Seattle Asian Art Museum and Volunteer Park Adventure

Gergina & I took the day off the Wednesday before last for my birthday. We spent the morning at the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) and then strolled around Volunteer Park and the U-District.

Seattle Asian Art Museum

It was my first time at the SAAM. It’s a beautiful building and the site of the original Seattle Art Museum (SAM) before it moved down to the current downtown location.
There are primarily two kinds of museum goers on a Wednesday afternoon. Retirees & schoolchildren. The retirees are your normal quiet observers, which are then offset by the occasional stream of cacophony that is the most recent school group hurtling through the displays. It’s a fun time, do recommend if you find yourself with a free Wednesday and want to do some people watching.
Anywho, here are some pictures from the museum.

Volunteer Park

After the museum we hiked up the water tower observation deck, and I came to the realization that I need to spend some more time on a stair stepper. Really reevaluating the thought that I’m fit enough to do the Space Needle’s Base to Space climb. Some great views, though some of the branches could stand to be cut back a bit. There are also an array of displays going into the history of the Olmsted parks projects of yesteryear. If things had turned out differently Seattle could have had a park rivaling Central Park in South Lake union! Sidenote, the Seattle Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) has a great diorama of what the park could have looked like on the top floor of the museum.
Finally, we stopped in at the Volunteer Park Conservatory and looked at some plants. They have air plants bigger than Gergina’s head! It’s a cute little greenhouse divided into tropical, local, and desert plants. It’s worth checking out while in the area!

University District

Had lunch and some more walking around the U-District. Not to be hyperbolic, but I had the best cortado at Ancient Gate Coffee. It is the new cortado that I will judge all other cortados by. No coffee photos, because we got there at 4:58 and they were closing at 5. That’s how good the barista was.
All in all, it was a great midweek birthday! Some culture, bunch of stairs and walking, and a new favorite coffee place!