Full day in Seattle

After spending the night on the town last night, we went into Seattle early this morning. We really did spend the whole day there, ranging from cafes on the waterfront, a placed called Ye Old Curiosity Shop, and the Seattle monorail. But the clear highlite of the day was the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum. The scifi part had a lot of great movie and TV props, including Star Trek uniforms and Captain Kirk's command chair. The coolest Star Trek thing, however, was a 4 four square model of the soundstage from 1966 where Star Trek was filmed. Made by the production designer Matt Jefferies, the model showed the layout of the filming stages and the way the Enterprise sets were laid out. It also showed that the sections of the bridge could be removed to allow better access for the camera crew. It was really neat to see.

In the music side of the building, there was so much information about Seattle and rock and roll it was crazy. Lots of musicians got their start up here, including Quincy Jones and Ray Charles. They also had about six different recordings of "Louie Louie," and an entire exhibit about the Battle of the Bands between two different versions of the song, one by the Kingsmen and one by Paul Revere and the Raiders. The Kingsmen ultimately won the battle, but apparently for a while the competition was fierce. Then the upstairs section had a room where you could play instruments, mix demos, sing along, etc. I didn't get a whole lot of time to look in that room, but Molly, Tim, and I did get the chance to do their "On Stage" program, in which we pretend to be a rock band and sing a song. We chose Twist and Shout by the Beatles, and then we rocked it out. We had a great time, and we bought the poster they were selling of our appearance. It was a lot of fun.

Then we went for a seafood dinner on the waterfront, and then played a few arcade games before heading back to the hotel. These last two days have been the best days on tour yet. Yes, I spent a lot of money over these last two days, but I finally feel as if I've been seeing some of the country! We're not racing through or running pass cool sights, but now we've actually had the chance to explore a bit. Made me feel ready to get back on the road and do our show tomorrow morning.