a weblog of whereabouts & interests, since 2010
I found these beautiful bearded irises on Martin Luther King Way in Seattle’s Central District.
The newly built Star Princess made its maiden port of call in Seattle this weekend. She was constructed in 2025 by Fincantieri in Monfalcone, Italy, with a capacity for 4,300 passengers and a gross tonnage of 175,500. The Star Princess is the second Sphere-class vessel for Princess Cruises, a sister ship to the Sun Princess.
The Star Princess was at Pier 91 with MS Noordam on the opposite side of the pier, and was scheduled to depart this afternoon at 3 pm.
Instead, it was MS Noordam that sounded her horn three times, and departed shortly after 3 pm.
I waited until after 4 pm for Star Princess to depart, and then gave up. (Later, at home, I saw online that the Star Princess had departed at 5.25 pm).
I walked up to the Magnolia Bridge to take another picture or two, and right then the Norwegian Encore came by in the distance. She was at Pier 66.
We had 72 °F (22 °C) here in the city today, and we might see the year’s first 80 °F (27 °C) by Monday.
I look for the newest car registration numbers when I am out and about, and I spotted a Washington State plate with CWZ on today.
That means there might be CXA plates out there already.
My dad’s Chev truck in South Africa had a plate with CXX 360 T on. Utterly trivial and insignificant — or is it?
Why would I be able to recall that, decades later?
Happy Friday.
Is that a 12 flag on the Space Needle? I wondered today.
No, it’s actually a flag with 51 on.
A “51” flag was raised today May 1 (5/1) to celebrate the retirement of Mariners legend Randy Johnson’s jersey number.
The “Big Unit” himself hoisted the flag to honor his 51 number.
Johnson played for the Seattle Mariners from May 25, 1989, to July 31, 1998.
There was plenty of sunlight outside today (65°F/ 18°C).
Here are my pictures from Volunteer Park here on Capitol Hill.
It was a beautiful spring day here in the city (62°F / 17°C).
The Norwegian Bliss set sail for Sitka, Alaska shortly after 4 pm this afternoon, from Pier 66 here at the Seattle Waterfront.
Happy Friday.
Here is tonight’s lookout towards the Olympic Mountains, from 13th Avenue East and East Mercer Street.
It is a few minutes after sunset, now at 8.12 pm.
Here comes the No 12 bus, northbound along 19th Avenue East.
I am standing in the middle of the street by Stevens Elementary School to take a picture of the lovely lime green tree leaves.
The MS Noordam from Holland America Line arrived at Pier 91 at the Port of Seattle at 7 am this morning, completing her 36-night crossing of the Pacific Ocean from Sydney, Australia.
She departed from Pier 91 at 4 pm this afternoon, for 7-day round trip to Ketchikan, Alaska.
So we will see her again next Sunday.
Happy Friday.
So the Strait of Hormuz is open— sort of.
Iran demands that ships use the route in the strait that runs close to its coastline, and the U.S. blockade is still in place. (The U.S. Navy is actively intercepting and restricting ships entering or leaving Iranian ports to cut off Tehran’s revenue.)
Late afternoon, I went down to the Seattle waterfront to see the first cruise ship of the season set sail.
A storm brought thunder, lightning and a little hail to the city today (a quarter inch).
By 6 pm I could go for a walk with my umbrella but I did not venture out too far. It was only 42°F (5 °C).
There was some damage to the tulips and daffodils in the neighborhood.
A Tesla service truck full of Tesla tires was out and about, and had just replaced the rear wheel and tire on a white Model Y by the curb.
It was a cool, drizzly day here in the city (56 °F/ 13°C).
By late afternoon, it was time to get away from all the insanity in the news. I walked down to the Thomas Street Gardens P-Patch, where I found the tulips.
Note: A P-Patch is a parcel of property used for gardening.
The term is specific to Seattle.
The “P” originally stood for “Picardo”, after the family who owned Picardo Farm in Seattle’s Wedgwood neighborhood, part of which became the original P-Patch in the city.
[From WIkipedia]
I walked down to the Capitol Hill light rail station this morning, and took the new 2 Line extension to Judkins Park station (it opened on Saturday March 28).
At Judkins Park station, my two amigos joined me, and we went on to Bellevue Downtown station to go to a movie theater there. (I will report about the movie later).
The map and the drone picture below it are from the Seattle Times.
The rest of the images are my snapshots from the roundtrip on the 2 Line from Capitol Hill Station to Bellevue Downtown, and back.
Here is my final installment of the flags for World Cup 2026 on the monorail pillars in downtown Seattle.
It seems as if all the flag images on the monorail have now been installed, and I found South Africa’s flag.
(Hint: the other two are from countries that are part of the United Kingdom. Do you know which ones?)
It is a soggy start to April here in the Emerald City.
There was a beautiful sunbreak at 6.50 pm, as I stood on the corner of Thomas St and 13th Avenue East on Capitol Hill.
Tonight, there is a full moon in the sky.
Very appropriate— with the Artemis II mission to the moon launch that happened just a few hours earlier from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
It was time for another ‘No Kings’ protest today.
Here in Seattle, we gathered at Cal Anderson Park at noon.
There were a few speeches, and then the crowd made its way along Pine Street, past the Seattle Convention Center and on to Seattle Center.
My two amigos and I made it to the Convention Center, from where we surveyed the long parade of protesters and their signs that kept on coming.
I had to go back to downtown today retrieve my watch that has had its band adjusted, and a new battery.
On the way back to the car I discovered the monorail pillar that has the American flag on: the one at the intersection of Olive Way and Fifth Avenue.
I was downtown this morning and parked by the monorail.
These flag images on the monorail pillars are part of a major public art installation by SeattleFWC26, the local organizing committee, to celebrate Seattle’s role as a host city for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The project should be completed in early April.
I will definitely have to go back and look for the Stars and Stripes— and for South Africa’s flag as well.
Iran’s flag is already up, and there is a picture of it below.
Of course: it is an open question if the Iranian team will actually come out to the United States and play.
These beautiful cherry trees with their blossoms are on Capitol Hill’s 13th Avenue.
It has been raining a little every day for ten days, and it looks like it will continue for several more.
It was 5:39 p.m. and 54°F (12°C) this afternoon when I walked over to the Safeway grocery store.
The blue sky was filled with both high and low clouds. I boosted the blues in the photo below using the iPhone’s “Vivid Cool” filter, and I really like the result. You can see the outline of the Olympic Mountains, and if you look closely, you can see an airplane in the photo as well.
