#Revisit Seattle: Volunteer Park Conservatory
Seattle has always been our home. Alien Daddy and I were both born and raised here. Over twenty years I worked downtown and though I knew it very well, but since I’ve been a stay at home Mom, Seattle feels like it’s morphed and turned into one of those places I once knew very well.
With construction being at an all-time high, many of the familiar landmarks are gone and so much has changed. Heck, I still remember when Mercer Street was a one-way street and the quickest way to the free parking at the stadium was through the waterfront. Every time I drive into downtown Seattle I’m taken aback by how little I recognize my hometown.
After one of those late night conversations, AD and I decided we would be tourists in Seattle. We would #RevisitSeattle and see how much it’s changed and what’s still the same. There are so many new places to check out; the Google Spheres, Gates Foundation, Allen Foundation; Museum of Pop Culture, the Shoe Museum as well as old renovated constants; the Seattle Public Library, Seattle Center, Space Needle the Waterfront. The more we talked, the more places we found to explore.
Today’s adventure brought us to the Volunteer Park Conservatory. It’s been at least twenty years… TWENTY YEARS since I’d been to Volunteer Park and honestly, I had never even heard of the Conservatory until it popped up on a list of free things to do with kids in January and February.
What a lovely Conservatory. A cheerful volunteer made us feel welcome and let us know there was a docent available in the Cactus House to help with any questions. There are five distinct houses in the conservatory, from jungle to desert with one of the houses changing every season. So many beautiful and unusual plants; colorful orchids, bright bromeliad, carefree cacti and every shade of green you can imagine.
When the docent saw Young Master V, she told us there were Nepenthes (bug eating plants), and led us to see the Nepenthes on the other side of the Conservatory. YMV was interested in the plants, but seeing as he’s still too young to see Little Shop of Horrors, I’m not sure how much it registered.
We sat down in one of the many seating areas and took a break – well, as much of a break as you are ever going to get with a three old. His Highness decreed we should go outside and play and so we headed out into the park.
There was a nice big playground, but we wanted to be out in nature. We found a clump of trees with an old tree stump and we chased each other around, the AD and YMV climbing all over the old thick branches.
Isamu Noguchi
We passed by the Asian Art Museum (currently under renovation) and looked through the infamous Black Sun Sculpture by Isamu Noguchi and took some silly pictures with the Seattle Center peeking through the center. Urban legend says the sculpture was Chris Cornell’s inspiration for Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun, although we’ll never really know.
We continued onward and ran into the Thomas Burke Memorial. Honestly, other than the Burke Gilman trail and the Burke Museum, I didn’t know much about him. Guess I should have paid more attention during Washington State History in high school. Thomas Burke served as Chief Justice of the the Washington State Supreme Court and was a civil activist becoming involved in education, railroading and the cultural growth of the “Seattle Spirit” endorsing and supporting history, literature and art.
On the front of the memorial it says Thomas Burke 1849-1925 Patriot, Jurist, Orator, Friend, Patron of Education, First in every movement for the advancement of the City and the State, Seattle’s foremost and beloved citizen. People just don’t talk like that anymore do they?
We made it to the Volunteer Park Water tower, but nature was calling our son and we had to head home for naptime, with a promise to come back later when the cherry trees were in bloom. Not bad for our first #RevisitSeattle.
