A Trip on the Water Taxi

Yesterday we took the King County Water Taxi from West Seattle to Pier 50 in downtown Seattle.
To board, we used our Orca cards, which are also good for bus rides or the new light rail.

Here is a reader in the West Seattle Junction that allows riders to pay before boarding the new RapidRide bus. Water Taxi staff used a hand-held reader to take our fare. In other modes of transportation, the passenger just taps the card on a reader while boarding. NJTransit, how about an upgrade from train tickets and exact change on buses?

Approaching, we see the Space Needle on the left and the giant Ferris Wheel in the center.

We walked to Pioneer Square. What a surprise to enter an enclosure and find a roaring waterfall!

Visitors can sit and enjoy the Waterfall Garden's leafy ambiance. I joked to Audrey and Peter that it would be a great place for secret conversations, as the cascading water makes it impossible to hear what people at the next table are saying.

Besides lots of shops and restaurants, Pioneer Square has public art like this sculpture in tribute to Seattle firefighters (click on image to enlarge).

The bright sunlight obscured this magnificent totem pole.
Here's a landmark building, although Pioneer Square in its entirety is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Seattle's oldest restaurant is here.

Another beautiful structure in Pioneer Square.

Audrey snapped a photo of me on the ride back.

Here's the downtown Seattle skyline as seen from the Water Taxi. The building with the pointed top at the right was once the tallest building west of the Rockies, Audrey tells me.

All in all, another great day in sunny Seattle!

--Bernice