can take the monorail from the Seattle Center (where bumbershoot is held) to Westlake Center and walk the four blocks to your hotel or take a bus which is part of the free zone in the downtown area. Again, I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your visit. We also have the Northwest Folk Festival in Seattle which has a great selection of musical acts and art as well.
Sep 9th, 2001, 08:57 AM
#6
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Thanks for the tips Idsant. I suspected things were cheaper elsewhere but even in Belltown I found breakfast prices to be on the high side. Unfortunately my agenda lacked the time to explore real neighborhoods - somethig I plan to correct on my next visit. I used the term "donated" carelessly. It's my impression from magazine articles that Pul Allen or his foundation turned over ownership of the museum to Seattle. I didn't intend to imply that it was free or anything other than a moneymaking venture but I suspect that a shrewd businessperson would take the hughe write-off and avoid the losses that are likely to be incurred onj an ongoing basis. Even at $20 per head it seems unlikley that it wil lgenerate enough revenue to pay its own way but IMHO it certainly is a great asset to your lovely city. A few tips for those who may wisht to attend Bumbershoot in the future:
1) The indoor bathrooms on the lowest level of the main building
1) The indoor bathrooms on the lowest level of the main building
