We booked a 10am time slot to go up into the Space Needle so we had about an hour to kill. Fortunately, the Seattle Centre Monorail was open at 9 so we hopped on for the short ride down to the Downtown Area and back.
The Monorail was constructed in 1962 for the Seattle World's Fair and the Alweg rail cars carry the 1950s diner look that was in fashion in those times.
My experience is that monorails are a bit boring and lame. This was no exception. There wasn't much to see and the trip didn't last long. Nice to photograph, but a bit of a waste of time & money otherwise.
Right! 10am and time to get serious!
The 184m high Space Needle was also built for the World Fair, and is a much more iconic tourist attraction than the monorail.
Once you reach the viewing deck, you are treated to 360 degree views of Seattle and beyond. The needle is perched on a hill enhancing the aspect.
Some of us had more trust in the engineering than others.
We saw a few of these Kenmore Air Turbo Otters cruising past at eye level on final approach onto Lake Union below.
Mounted in the ground floor gift shop is a minifig scale (1:40) Lego recreation of the Space Needle. An extremely well presented model.
