Sailing into the Sunset
by Mary Jo
The Mayhem Consultant and I are always up for a cruise, but apart from a long ago cruise to Alaska, our watery holidays have pretty much been in Europe or the eastern US. So this time, we headed to the Pacific Northwest for a cruise starting and ending in Seattle and cruising on Puget Sound among the San Juan Islands.
Once again we chose American Cruise Lines , whose small ships (built right here in Maryland on the Eastern Shore) offer a variety of cruises in American waters. The ships have between maybe 100 and 170 passengers, which makes for a friendly, cozy experience.
The night before embarkation on a cruise, ACL books all a ship’s passengers into a single (nice) hotel. That way we’re all corralled in one place so in the middle of 
the night our baggage is collected from the hallways so it can be transferred to the ship the next day. After breakfast the next morning coaches scoop up all the passengers to give us a tour of the city before depositing us on the ship. Our suitcases are in our rooms and lunch is waiting for us. (First rule of cruising: make sure passengers NEVER go hungry!)
Seattle is famously a high tech town, and our night in the lovely Four Seasons proved that. (The picture of a flying woman on a building to the left was visible from our hotel dining room.) The room telephone sat on a charging pad and looked like a microphone for a major rock concert. And it didn’t work. <G> It sure looked high tech, though!
Our tour guide for Seattle was great, a navy veteran with lots of good stories and a deep love and knowledge of his adopted home town. It was a bright, sunny day, we saw many facets of Seattle and knew there was lots more than that, and by the time we reached the American Constellation, half of us were considering moving to Seattle. <g> 
The picture of the unusual building to the right was in one of the city’s more colorful neighborhood.
Naturally we circled around the famous Space Needle, (photo by Jordan Kalilich) , though we didn’t go up in it. Built for the 1962 World’s Fair, it was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi for many years. It’s history is interesting if you have the time to read it.
Here’s a picture of a local wearing the perfect Seattle rain hat, though in fact, we had beautiful weather all week. Our guide said that summers are pretty nice, but winters are often months of overcast. The climate can be classified as Mediterranean, and while there’s a lot of clouds and drizzle, it actually gets less rain than a number of other American cities.
This was our seventh ACL cruise, but it was special because Word Wench Pat Rice and her husband Don were also onboard and their cabin was next to ours! Pat and Don love to travel, but it’s a long way from Southern California to Europe, so flying up the West Coast was an easy journey by comparison. Pat and I wished all the other Wenches were along for the ride!
I’ve been running around madly since we returned home, so I’ll tell more about the actual cruise in a couple of weeks. For
now, here’s the view from our cabin after we boarded the ship. As you can see, it’s a marina- (picture on the left) -and our coach driver backed that great big coach along the single lane pier to get to the ship! It was an auspicious start to a fine cruise.
Till later–
Mary Jo
I definitely look forward to hearing more, Mary Jo! Thanks for sharing your pictures of Seattle, a place I’ve visited several times to be with friends.
Kareni–isn’t Seattle great? At least it is in the sunny summer! I’d love to go back and see more.
I look forward to reading more about your travels in the place I call home–Puget Sound!
Jane, I know that’s your home and you know SO MUCH MORE about the area than I do. Feel free to correct me on possible errors!
I had a sister who lived near Paulsbo and I was fortunate enough to visit her a couple of times. Beautiful country! As always, I look forward to reading about your travels.
Thanks, Mary T. I love sharing my travels with you. Fortunate you to have a sister in that area!
It looks wonderful Mary Jo – wish I could have come with you!
Christina, I wish you were there also! As I said, it would have been a great place for a Wenchly retreat!
Sounds like a lovely trip, Mary Jo. I have been to Seattle a number of times and it js an interesting and fun city. I hope you get to the Pike Market, a very lively and fun place to visit(amomg so many fun places to see).But beware the very steep hills( I thought San Francisco was bad….😉😊) Looking forward to hearing about the rest of trip!
Jane, I’ve visited the Pike Market on earlier visits, and it’s great! Very true about the hills, though! When I flew out to San Francisco after graduating from college, one of my first thoughts was how did people manage the hills when it snowed? Then I remembered that it didn’t snow there. I’m told that Seattle sometimes gets snow, but seldom and not much. I guess people just stay home until it melts.
It’s the steepness walking up (even snowlesss) that killed us. I felt like i was climbing a steep mountain! It was amazing!😊
Oh, how I wish I could have joined you and Pat on that cruise. I visited Seattle many years ago, and it was one of three US cities I felt I could easily live in. Though I think it’s changed a lot since then.
I’m looking forward to hearing about the rest of the cruise.
Anne, it’s a very appealing city, at least in the summer. But the tech explosion has had a huge affect, I’m sure.
Anne, it’s a very appealing city, at least in the summer. But the tech explosion has had a huge effect, I’m sure.
Looks & sounds great! We want to do the Alaska trip so maybe we’ll get up there soon.
Jeanne–our one Alaska cruise years ago started in Seattle and it was great! If you do this, take a few days to explore Seattle if you can.
I’ve been to Seattle several times and really loved it. I’ll be interested to read about your tour around the islands.
Karin–islands are such fun! We only saw a few, but there are lots more of them out there.
Had to close my eyes while going up in the elevator, but the Space Needle is a MUST! The views are spectacular, and the whole vibe is amazing. Once you’re up there, you don’t feel like you are going to fall off because there are decorative net-things to catch you, LOL. I went to the World’s Fair in 1962 and have very fond, if slightly hazy, memories of it. Seattle is a fantastic city and I, too, fantasize about moving there. Can’t wait to hear about the rest of the trip!