A Visit To Seattle's Space Needle & Kerry Park

Before I actually went to the Space Needle, I wanted to get a picture of it from the ground looking up, so after some walking, and more walking, and yet more walking, I found a decent location and got some pictures. For anyone reading this who lives in Seattle, I found the good photo location at the corner of Clay St. and 3rd Ave. I then picked up a Diet Pepsi at a local gas station and walked over to the actual entrance to the Space Needle. It cost $18.90 to enter. The elevator to the top runs for 41 seconds and takes you up 520 feet making a stop at the revolving restaurant which is located underneath the observation deck before stopping at the actual deck. The Space Needle is part of a large area called the Seattle Center. It was built in 1961 commemorating Seattle's contributions to the Space Program. According to the elevator operator (and she gave all of a 30 second speech and did it well), the Microwave Oven debuted at the Space Needle when it was first introduced! She also told us there was a place that was used in the movie "Sleepless In Seattle" that could be viewed from above and also pointed out to us where Queen Anne Hill is located! She may have said more but I don't remember as the speech was designed only to last as long as the ride up the elevator! Once I got to the top, I noticed not only how beautiful the view was, but the fact that there was NO WIND! Not only that, there was NO RAIN today! Seattle, as you may know, is notorious for getting lots of rain, so I must have gotten super lucky having booked this trip some 8 months prior, to be there on a sunny day! The temperature today was also probably in the low 60's, almost felt like spring!
There are compass headings on the floor of the observation deck, so I started at the North heading and took pictures all the way around. Since I decided to visit the Space Needle later in the day, I figured I would be here for both day and night photos as well as get a decent sunset photo as well. I wanted to bring the tripod along so as to make the night photos a bit easier to take, but after a quick phone call to make sure this was allowed, I was told it was not. So I never brought the tripod. I ended up talking with a local photographer (once I was already at the Space Needle) who was also trying to get a sunset photo as well and he told me he brings his tripod all the time! Oh well, I wasn't about go leave and go back to the hotel again to grab the tripod when I was in the middle of some excellent light for "dusk" photos coming up! I had mentioned to this photographer that I wanted to get a night photo of the Seattle Skyline. Prior to this trip, I read about the Alki Beach area but he ended up telling me about Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill which was a lot closer to the Space Needle as well as my hotel. After getting a nice sunset photo and some night photos from the top, I walked back to the hotel, got the tripod and a taxi over to Kerry Park! The taxi driver actually didn't know where it was and because of this, shut off the meter and capped my cab fare at $7.00. He did eventually get me there though and once I arrived, I was absolutely amazed by the incredible view of this city at night!!! There were several other photographers there as well trying to get the same photo as I would get. Shown here are some views of the Space Needle, the City Of Seattle as viewed from the Space Needle and views of Seattle from Kerry Park. I had a great time here and hope you enjoy the photos!!!

LEFT: The Space Needle as seen from the corner of Clay St. and 3rd Ave.
RIGHT: The Space Needle as seen from across Broad St. near 5th Ave.

The main entrance to the Space Needle in the middle of the grounds that make up the Seattle Center.

LEFT: A view of the Space Needle from the grounds of the Seattle Center.
RIGHT: A night view of this amazing structure from just outside the entrance.

A view of Lake Union.

Closer view of Lake Union with the South Lake Union Park in the foreground.

That huge shadow of the Space Needle looks awesome!!!

A view of Downtown Seattle in the late afternoon sun!

The Seattle Skyline against Elliott Bay with Mount Rainier in the background.

Mount Rainier in the distance, what a view!!!

Qwest Field, home of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks. Behind it is Safeco Field, home of Baseball's Seattle Mariners.

Pier 70, I passed this on the Empire Builder earlier today and thought it looked cool from above!

A beautiful sunset to end a beautiful day in Seattle!

The city starts to light up fast when the sun goes down!

I feel like renting "Sleepless In Seattle" or maybe watching some reruns of "Frasier"!!!

Kerry Park offers a view like no other of the Emerald City!!!

LEFT: The sculpture "Changing Form" with the Space Needle hiding behind!
RIGHT: A closer night view of the big tower from Kerry Park!

I picked up a taxi back to my hotel after a nice visit to Kerry Park and grabbed dinner at McDonald's before calling it a day. The Space Needle is a lot of fun to experience and I would recommend visiting it if you're ever in the Seattle area. My time in Seattle would be short however as I would be riding out of here the next morning on Amtrak's Coast Starlight headed for Los Angeles. Check out the link below...