SeattlePosted By: Floyd Zamarripa on 4 January, 2007Activities are everywhere in the cultural hotbed of the Pacific Northwest, Seattle. The city offers an immense sporting world, incredible cuisine, and lifestyles that are prominent in popular culture. Everything a traveler could want are found within a short distance of the city. Whether it be golfing, skiing, hiking, or camping it can be done in the Pacific Northwest's most entertaining city. The arts are well represented in Seattle, offering everything from avant-garde performance art to regional oil painting masterpieces. The 100 year old Seattle Symphony Orchestra is one of the world's best and routinely performs out of Benaroya Hall. The Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Seattle Opera both perform from McCaw Hall. Many consider Seattle the home of the garage band stars and the origin of grunge music. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains all considered it their home and reached vast audiences because of it in the early 1990s. Seattle is the cultural hotbed of activity in the Pacific Northwest. This international port has three professional sports teams, world-famous cuisine, and a lifestyle that is rich in popular culture. Golfing, skiing, hiking, and camping are all within close proximity of the city. Local Zoos and parks offer a chance to relax while seeing a bit of nature that is always welcomed. Travelers are urged to visit the Northwest Seaport Maritime Heritage Center to view a bit of local nautical history. Despite the notoriety of receiving constant rain and miserable weather, Seattle's weather system isn't too remarkable. The city operates in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, which only allows for a moderate 34 inches of rain a year. New York City, by comparison, receives nearly 50 inches of rain annually. This common misconception stems from the cloudiness of the city. 226 days per year the sky will be covered in beautiful clouds. A major landmark of Seattle is the Space Needle. It was built for the 1962 world's fair and is now privately owned. The SkyCity Restaurant and a gift shop are located at the top of the needle. It is a prominent feature of the downtown skyline and is considered the symbol of the city by the United States. It stands over 600 feet high and 138 feet wide and weighs nearly 10,000 tons. Archaeological excavations have confirmed that area has been inhabited by humans for at least 4,000 years and probably much longer. More recently, settlers arrived at Alki Point in 1851 and named the spot "New York". Later the town would be named after a chief of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes, Chief Sealth. |