Tacoma, WA – Dale Chihuly’s Bridge of Glass connects Tacoma proper with the Museum of Glass. And if it wasn’t for the Bridge of Glass, the Museum of Glass would be like any other museum out there. In fact, I’d give a pass on the museum and just head on over to the bridge. It will save you the entrance fee and the only (slightly) unique thing you’ll see inside the museum is a team of glass blowers making giant apples, or other a sundry chakies to sell at the museum store.
The Bridge of Glass, however, is worth the visit. It’s not a bridge made of glass, like I desperately hoped (in my mind I pictured a giant amorphous Chihuly glass bridge that you could walk on and somehow withstood the elements and thousands of people walking on it), but instead it’s filled with Chihuly glass well worth a small fortune. Although slightly disappointing, because it’s filled with glass instead of made out if it, you’ll get over it as you see the plethora of Chihuly in a row and overhead.
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Fremont, WA – My last stop on my walking tour of Fremont was “Waiting for the Interurban,” a strange little statue of people waiting for the bus and dressed… well differently almost every hour. I must have seen then in at least three outfits while I was about. It’s appearently tradition for the folks of Fremont to dress these poor commuters up as they see fit. And directly behing them is another pile of cloths. I’m not sure if they were the ones they were just wearing or if they’re the next intended outfit, but it’s like a Walmart for the less fortunate back there!
The Interurban statues have their own nifty little but stop complete with coverage, I guess so their fancy duds don’t get wet, and are on an island in the middle of the street all on their own. In fact they’ve got the nicest bus stop I’ve seen in or out of Seattle! Of course no bus goes past. I guess that’s supposed to be the poetic irony of the statue, but something tells me it would be a little more awesome if they had the opportunity to mingle with the regular commuters and feel their pain.
Seattle, WA – Deep within the bowels of Pike Place Market is the Giant Shoe Museum. It’s a little unassuming museum that costs a max of 75¢, only you must have quarters. There are no tickets or docents, just a storefront converted into what is now the Giant Shoe Museum. It’s very reminiscent of an old side show, complete with a tease that reals you in. For the astounding cost of free you can peep at the story of Robert Wadlow’s shoes (a sideshow wonder in his own right) as well as a genuine pair of clown shoes. And then for the admission price of 25¢ you can see other enormous shoes, including what I’d guess is the biggest pair of chucks ever made (if there’s a bigger pair let me know and I’ll jump at the chance to visit). As I dropped a quarter into each machine to see curtains pulled back to lights come up to reveal the shoes inside I loved every moment of it. The best was the moment when I was hanging back taking photos that I heard a group of teenagers complain that the show wasn’t worth it…seriously? Not worth the quarter you just paid? I’m sure I could come up with a list of things that weren’t worth the $150 they spent on it. But just like a good sideshow blow off I’m always willing to pay a little extra to have not to miss a little bit of weird. Of course I also have a soft spot for coin operated entertainment.
