More Merriment

CITY SPARKLING: Yesterday, our holiday junket through downtown Seattle included a few rounds on the holiday carousel at Westlake park.

I have to say, it is the shortest carousel ride I've ever seen - it seems like they only went around about four times. 

But a short spin is better than no spin! And the ticket fees go to a charity.

The merry-go-round is kitty corner from the downtown Macy's, which was adorned with a seasonal star, as usual.

Afterward, we walked a few blocks south along Fourth the the Fairmont hotel. It was our first visit there.

 A pretty, fancy-schmancy place, that's for sure.

We were quite interested to see this plaque as we approached the front doors.

How 'bout that? Go Huskies! I knew that UW started downtown before moving to its present location by Lake Washington. But now we can say we've seen where it all started. Neat-o.

There was also a plaque honoring this gentleman. 

According to his page on HistoryLink.org, Kerry was a Northwest lumberman and astute businessman. Kerry was also responsible for overseeing construction of the Olympic Hotel (now named the Fairmont Olympic Hotel).

We just learned today that the famous Kerry Park, on the south bluff of Queen Anne hill, with the best views in town, was named after him. How 'bout that?  Albert Kerry and his wife Katherine donated the park site to the City in 1927, so that everyone could enjoy the same view they had from their home. Kerry lived at 419 W Highland Drive ; Highland is the street the park is on. His place still stands today, a magnificent mansion.

Once inside the Fairmont, we were greeted by Santa, straightaway.

The hotel hosts a forest of holiday trees up for purchase, with funds going to Seattle Children's Hospital.

This Dr. Seuss-themed tree was a favorite.

And Annabelle loved this colors of this upside down tree.

We headed to the upper lobby, where we found more decorations - and an enormous pine tree decorated to the hilt!

 Up on the second floor of the hotel was a sweet little Teddy Bear Suite.

One focal point was a big ol' bed full of teddy bears.

Back outside of the Fairmont, we walked out to find ourselves nearly under this architectural marvel. Rainier Tower was designed by Minoru Yamasaki, who designed the World Trade Center in New York City. The 41-story building has an 11-story pedestal base.

ROBOTS!: With Black Friday and Cyber Monday barely in our rearview mirrors, there have been a whole lot of Amazon.com boxes showing up 'round here. I thought the kids would enjoy this GeekWire piece about one of Amazon's fulfillment centers. It's a high tech marvel.

https://youtu.be/qQPVF7nysgg

WORK IT: This afternoon, the kids enjoyed a flashback to the '90s. 

OK, I know that they weren't even around in the '90s, but Billy Blanks sure was. Creator of the Tae Bo exercise phenomenon, Blanks is still around, doing his thing, now on a YouTube channel.  The kids thought it was fun for about a minute, then they thought Billy Blanks a cruel taskmaster!

https://youtu.be/rWnylaC5xc0