The Space Needle is my favourite structure in Seattle – a flying saucer soaring above the land. I have a soft spot for monuments built for a World’s Fair. This structure was built for the 1962 celebration – our apartment was originally a hotel built for the same event. Like Smith Tower before it, when it was built it was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi.
I can see it peeking over the ridge when I’m working at my bench, and I ride towards it on my journey home on my bicycle. If I catch the bus, I see it silhouetted against the sunset, lit up from below.
For my birthday, Adrian took me out for dinner at the revolving restaurant SkyCity – a trip that took 43 seconds from the base. As we revolved 360 degrees every forty-seven minutes, we watched the sun set behind the mountains and the ferries glide across Puget Sound.
I had the Copper River salmon, and it was delicious. The best bit, however, was the signature dessert – the Lunar Orbiter. A chocolate ice-cream sunday, suspended over a broth of steaming dry ice, it appeared to leap off the table and into the future.
There’s a Wheedle on the Needle
I know just what you’re thinking
But if you look up late at night
You’ll see his red nose blinking
~Stephen Cosgrove
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