Seattle: The Great Wheel and the Greater Red Face

Me and the Seattle Great Wheel

            Yesterday was a busy Seattle day. I told my son I’d take a picture of the Space Needle for him, so I rode the Monorail over to Seattle Center. I decided to bite the bullet and ride up to the top of the Needle. I also visited the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit which is just breathtaking. It’s fun to tourist around Seattle on my own. I miss my kids and my honey, but there’s a lot of freedom in taking it all in solo. After returning from Seattle Center, I decided to walk down to see the Seattle Great Wheel. I’ve wanted to go on it since it was built a few years ago. But I’ll admit, the trip up the Space Needle elevator made my heart race so I wasn’t feeling super confident in my ability to make it through the wheel ride. In fact, I was picturing getting about 10 feet off the ground and throwing up.
            So I took a picture of the wheel and hiked back up to my hotel, feeling pretty okay about the decision no to attempt the wheel on my own. (Literary side note: The Seattle Great Wheel reminds me of reading about the original Ferris Wheel in Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City – another World’s Fair reference to make my trip even more complete). I’m sitting cooling off in front of the A/C when my best friend calls and asks if I want to go on the wheel. Oh crap! Well, of course I do, I say and they head up to meet me at my hotel. We park near the waterfront and I can feel my anxiety on the rise. As fate would have it, my friend’s son suffers from anxiety as well so he was not too pleased about the idea of going on the wheel. In fact, we were both scared out of our wits. But I think I had him convinced that we should have an adventure together AND his mom bribed him (you know, for good measure).
            I’d like to tell you that we both laughed at how silly our fears were, but the truth is, I closed my eyes through most of the first rotation and held my little buddy’s hand for the entire trip. I didn’t throw up, though I won’t say the urge wasn’t ever present. And my little friend kept speaking my mind, saying things like “don’t take any more pictures, you’re wiggling,” and “don’t talk, it rocks the car.” I was able to open my eyes for most of the last two rotations and then they threw in a fourth time around. My friend’s son cried the whole time, so frustrated that he’d been duped into a non-disclosed trip. And I can’t say that I blame him, though I tried to put on a really brave face. The view is spectacular and I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world but I’m glad I’m safely back on the ground!
            It’s Fleet Week for Seafair so the waterfront was teaming with guys and gals in uniform. With all the talk of Worlds Fairs and such, it felt a little bit like stepping into another time. Of course I wanted my picture with every last one of them! My bestie took my first picture with Chris, a very dashing young man who corrected her when she suggested that he was a “seaman.” I got my picture and walked away, embarrassed for having hijacked this poor guy but satisfied nonetheless. As we were walking to catch up with her husband and son, I noticed that my little 8-year old friend had commandeered a whole group of white clad Navy boys and was pointing them in my direction. All the blood rushed back to my face as he organized another group photo. I ended up surrounded by half a dozen good-natured troops, their pristine white uniforms in shocking contrast to the red that was taking over my face and body. I shook their hands, thanked them for their service and made my little buddy promise not to talk to any more uniformed men. He just smirked! 

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Chris and I

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