Seattle Light Rail

Seattle’s Light Rail Finally Opens!!!

The long wait is finally over, Sound Transit opened in late July and a slick rail line now joins the airport (almost) with downtown. I say almost because the last mile to the terminal at SeaTac International won’t be finished until later this year, but we’ll forgive them the inconvenience of a short shuttle bus ride to the airport, because in the end, it’s finally worth the wait. We took advantage of a “no check-in” afternoon to try it out. The closest station to Salisbury House B&B is downtown at Westlake Center, but the north spur, which will run under Capitol Hill to the University of Washington, is already under construction. Eventually we’ll have a station on the hill near Seattle Central Community College on Broadway.

What we found out. The cars are no frills, but feature big windows and big doors and there’s plenty of room for luggage and hooks for riders to hang their bikes. The ride is very smooth, and the trains run on a seven minute schedule (a little more frequently at rush hour) so there’s no need for a timetable. And each station is interesting.

All public projects in Seattle must spend one percent on art and they did a nice job of picking intriguing pieces without getting anything overtly controversial. And the views of the city are pretty great, making the trip visually pleasing. The line runs underground through downtown, but hits daylight near the ball parks and then goes under Beacon Hill and then south through Rainier Valley (on a clear day you can glimpse some great views of our local glacier-clad volcano). My favorite part of the ride is where the line soars over Interstate 5 south of Boeing Field, is there anything more satisfying than looking down on stop-and-go traffic when you aren’t in it?

On the return trip we got off at the Columbia City station and walked two blocks east to the terrific Columbia City Farmers Market, which runs May thru October on Wednesday afternoons. We took a happy hour break at Island Soul for two dollar Red Stripe beers and a plate of coconut prawns. The chef comped us a couple of his coconut corn muffins, some of the best things to come out of an oven you’ll ever taste. We took the #48 bus back to the inn because we could ride all the way without transferring downtown, it was convenient but not faster, and much bumpier since we were back in city traffic, not gliding along Sound Transit’s smooth rails and dedicated right-of-way.

Japanese Garden Seattle Arboretum

Japanese Garden

Assistant Innkeeper, Shelley, had muffin duty this morning so Phil and I had some free time. We decided to check out the Japanese Garden in the Arboretum since they re-opened last month after some renovation work. From Salisbury House it’s not far to walk to the Garden, but it is a little adventurous. You walk east on Aloha down the hill and cross 23rd at the light, continuing down what must be some of the steepest blocks in the city, some of the sidewalks are ribbed, to provide more secure footing in damp weather- this isn’t a route for bad knees. At the bottom of the hill you find a ravine, which is in fact the edge of the Arboretum, but you need to turn to the left and walk about half a block until you see a small Park Department service yard; at the north side of the yard is a path that takes you past a tatty storage area then down into the leafy depths of the Arboretum and into the parking lot that serves the Japanese Garden and some playing fields to the south.

The major changes at the Japanese Garden are only at the entrance, which is now designed to look like a small village. Happily the nearly fifty-year old garden hasn’t been fussed with, though it is still meticulously maintained. I love how the Garden seems like the inset of a map, imposed on the lower left corner of the huge, messy and well-used Arboretum.


It was a sultry morning and while it is a warm month away from the blooming azaleas, rhododendrons, and cherry trees, still the air was scented with the sweet scents of foliage and the water lilies were blooming on the small lake. Sitting in the middle of one island of lilies was a large heron, fishing quietly, or perhaps just posing for pictures from the visitors. On bridge a girl feed the salmon sized carp, a few hungry turtles and one placid duck who seemed undisturbed by the roiling fish underneath him.

From the Japanese Garden you can go onto explore more of the Arboretum, but we headed south along Lake Washington Blvd. to Madison St. to one of our favorite restaurants, Cafe Flora, for rosemary lemonades and pizza. The little Madison Valley neighborhood has a number of good choices for lunch and some interesting shops for browsing but we headed back up the hill after lunch. An alternative is the #8 bus which will take you up steep Madison to Thomas where you can hop off the bus right at 16th St. just four, or five, flat blocks from Salisbury House.

Louisa Boren Lookout Park

A short side trip off the one mile walk through Volunteer Park is Louisa Boren Lookout Park. The park is just North of Volunteer Park and looks out to the East over Lake Washington to the Cascade Mountains. Sun and moon risings can be spectacular. Rising schedules are found at the US Naval Observatory website. The pictures in the video were taken on June 1st at 0520.