The Historic Chinatown Gate is an iconic Paifang archway that marks the western entrance to…read moreChinatown in the International District of Seattle. Ming Zhang of MulvannyG2 and Paul Wu designed the gate, and materials included steel and ceramic ornaments with 8,000 tiles that were manufactured in China. Construction experts that visited from China stayed in Seattle for the duration of the construction in order to supervise its completion; furthermore, it's noted that, as part of the design of the gate, the phoenix and dragon are included - along with the colors of red, yellow, green, and blue of the gate to reinforce good luck, happiness, optimism, harmony, and good fortune. As a plaque near the gate notes, "Dedicated on February 9, 2008, this gate is a testament to the unity and will of the Seattle Chinese community and a lasting remembrance of all those who have preceded us."

Visiting Chinatown was a little bit different. There are a lot of different stores and a…read moresupermarket around the area. Plenty of parking all around but didn't feel safe since there were quite a bit of homeless people all around here. I like to visit different Chinatowns around America and even in different countries to see how they are.

Landmark in Seattle, Washington…read more.. Driving around, I saw a blue bridge in front of me. I remembered seeing something like this on Yelp, so I turned the corner, parked along the side of the road, and hopped out for a photo! After doing a bit of research, I found out that my friend, Marcus S., was awarded Review of the Day (ROTD) for his review of Fremont Bridge in 2022... maybe that's when I bookmarked it? The Fremont Bridge is a draw bridge that is popular because it opens many times a day to let boats pass through. It's a Historical Landmark as it was first used in 1917. I just thought that it was striking in appearance, especially with the orange-colored lettering!

We got to cross the Fremont Bridge while in Seattle. The bridge connects the neighborhoods of…read moreFremont and Queen Anne and was built in 1917. The corner parts of the bridge stood out to me the most with their detail and beauty almost resembling an old blue Police Box (UK). Fun fact, it not only is it a pretty blue color and is the most frequently opened drawbridge in the United States opening roughly 35 times a day.

When I was in Seattle for a few days before our Alaskan cruise I loved running back and forth…read moreacross this bridge each morning to keep my marathon training going. Running the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge offers a great view of Lake Washington as you run 1.1 miles each way back and forth from the park to Mercer Island. There is a bicycle and pedestrian path on the north side which I was on. It's a good 2.2 mile run that is easily turned into a 5K running the extra around the picturesque park back on the Seattle side. This is actually a floating pontoon bridge opened on 1989. Pretty cool engineering feat. One of the widest floating bridges in the world.

Cool drive across the floating bridge, what a view on both sides of the bridge. Amazing how…read moreengineering works. It deserves a 5 for design, length, placement, view, surrounding

Absolutely stunning interior design with a simple palette of natural wood, limestone and white…read moreterrazzo at 2 Union Square in Seattle. Curved wall with beautiful limestone cladding envelops the multi bank/cell elevator core. Generally and obviously an orthogonal concrete core in most High-Rise buildings gets boring with predictable layout created for structural criteria. Sure, it's value add rather than value engineering that always leads to scope reduction! Finally, interior and architectural design and owner attitudes and values are moving towards human experiences rather than ROI. At 2 Union Square, developer is creative to address it by creating something unique in form of rounded form surfaced with beautiful natural limestone finish with open joints and 3D effects at the top of the wide and grand stairs surfaced with simple terrazzo with white cement and aggregates. Creative lighting design and wood ceiling form adds tremendous value to one's experience of traveling short distance between entrance to elevators. Sometimes simple is beautiful.

This huge building with the huge USA flag on top is worth 2 Stars for not falling down, but that's…read moreit. It is out of scale with the surrounding skyline, the plaza at the bottom is inhospitable to pedestrians, and it looks like a gaudy Las Vegas hotel. I'm guessing it is inspired by a yacht or some Nautica clothing advertisement. A yacht can be elegant, but a 700ft building meant to look like a yacht is tacky. It is a shame Two Union Square and some of the biggest characters in the Seattle skyline look better suited for Houston, Miami or a freeway office park in the suburbs. Seattle is a progressive city...it should have more progressive architecture! But as far as amenities are concerned, this building does border Freeway Park, which is a fantastic place to take breaks and lunches, so as much as I detest this building's dominance of the east-facing skyline of Seattle...I would probably enjoy working there.

The only real reason for me to write a review about this bridge is the neat Fremont Troll that…read morelurks underneath it. The website www.roadsideamerica.com describes it best: The Fremont troll took up residence under the north end of the Aurora bridge on Halloween 1990, and hasn't left since. He was sculpted by four Seattle area artists -- Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead -- for the Fremont Arts Council. The head-and-shoulders sculpture is 18-ft. tall. The shaggy haired troll glares southward with his shiny metal eye -- a hubcap? In his left hand, he crushes an old style Volkswagen beetle (which originally contained a time capsule of Elvis memorabilia; removed after the car was vandalized and the California license plate was stolen). There are plenty of places to pose, and interaction with the troll is encouraged. Troll. The community pays tribute to the troll every October 31st with a mobile "Trollaween" party, starting under the bridge and wandering to other funky art sites and events in Fremont. Of which there are plenty: Fremont is also home to the Largest Lenin statue in the US. The troll achieved more notoriety in 1998 when the a man shot a bus driver and ran the bus off the Aurora bridge, crashing on top of an apartment building. The building is adjacent to the troll, and was reported to get as much attention -- for a while you could still see evidence of the impact. I have attached photos of this neat concrete monster under the end of the bridge. If you are looking for this "landmark", just head towards the Fremont Library and look for Troll Ave.

In and of itself, the Aurora Bridge, which connects Queen Anne to Wallingford and Fremont, doesn't…read moreseem to be anything particularly special. Concrete, steel, paved, elevated. It wasn't until I crossed it on foot on Christmas Day 2005 that I found an appreciation for it. Deceptively tall, spanning both land and water, the Aurora Bridge is unnerving and exhilarating both. There is an amazing view to be had from the middle of the span, with the Cascades far to the east, the Olympics far to the west, a long finger of the Puget Sound below, and sky stretched above. You'll be hard pressed to find a more expansive place to stand and appreciate the beauty of Seattle and its cradle. For me, the waist-high wall separating pedestrians from short-lived aerial showmen served to remind just how thin the margins can be between life and the absence of it. Indeed, the so-called "Jumpers' Bridge" is deserving of its title. As I reached the Queen Anne end of the bridge, a single piece of faded and wind-torn 8 1/2" by 11" printer paper was taped to the railing. On it was the name of a 38 year old man, Victor A. Mitchell, his birth date, the date of November 5th, 2004, and the promise that he now slept in the arms of God. Leaning over the railing from that place and looking down to the concrete parking lot far below was strange. The Aurora Bridge would be a perfect conduit for quiet contemplation, if not for the steady stream of cars flying noisily by. A clear and moonlit midnight hour would be an excellent time to cross. Or indeed, perhaps, Christmas Morning, when most automobiles are resting idly, the streets are quiet, and your own crystallized breaths dance in front of your face.

The Spokane Street Bridge runs over Harbor Island and the Duwamish River/Waterway roughly parallel…read moreto the West Seattle Bridge. These two bridges are separate bridges, with the Spokane Street Bridge being the shorter of the two and the West Seattle Bridge being the taller of the two. Some bridges are stacked bridges meaning they have multiple decks/layers (typically two in my experience) for vehicles to traverse, one upper deck and one lower deck. The Spokane Street Bridge and West Seattle Bridge are not the stacked type of bridge instead they are distinct bridges running alongside each other. Southwest Spokane Street runs across the Spokane Street Bridge and is a fun driving experience especially at night. There are stoplights at each end of the bridge, something to keep in mind if you like to speed as traffic can get a bit backed up at these lights. Walking the bridge is also a fun adventure especially now that the West Seattle Bridge is temporarily closed for repairs. The platforms being utilized by workers to aid in making repairs to the West Seattle Bridge are easily visible from the walking/biking trail, the West Seattle Bridge Trail, on the Spokane Street Bridge. If you come during the day when repairs are a work in progress it is possible to see the workers and equipment being actively used occasionally. Stairways on both sides of the Duwamish River take one down to the ground below. I explored the stairway down from the bridge on the west side of Harbor Island and found a sidewalk that I used to reach Terminal 18 Park. Clean and well maintained bridge in my experience with some lovely views of the Port of Seattle and the West Seattle Bridge.

Bellevue is a beautiful city that incorporates a deep respect for nature within it's booming…read moretechnological growth. You will find stunning, sprawling skyscrapers amidst lush green spaces. There are plenty of parks and trails to explore, as well as high end shopping and play. If you're around in winter's holiday season, the Annual parade is worth visit. The Bellevue Aquatic Center was a favorite spot of mine. The facility has a lovely warm springs pool great for achy joints after a week of exploring.

I saw this listing for Bellevue, WA. I've been there! I can write about it…read more Bellevue is east of Seattle and takes roughly twenty minutes to drive between the two cities. I remember going over a bridge and seeing Lake Washington. The water was blue and picturesque. I was in the area back in 2016. I miss it. My employer has an office in Bellevue. Back in 2015, our team was working with a team there. It's how I started to know about the city. I was on vacation when I visited Seattle. I never checked out my employer's office in Bellevue. I was a tourist figuring things out. I remember going into a Best Buy and having a bunch of different associates ask me if I needed help. They were trying to be helpful, but it was almost too much of a good thing. My favourite memory was visiting Thai Ginger. I loved this restaurant so much that I dined at this eatery twice. I hope it's still there so I can enjoy the crab fried rice and yellow curry again. It was excellent and I often think about the food that I had here. Bellevue is a nice city. It's pretty and beautiful. I loved dining and shopping here during my brief visit. I truly need to return and revisit everything. (246)

This is a story of the Wittler Block/ Elliot House/Derig Hotel/Star Lodge /Cadillac Hotel. Designed…read moreand built by James W. Hetherington and Clements as part of the Wittler Block. The building was built in 1889 and was only one of two brick buildings built on Jackson Street after the Great Fire of 1889. The 3 story "Victorian Italianate" Building opened in 1890 as the Elliot House and was soon converted in 1891 into a 52 room hotel called "Derig Hotel" which lasted until 1904. For a very short time it was also known as the " Star Lodge ". Under new ownership in 1906, the name was changed to "Cadillac Hotel". The Cadillac Hotel was known as the workmen's hotel where 25 cents can get you a room for the night. Their business catered to the hard working loggers/fishermen's/railroad/shipyard workers. Over the years there has been many strange and unexplained phenomenon happening in the building . Strange sounds/ apparition walking the upper floors/ ghostly presence felt in the elevator and the cries of a mother and child. May all their souls rest in peace !!! The Historic Seattle Preservation Organization bought and restored the Cadillac Hotel after the building was serverly damaged in the Nisqually Earthquake in 2001.Today the building is no longer a hotel but home to the National Park Services Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park and remains one of Seattle's Historic Landmarks ! Thanks for reading ! Live/Love/Travel. !