Fremont is a neighborhood here in Seattle that was originally a separate city, but annexed to Seattle in 1891. Fremont bills itself as the ‘Center of the Universe’, and on the Saturday closest to the summer solstice each year, it hosts a ‘solstice parade’ that celebrates the sun. The parade is ‘notorious’ – said King5 TV news tonight – for its naked bicyclists (but it did not show any of them even on the late night news). Here are some of the pictures that I took today.
Fremont Bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge over the Lake Washington ship canal. In summer it opens an average of 35 times a day (it is only 9 m above the water), which makes it the most frequently opened drawbridge in the United States, says Wikipedia. We just made it across the bridge before the alarm sounded and the booms came down so that it could be drawn up.
Here ‘s the start of the parade, the group promoting renewable energy.This white eagle (?) on stilts flaps her wings at the parade on-lookers.This is at the fair next to the parade : a clock made from dinnerware. That’s me in the striped shirt.Bryan and I walked back some way along Lake Union’s west side, and found this super-yacht called ‘Vibrant Curiosity’ moored right there. We looked it up on-line, and it belongs to German billionaire and screw manufacturer Reinhold Wuerth. It was built in 2009 for a reported US$100 million.Here’s a side view of the yacht. It’s 280 feet (85 m) long.Just a quickie snap shot that I took of the Buca di Beppo Italian restaurant’s neon sign on the way back.Look Ma, no clothes! Just body paint, he heh. There was a very large contingent of bicyclists this year.
