Saturday, March 25
My friend Lily and I explored downtown Seattle. It’s an international port city with a famous space needle and fun market along the waterfront. We happened to catch a Rhythm Festival at the Seattle Center. All the hippy dippies came out to drum and dance. It reminded me a bit of college. In the evening, Lily took me to see a wonderful concert with the cellist, Lynn Harrell and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra at their new symphony hall. Apparently the acoustics are unparalleled. Even Lynn Harrell remarked on it during his encore.
Monday, March 27
Thanks to the presence of the company, Boeing, Seattle has a fabulous Museum of Flight which is located right on the company’s runway so you can actually hear the control tower and watch the planes taking off and landing. It covers flight right from ballooning to space travel today.
In the center of the hall they have a Blackbird. An old gentleman who had been in the air force for 27 years told fascinating stories about it. It’s the fastest plane in the world with an acknowledged top speed of about 2,400 mph. Apparently, it flies across the US in about an hour. It was built in the 1960’s and used by the CIA for taking photographs. It has since been retired – apparently satellites do as good a job but for a lot less money!