Next, I decided to use a car service since I would be spending the morning at work and having to go straight to JFK Airport from the office. I decided to go with Carmel, referred to by New Yorkers as "The Sixes" because of its easy to remember phone number 212-666-6666. The car service picked me up a couple hours before my flight and ended up actually being cheaper than a taxi would have been going to the same destination. I'll definitely start considering Carmel as a mode of transportation, even when work isn't covering the expense, when I'm headed to boroughs outside of Manhattan (which makes the taxi meter go up exponentially). I also received a $5 coupon on my receipt, so instead of taking a taxi, which is what I was planning on doing, I think I will actually just reserve a car while I am still here in Las Vegas and have a car waiting to take me back home when I land back at JFK on Monday! Anyways, I am getting ahead of myself.
I took off from JFK at 3:45pm on Thursday and landed a little after 7pm. It sure was nice gaining back all that time flying through timezones so that I still had a few hours of daylight left to go do the one thing I'd been really looking forward to doing - seeing the Space Needle! I took a 25-minute cab ride from the airport to my hotel, the Grand Hyatt, on Pine Street. My cab driver made sure to point out the sports stadiums (the Seahawks' stadium in particular looked much smaller than I would have expected) as well as the Space Needle. I was shocked at how small the Space Needle was; I was definitely expecting something that would be towering over the rest of the skyline, but it wasn't like that at all - I really had to squint to find it in the midst of the other buildings. The cab ride was over $40 and totally wiped out my cash supply (I keep forgetting New York is the only city with credit card machines in its cabs!). I checked in quickly when I arrived at the hotel and raced upstairs to drop my bags off and hurry to the Space Needle. The Hyatt totally won me over with the plate of grapes, cheese and crackers waiting for me in the room! This was a very welcome, refreshing snack before I set out on my solo adventure. I'm still not positive whether this is normal for all guests, but assume I had been registered as some sort of VIP guest to get this little treat. It's good to be the boss! :)
I've definitely become a fan of relying on the hotel concierge for physical maps, directions and food suggestions in these cities I am unfamiliar with. Although I'd done a little Googling and researching on these things prior to my trip, it's still nice to ask a local who knows what kind of area they are pointing in the direction of and if it's safe for a young female to be setting off on her own through it. The concierge at the Hyatt was helpful and indicated that while the Space Needle was walkable from the hotel, it was at least a 30-minute walk and a cab may be my best bet. I agreed and decided I would walk back to the hotel using the map she provided me after seeing the Needle, but I was in a potential time crunch to beat the sun setting (I really wanted some nice sunset photos) so needed to get there the quickest way possible. She also gave me directions on how to get to the nearest Wells Fargo ATM, which ended up being literally right behind the hotel, and also advised me that walking back from the Needle down 5th Avenue would be the best route for food.
I found a cab quickly after hitting the ATM, but I noticed there weren't many cabs around, so I think I just got lucky. I would probably have the hotel call for one ahead of time if I were going to do it again. The cab driver got completely lost which really annoyed me. Not only am I asking him to take me to the biggest (the only?) tourist attraction in Seattle, but the Needle was in our line of sight for the entire ride - all he had to do was just drive toward it! Anyways, after a lot of arguing I finally got him to shut off his meter, and I told him I'd just pay him $10 (the meter was at $7 when I realized he had no idea where he was going). We finally made it to the Space Needle and I walked right up to the ticket booth and bought my ticket ($18) for the observation deck. Doing some earlier research, I had learned there is also a $24 "Day & Night Pass," which allows a person onto the observation deck twice in a 24-hour period (so that one can view during both daylight and nighttime hours presumably). However, I felt like I'd probably timed my trip so that I'd get both of those with my general admission ticket, so I decided to save myself the money (and another potentially ridiculous cab ride). I then made the long, winding walk to the elevator that would take me the rest of the way (and of course the obligatory green-screen photo stop). When I reached the top of the jam-packed elevator, I was dumped off in the middle of a cafe/bar that went all the way around the top of the Needle. Had I not been flying solo, I may have grabbed a table and had a glass of wine, but I was really just there to get in, take some photos and get out!
I headed to the outdoor perimeter of the observation deck, which provided an excellent view of Puget Sound and the waterfront on one side and the city of Seattle on the other. It was incredibly windy, and with the sun going down it was getting a little chilly up there even with a light sweater jacket on, so I decided to go back inside and wander around a little. There were some really interesting computerized maps with information and zooming tools to get a better look and also some knowledge of what exactly you were seeing in front of you. Sunset is apparently a popular time for viewing and the indoor area was getting a little crowded, so I bid the Seattle skyline adieu and headed back down to the base where I took some photos looking up at the Needle.
I then got my bearings with the map the hotel had provided me and started walking back down 5th Avenue looking for somewhere to eat (it was past 9pm at this point and it had been hours since I'd had that little snack in my room). I was definitely disappointed at the nightlife I saw in Seattle on a Thursday night. I don't know if maybe the road that was suggested to me just wasn't the right one to be walking down, but to say the roads were deserted would be an understatement. I never really got nervous or felt unsafe, but I definitely didn't think it was the greatest position I could have put myself in...I was basically walking under an interstate on a sidewalk with no one in front of or behind me. The road was lined with shops, but at this hour nothing was open. Perhaps during the day this is a more lively area? I did eventually get to a stretch of 5th Avenue with a FEW restaurants, but not the back-to-back-to-back bars and restaurants with people spilling out of them the concierge had me think I'd be encountering. The restaurants I did pass were all very nice (i.e. expensive) and were not really what I was in the mood for. I finally stumbled upon the Taphouse Grill, which was the only place I passed that appeared to have any life inside of it. The bar and restaurant were pretty crowded, which was a welcome sight after my 30-minute walk in almost complete silence with not even a passerby to catch my attention. I settled into a seat near the end of the bar and had the lobster bisque and a Seattle sushi roll with tempura shrimp, both of which were delicious. And yes, the only reason I ordered the Seattle roll was because it was called the Seattle roll.
Taphouse Grill:
By the time I had finished up my meal, it was nearly 11pm, my eyes were droopy, and I knew I had a big day of work the next day. I was only a couple blocks from the Hyatt at this point, so headed back and was asleep in no time!
Miles Traveled Today: 2,852
Total Miles Traveled: 18,999
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