Seattle - Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest - page 141

Seattle Glassblowing Studio GLASSBLOWING
MAP GOOGLE MAP
( www.seattleglassblowing.com ; 2227 5th Ave; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat & Sun; 13)
If Dale Chihuly's decadent chandeliers have inspired you, try creating your own modest
glass art at this blow-your-own glass studio a few blocks from the master's museum.
One-off sessions cost $85 to $125, or there are four-hour group or private lessons most
days. Alternatively, you can just watch the fascinating process as a spectator (there's a
cafe with a viewing window overlooking the workshop).
Seattle Center
In 1962 Seattle hosted a summer-long World's Fair, an exhibition that enticed nearly 10
million visitors to view the future, Seattle-style. The vestiges, which 45 years later look
simultaneously futuristic and retro, are on view at the Seattle Center.
Space Needle LANDMARK
( www.spaceneedle.com ; 400 Broad St; adult/child $19/12; 10am-11pm Mon-Thu,
9:30am-11:30pm Fri & Sat, 9:30am-11pm Sun; Seattle Center) You might be from Alabama
or Timbuktu, but your abiding image of Seattle will probably be of the Space Needle, a
streamlined, modern-before-its-time tower built for the 1962 World's Fair that has been
the city's defining symbol for over 50 years. The needle anchors the World's Fair site,
now called the Seattle Center, and, despite its rather steep admission fee, still persuades
over one million annual visitors to ascend to its flying- saucer-like observation deck.
EMP Museum MUSEUM
( www.empsfm.org ; 325 5th Ave N; adult/child $20/14; 10am-7pm Jun-mid-Sep, to 5pm mid-
Sep-May; Seattle Center) Recently rebranded as the EMP Museum, this dramatic mar-
riage of supermodern architecture and rock and roll history was inaugurated as the Ex-
perience Music Project (EMP) in 2000. Founded by Microsoft cocreator Paul Allen, it
was inspired by the music of Seattle-born guitar icon Jimi Hendrix and was initially in-
tended as a tribute to Hendrix alone, although the collection has since morphed.
The main exhibits are housed on the 2nd floor and are anchored by the If VI Was IX
sculpture, a tower of 700 instruments designed by German-born artist Trimpin. Many of
the permanent exhibits center on Hendrix, including the Fender Stratocaster guitar that
he played at Woodstock in 1969. Other collections are more ephemeral, although you'll
always find interesting paraphernalia on grunge, guitar history and facts pertaining to