The Smith Tower and then Colorfest

The 100 year Anniversary of The Smith Tower

The two little girls that live atop the tower with their mom decided to capitalize on the event and baked some shortbread cookies 

and lemonade for sale.

The Admiral bought a cookie.

As you entered the building you got a button and a piece of Celebratory chocolate

Waiting on the oldest Elevators in the nation

Besides these 8 originals, there are also two on the East coast still running.

This will be our ride up.

Each elevator has a full time Operator.

Lucky us since our Groupons had expired.

The Chinese Room

The building gained International attention and the Empress of China provided the materials for this room.

Looking Northwest

One of the Locals pointed this building out as the Hospital you want to goto in a emergency.

Safeco and
Centrylink fields

The same guy pointed out the pink building on the left as the VA building here in Seattle

The Port of Seattle

Looking West to West Seattle

Looking North down 2nd Avenue to the Space Needle

Now the Tallest building is the Columbia building on the right.

No one could tell us about the triangular shaped building.

The International district, we planned on a trip after this to go to Uwajimaya, a popular Asian Market. http://www.uwajimaya.com/

Just a sliver of Mt. Rainer

One of the Elevator Motors

Or you can take the stairs.

Back in the Day!

The Tie

Well it looked like the building was empty but in the process of being remodeled

Almost to the market

Pronounced Gooey Duck, it is a delicacy in the PNW , we actually had some as an appetizer years ago but cant remember what it tasted like

Everything is very fresh here, not at all like the Asian market in Austin.

This is all I need today

What is the Heck is This?...It's Colorfest!

Lots of people had cans of colored spray dust lettin it rip!

Just in case you got to much in the nose!

Here you can see the clouds of colored dust rising above the crowd, not sure what it tasted like! See the video at http://youtu.be/VGz8hWEGgSk

But everyone comes out Colorful!

READY to P-A-R-T-Y

The Smith Tower and then Colorfest

We had some Groupons to visit the Smith Tower and realized they were about to expire we had them so long. The week was already kinda of busy and we new we probably would not get to use them before they expired. Then we read that  the 100th Anniversary was coming up for the Smith Tower and they planned on Celebrating by offering a trip to the Observation Deck for the same cost as when it opened $0.25. So we planned on a day downtown including a trip to the International district to see the Famous Asian Market  Uwajimaya. 
We had already been on the Tallest building in Seattle so I was not sure about this, but the History surrounding the Smith Tower was different:
"Completed in 1914, the 38-story, 149 m (489 ft) tower is the oldest skyscraper in the city and was the tallest office building west of the Mississippi River until the Kansas City Power & Light Building was built in 1931. It remained the tallest building on the West Coast until the Space Needle overtook it in 1962.Smith Tower is named after its builder, firearm and typewriter magnate Lyman Cornelius Smith, and is a designated Seattle landmark" see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Tower 
A ride in the Elevators is worth the trip alone, as well as the architecture. Then there is the story of the Woman and her two children that live in the very top of the tower in the Pyramid shaped top floor. You can see a story by the New .York times at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/garden/21who.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 It was pretty cool to see her kids in their own Capital Venture selling cookies in the shape of Smith Tower and Lemonade to those waiting in the long line to get up to the Observation floor.
The views are still stunning even though it is no longer the tallest structure. Actually you are close enough to make out a lot more details of the surrounding area than you are in the Columbia Tower since you are closer to them. We took a pair of binoculars with us to the Columbia building so that helped a lot with the detail. I guess the Columbia Building is a High Tech experience and the Smith Tower very Funky.
Afterward we walked about a mile to the International district to find Umajimaya Market.It is a huge market and very busy with it's own food court with a wide Asian selection. We walked the entire store just to see it all, the seafood market was very interesting and everything looked like it just came off the boat, very fresh. It was the first time for me to see Geoduck (Gooey Duck) up close, it is a huge clam where the muscle sticks way out of the shell and is a delicacy in the PNW. We had some years ago when we visited Seattle as an appetizer but can't remember what it tasted like, but remembered it as very tasty.
Since we walked downtown and then to the International district we decided to take the Sounder to Westlake Center and then the Monorail back to Seattle Center just a couple of blocks from where we live in Belltown. As soon as we pulled into Seattle Center on the Monorail we saw this Festival going on down below the platform. We walked over to a space on the platform that had a great view of the Colorfest.We did not even know this event was happening but it was fun to hang out and get some pics of this event from high above the colored dust.Just read on their website that The colors are made of plant-based, non-toxic, all-natural cornstarch. They are safe for the environment, children, and pregnant women. They're even edible--not that we'd suggest eating them! http://www.colorfestival.com/locations/Seattle