It was the first day of August, a good day to get out on the water. We made our reservations for an Argosy cruise and lined up on Pier 55.
Once on board, we found three seats near the window on the lower deck. It was a good place to sit when we weren’t hanging over the side taking pictures.
I bought some coffee from the on-board snack bar. It hit the spot, but it was a challenge to juggle a camera and a cup of coffee on a boat cruising around Elliot Bay. Luckily the water was calm enough that I was able to park my cup on a windowsill while I took these photos of the Seattle skyline and the Space Needle.
Then I moved across the boat to a windy wide-open window to get this shot of the container port with Mount Rainier in the background. We hit a wake, and I grabbed my coffee off its precarious perch on the window sill just in time.
Views all around. Seattle to the east, Mount Rainier to the south, and the Olympic Mountains to the west.
But not everyone was looking.
As I walked from one side of the boat to the other (not spilling a single drop of my coffee), I had to step around fifteen or twenty kids sitting at three tables in the center of the lower deck. The kids, who looked like high school junior and seniors, had arrived with paper-wrapped burgers. They’d quickly polished off the burgers, and now they were playing cards.
I used to be a painter, so as you might imagine, I hold the appreciation of beauty in high regard. Seeing the kids playing cards instead of looking out at the beautiful view upset me. They were quiet though and well behaved. Besides, it was none of my business.
Our boat cruised north, past Discovery Park and another view of Mount Rainier. Then we turned toward Ballard and the Hiram Chittenden Locks. A marvel of engineering! The kids folded their cards and came out on deck to watch as we entered one of the locks, tied up, watched the gate close behind us, and rose twenty feet up to the level of the lakes.
Then most of the kids returned to their cards, and we continued on, cruising past fishing boats, tug boats, and a pilot boat.
The card-players were too young to have seen Sleepless in Seattle, so they couldn’t be expected to care about the houseboat Tom Hanks’ character and his son lived in on Lake Union. Here it is on the left.
I have several math geniuses in my family, so I should have recognized the clues. The card-playing kids were maybe 70% male, 75% Asian American. A dead giveaway. Still, I didn’t put it all together until I read the back of their teacher’s T-shirt:
University of Washington Summer Math Camp
Space Needle competing with tower cranes
Seattle is having a growth spurt. In every direction, tower cranes rise above the skyline. The card-playing kids may not have noticed them, but I’m guessing that when they grow up, some of them will design a future generation of skyscrapers and engineering marvels.
Vive le difference!
Next week’s post: “Engineers, bikinis and the Ballard Locks.”
P.S.– Did you know that the US won the International Math Olympiad this year? The winning team was six boys, no girls. It looks like only half of them were Asian Americans, although among the 250 American qualifiers for the exam, about 75% had an Asian surname.
What beautiful views outside the boat, Nicki. Those waves look like they put on a bit of a show, but not too rough to rock the boat too much. Love how they sparkle in the sunlight. You sound like an ace at balancing coffee while moving around – what a skill 😀
It is interesting to hear that most of the mathematics olympiad qualifiers had an Asian surname. It reminds me: time and time again final-year high school students with an Asian surname in Australia tend to come out on tops in the national exams, usually for maths and science. One newspaper pointed this out at one stage. A general trend.
Actually, Mabel, the water was even calmer than it looked in my photo. What you see is the wake of our boat. The only time the boat rocked was when we hit the wake of another boat.
I actually went through the list of the math olympiad qualifiers and counted the Asian-sounding names. The biggest majority were Chinese names. They’re hard to mistake. I didn’t count my grandson since he is only 25% Chinese, and his name isn’t Asian.
I love seeing our home city vicariously through these great photos — thanks so much for posting them, Nicki! Simply cannot wait to get back to these amazing sights.
Cathy, we were lucky to be out on the water on such a beautiful day. There’s so much to see in Seattle!! I should get out more. Today I went to a friend’s house in West Seattle and enjoyed the view of Elliot Bay from the Viaduct and then the view of the container port from the West Seattle Bridge–not to mention the view of Bainbridge Island, Magnolia, etc. from her house. I’m looking forward to seeing you next time you’re here.
Enjoyed your cruise around Seattle. I do not understand how anyone can pass up the chance to view new sights. Lovely photos.
There’s so much to see in the world. We’re not always at a place in our lives when we’re ready to appreciate it, though.
That is the sad truth.
Gorgeous photos, Nicki. I’ve never been to Seattle or anywhere in the Pacific Northwest. I might have to remedy that one of these days . . .
I hope you get a chance to visit the Pacific Northwest sometime, Carol. It’s nice in the summer because even on a hot day, it cools off in the evening.
Math rocks!
So does Seattle’s natural beauty!
Boats too . . . side to side . . . back and forth . . . up and down.
NICKI! Grab Your Coffee!
Leave it to you, Nancy, to make a poem out of my prose.
Looks like a great cruise around Seattle. I’d like to hike some of Mt Rainier some day. Hope those kids got a glimpse of their beautiful surrounding between games. 🙂
My sister was up at Mr. Rainier yesterday. Another great place to hike is on the Olympic Peninsula, starting at Hurricane Ridge or in the Hoh Rain Forest.
Love the photographs! I guess we should just be grateful the kids weren’t staring into their electronics!
In retrospect, I have nothing to complain about. Like these kids, my older grandchildren, the math geniuses, don’t bother with social media, and they didn’t get a cell phone until they were almost ready for college.
It’s a little early yet to rule out the younger grandchild’s math abilities.
I agree, Teresa. He’ll probably be a math genius, but it’s too soon to say for sure.
What a beautiful day for an excursion. Your photographs are wonderful, Nicki.
I suppose I’d rather see the kids playing cards than their noses stuck into an iPhone. My love of scenery took time to mature.
What a thoughtful comment, Jill! I should have realized we’re not all born with a natural love of scenery, and for many it takes time to mature.
Great photos, Nicki.
I bought my first smart phone whilst stationed in the Middle East
at a ripe age of…….. I didn’t feel I could climb up a tree in my
abaya when the signal was poor.
I have now hit it off with my smart phone. We are an item now. It feels snug
and fluffy to be in a committed relationship. But there is a time and place
for everything. We eat with our eyes, too, my phones
are out of sight then.
My iPhone doesn’t feel snug and fluffy yet. I’ve only had it for a few months. I still feel more at home with my computer.
Your stories and photos always make me want to put Seattle on my trip list! Gorgeous!
Seattle isn’t as rainy as people think, but we do have 226 cloudy days a year. Summer is the best time for a blue sky. Also September.
I remember taking the ferry to Whidby Island and enjoying the views immensely. When I went to Victoria BC in the winter, I didn’t enjoy the views as much as I would have liked b/c the waters were so choppy. It was all I could do not to turn green 😛
I like Victoria, but especially in the summer. When you visited, besides being there in the winter, you probably had to cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which is more open to the waves and currents of the Pacific than are the more protected waters inside Puget Sound. On our little cruise around Seattle, the only chop we experienced was from the wakes of other boats.
Such great photos! The Seattle skyline is so distinct!
I used to frustrate my parents on long car trips, because I preferred to read instead of looking at the scenery. So, I would have been one of those card players. Now that I’m an adult I love looking at the scenery.
In all fairness to kids, how many adults do we see on trips who are glued to their phones instead of looking at the scenery? I’ve observed many adults staring at their phones or tablets rather than at the passing beauty around them.
I’m glad many people are standing up for the kids. Having a couple of artists in the family, were on the alert for beautiful scenery from an early age. But I used to get scolded for reading when my mom thought I should go out and play instead.