Just at the base of the Space Needle there you will find the Pacific Science Center. For only $37.00 the kids and I spent several hours exploring the place. A much better deal than the Space Needle!
The kids each tried out this contraption. It is a bicycle on a high rail, attached to a 200 lb. counterweight. Helena thought it was the freakiest thing she had ever done!
There was also one of those water spinning granite spheres, which is always fun to play with.
And a gerbil wheel to run on...
And some water cannons
And that was just out in the plaza. Once inside, the displays ranged from boring to fascinating. This post would be much too long if I put every Science Center photo in it, so I will just put in a couple of my favorite.
Tide pool exhibit
I don't know why this is my only photo of the tide pool exhibit. I remember that Helena was more interested in it than Will was. That may be because Will had already checked it out before we got there. He has a tendency to quickly go through exhibits, just stopping at the ones that interest him. I go much more slowly, giving even the more boring displays a little of my attention. By the time I got to the tide pool exhibit, he had already seen everything there was to see in the room and was ready to move on. Thankfully, Helena was more willing to go at my pace. In this shot, she is experiencing a 'sea urchin hug'. When you place your finger in between the spines, they 'hug' your finger. Creepy, but fun!
I found it amusing that the display workers kept insisting on people washing their hands before touching the exhibit, as if anyone was that careful in the millions of tide pools that line the Puget Sound. Still, they have a limited amount of water circulating. That must explain it.
Butterfly house
The butterfly house was definitely our favorite part of the Science Center! A humid, tropical greenhouse filled with exotic butterflies is always a winner!
Will found the feeding station and sat right next to it. He was rewarded for his patience by having several butterflies land right on him. I spent my time trying to capture a photo of the biggest blue butterfly in the greenhouse. After several failed attempts, Helena pointed him out to me resting on a branch!
In the briefing before being let into the greenhouse, we were told not to pick up the butterflies, but it they land on you, just enjoy, then shake them off before leaving. However, I noticed that several butterflies were getting stuck in the down draft that was meant to keep them away from the doors! If they couldn't get away, they would be crushed by the opening of the door for the next group to enter. So, I 'broke the rules' and picked them up to place them on a leaf out of harm's way.
After we were done looking around the Science Center, we were famished! I thought about finding a place to eat on the walk back to the ferry terminal, but decided it would be easiest to find something for everyone at the Center. There is a food court there, so everyone got something different to eat before heading back to the monorail. It was 4:00 when we finished eating, and I wanted to catch the 4:20 boat. With some luck on catching an immediate monorail, and some speed walking, we made it!
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