Urban Trio

We're back from our long weekend in Seattle, where we celebrated Christmas early with our children and grandchildren in a variety of locations, enjoying delicious meals that none of us needed to cook or clean up after, and exchanging gifts. We also reveled in a marvelous exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum on Peru, covering more than 3,000 years of that country's rich artistic history.

Phil and I did a brief blip bimble before leaving Seattle today, looking like tourists as we took photos of tall buildings and other urban wonders. I was drawn to the contrast of old and new here, with the silhouetted street light combining both elements.

The ornate building is the Camlin Hotel, built in 1928 and among the buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally a residential hotel, the 93 apartments had the latest conveniences, such as "shower baths" instead of bathtubs, and kitchenettes so residents could prepare basic meals.

It was later converted to a fine hotel, and many famous entertainers, including Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Miles Davis performed in the top floor Cloud Room, which offered fine dining and live entertainment. The Camlin is now one of the more than 60 resorts in the WorldMark by Wyndham "flexible vacation ownership program." (The new building under construction has the Hilton logo on it, but I couldn't find any information about it in my brief Google search.)

I took a mini-break from blipping while we were away, but will post a couple of back blips up over the next couple of days -- especially if there's nothing exciting here to feature!

(For another view of Seattle, take a look at Phil's here.)