Plenty To Do In Rainy Seattle
Seattle's popular standing as one of America's wettest cities isn't necessarily justified. With yearly rainfall of thirty-eight inches, the Emerald City is actually bested by forty-three American cities, including New York City, where nearly four feet of rain falls on average each year. But while Gotham weather brings its fair share of torrential rains, inclement weather in Seattle tends to take the form of drawn-out drizzles.
As luck will have it, residents of Seattle and visitors touring the city as part of a grand swing of the American Northwest can still find lots to do on Seattle's gray and drizzly days. Topping my list of indoor suggestions is a stop at one of Seattle's many world-class museums. Here's a quick summary of three of the city's must-see attractions:
1. Seattle's Museum of Flight is the West Coast's largest air and space museum. Besides over 50 full-size airplanes, some flying tight formation in the museum's Great Gallery, a new exhibit called Space: Exploring the New Frontier is definitely worth a look. Opened on June 10, 2007, the Space exhibit tracks the history of space flight from Robert Goddard's first pioneering rockets to the Apollo moon landings, the Space Shuttle and robotic landers on the Moon, Mars and other planets. Open seven days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
2. The Odyssey Maritime Discovery Center is also one of Seattle's museum gems. Devoted to the maritime history of Seattle and Puget Sound, the Odyssey Center offers four main exhibits and galleries covering the ships, habitat, fishing industry and trade connections that make Seattle and the Puget Sound region the focal point of the Pacific Northwest. The museum is closed on Monday but is opened to the public Tuesday through Sunday at either 10:00 or 11:00 a.m.
3. Another one-of-a-kind museum in Seattle is the Wing Luke Asian Museum. Because immigrants from the Pacific Rim regions played such a crucial part in the development of the Pacific Northwest, the Wing Luke is focused on preserving and promoting Asian Pacific American culture, history, and art. The museum also reminds us with a permanent exhibit of the internment camps used to incarcerate Japanese Americans during the Second World War.
While Seattle isn't America's wettest city, there are still plenty of gray days in the city's future. Fortunately, there are plenty of museums that can both educate and entertain visitors on one of Seattle's overcast days.
Matthew Paolini is a consultant with Citybook Seattle Online Yellow Pages in Seattle, WA.
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