Chapter 5: Wednesday, July 13, 2016
On our third official Fest day we would arrive in Seattle, spend time in the city, and ride light rail and streetcar lines.
Chapter 5.0: Amtrak Empire Builder, Train #7(11), Chicago, IL to Seattle, WA (continued)
We awoke in the state of Washington, and Pacific Time. We had been told that first call for breakfast would come early due to the expected early morning arrival into Seattle. The first station stop in daylight was Wenatchee, WA, which we left at 5:47 AM, just 12 minutes late. We got a nice morning view crossing the Cascades mountain range, with a stop at Leavenworth, and then coming into coastal Everett. We left there at 8:54 AM. While that was 16 minutes late, the crew told us that we still were projected to arrive in Seattle ahead of schedule.
Now along scenic Puget Sound, we turned south and began the final jog down its coast. Everett, WA came at 9:19 AM, just 9 minutes down. And finally, we came upon Seattle, arriving there at 9:52 AM. After all the worry about delays en route, being as much as almost 1-1/2 hours late, we had arrived into our destination 33 minutes early!
Chapter 5.1: In Seattle
Mark Blitzer met us at King Street Station, temporarily bringing our group up to nine. In planning our official rail transit activities in Seattle, there was in my mind a Plan B just in case a delayed Empire Builder arrived later in the day. As things turned out, we had plenty of time to do our intended light rail and streetcar riding, with added time for extra stuff.
Basically, with our scheduled activities together for late afternoon and early evening, we broke up after arrival to either store luggage at hotels, at King Street Station, or attempt early hotel check-in.
Mark, Chris, and I took a ride on the southern portion of the LINK light rail from International District/Chinatown down to Sea-Tac/Airport. Chris remained there to access his hotel, the Hilton-Seattle Airport. Mark and I returned to downtown Seattle, getting off LINK at Pioneer Square and going our own ways for lunch.
Dick decided to opt out of the rail activities within Seattle. The other eight of us met once more at King Street Station, and shortly after 3:15 PM we began to walk to the Occidental Mall end of the First Hill Streetcar.
Chapter 5.2: Seattle Streetcar: First Hill Line, Occidental Mall to Broadway & Denny
Our itinerary called for us to start at 3:30 PM. However with a streetcar available and everyone present in our group who were going to ride it, we left on a car that departed at 3:23. The newer of the two streetcar lines, the First Hill Streetcar was new trackage to all of us but Mark. We enjoyed the trip as it wound through downtown Seattle and up Broadway. We rode it in only one direction, to exploit its easy transfer with LINK light rail at the latter's Capitol Hill station. We arrived at the Broadway & Denny endpoint at 3:45 PM, so the entire ride took just 22 minutes.
The walk from where the First Hill Streetcar dropped us off to the entrance to the subterranean Capitol Hill LINK station was just a few feet down the sidewalk. We went right downstairs to catch our next conveyance.
Chapter 5.3: Sound Transit LINK, Capitol Hill to UW/Husky Stadium
We did not have long to wait for a light rail train to show up. We departed from Capitol Hill at 3:52 PM, and four minutes later we arrived at the current northern endpoint, University of Washington's Husky Stadium. We came up to the surface to see the neighborhood. Mark gave us a short tour of UW and the area's history and important sites. It was a great way to kill time as we would otherwise have been early for our dinner reservation.
Chapter 5.4: Sound Transit LINK, UW/Husky Stadium to Westlake
Back on LINK, this time we would ride two stops to Westlake. We departed UW/Husky Stadium at 4:21 PM, and got to Westlake at 4:27 PM. Once on the surface at Westlake, we walked one block to the southern endpoint of the South Lake Union Streetcar, and waited a few minutes for the next car to arrive from the north.
Chapter 5.5: Seattle Streetcar: South Lake Union Line, Westlake to Fairview & Campus Dr.
We had already ridden this line on our 2010 visit, but it was necessary to travel by rail to our dinner venue. The eight of us departed from Westlake at 4:42 PM, and six minutes later we were arriving at the last stop adjacent to the Fred Hutchinson Center, across from which was the namesake Lake Union a few restaurants including the one we were headed to.
Outside the restaurant we met up with Dick, who returned to us by taxi, and Charlie Hamilton who lives in the Seattle area, bringing our number up to ten for dinnertime.
Chapter 5.6: Dinner in Seattle
Having been there before, the group again chose Duke's Chowder House for our dinner location. Our group of 10 people was handled very well, but the general consensus was that the food was not as good as it had been in the past.
Those who did not opt for dessert left early. Mike and Steve had to catch a ferry to Bremerton, as they were staying at Fairfield Inn by Marriott- Bremerton. I left early too as I had to first go back to King Street Station to pick up my luggage, and then return to Westlake to take the Seattle Center Monorail to get closer to my hotel, the Hampton Inn-Downtown.
Chapter 5.7: Seattle Streetcar: South Lake Union Line, Fairview & Campus Dr. to Westlake
So in smaller groups we rode the South Lake Union Streetcar from the platform adjacent to the restaurant, back to Westlake. I rode back with Mike and Steve, and the rest of the gang was on a later run on the same line.
At Westlake, on my way back from King Street Station after getting my luggage, I ran into the rest of the group who had taken the later trip. Our local friends were headed home, while the rest were going to their hotels, including Doubletree Arctic Club, Courtyard by Marriott-Pioneer Square, and Grand Hyatt.
Chapter 5.8: End of Wednesday's activities
Our busy Wednesday was finally over as many of us settled into hotels, for most the first beds not moving at track speed since we had left home.