Alaska ports of Call – Seattle; Original Starbucks and CHAZ
We left a visit to Seattle itself until our disembarkation day. We discovered that we just didn’t have time to see the city on Embarkation Day. But with our flight out of Seattle not set to leave until just about Saturday morning, there was plenty of time to see the northwestern jewel after getting off the ship.
Disembarkation Day is always a mess, so you make yourself mentally prepared ahead of time. It’s a time when, literally, thousands of people are trying to get off the ship at virtually the same time while searching through a mountain of suitcases and other personal items for their luggage in the terminal. It’s semi-organized chaos, especially if you need to pick up a “confiscated” item on the way out (which we did, since one of us bought a pocket knife in Sitka, which the authorities caught on the scanner and took away).
We booked and enjoyed a suite stateroom, so one of the perks included in the extra expense was a “guided” disembarkation, led by the concierge. It certainly made getting off the ship much more un-hurried, but a member of our party had to go to the airport to pick up a minivan to tote our stuff while we poked around in Seattle.
It’s safe to say we were one of the last to leave the cruise port. By the time we were all packed up in our rental van, there were already people having arrived to get on Anthem of the Seas for the next cruise. Lucky people… we were envious, but also looking forward to going home.
It had previously been decided to immediately head to downtown Seattle to seek out the location of the “original” Starbucks franchise, which was established in that city in 1970-something. Yes, that’s right, the Starbucks Outlets you encounter everywhere including malls and super markets and airports and cruise ships – it all began right there on Pike’s Place, a half century-or so ago.
I can understand wanting to go see the FIRST one, but upon reaching the vicinity of the shop, the line to even get in there was well out the door and halfway down the street. There were Disneyland-like switchback ropes for crowd control, too. This was like being at an amusement park, again, though these people were simply waiting to order a coffee from a semi-famous coffee shop. Quite a diverse crowd, too, with mostly Millennial types waiting patiently and in no hurry.
After about a half hour of crawling along we managed to get inside the door, and the “original” Starbucks was nothing like I’d envisioned. There were about a dozen baristas taking orders. The menu seemed limited, but I was told we could get anything there that you could at a “normal” outlet. I asked an older Starbucks employee 
if “It was always like this”, and she replied, “Yes. Every hour of everyday it’s always like this. Sometimes it’s worse. Now this way to the line.”
It was like a factory assembly operation with people crowding in and in search of souvenir mugs, Starbucks bears and a handful of other things. And about every type of coffee you could think up. This place must take in serious money – “fans” can’t get enough of it.
I wonder if there’s similar interest for the “original” In n Out burger or Chick-fil-A, wherever those places may be?
The coffees were up in good order – it appeared as though they had a half-dozen or so workers back there just making coffees. The others in our group ordered me what has now become my go-to drink, mocha cookie crumble, and we left the downtown Seattle establishment, probably never to return for a second visit. As previously mentioned, there was no seating anywhere to be found. A couple of doors down there was a mall where there were bathrooms and a few chairs, so we went there and stood, drinking our original Starbucks’ brews.
A decision was made to see if the Pike’s Place fish market (the famous one where they toss – literally – fish across the open space, but it was apparently a half mile from where we parked and there wasn’t any great impetus to see it, because it supposedly “smelled like fish”.
Here’s a short: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qRk1DR1WnB0
You be the judge as to how much we missed.
Rather than encounter flying fish, we opted to drive through the downtown area and see if we could find where the infamous CHAZ was set up in the tumultuous summer of 2020 instead. CHAZ stands for Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, a gathering of anarchists who’d had enough of being hassled by the police and authorities and set aside an area where they wouldn’t be harassed by law and order.
Only in Seattle, right? The rebellious separatist few blocks didn’t last long as local businesses figured they needed protection from miscreants victimizing them and 
getting away with it. That, and a couple people were murdered there. So, you get the idea as to the kind of “residents” that populated CHAZ. It was alternatively called CHOP.
Here’s a news report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx6AqKu9QJs
Passing through the area, you couldn’t see much, just a regular street that had been cleaned up in the time since order returned to the “zone”. From what I’ve heard, the movement behind CHAZ/CHOP has dissipated and lost steam, probably because there’s a new law enforcement emphasis in the nation’s leadership.
Our sightseeing complete, we found a local mall that was not far away and headed there to burn some more of the hours before our flight. It’d been a long trip, but a great one. So many things we’d seen!
One final comment on the Seattle airport, affectionately known as SEATAC (for Seattle Tacoma). The airport was very hard to get in and out of due to construction. The traffic was poorly managed, and this includes identifying your correct baggage claim carousel. What a mess. I would rate Seattle as the third worst airport I know, ranking behind only LAX and even Charlotte, which we always seem to be stuck at waiting for a flight that was rebooked due to missing a connection there.
It happened on this occasion as well, as we were late flying out of Seattle. Our midnight flight sat at the gate for over an hour while a flight crew attempted to solve a problem with overhead oxygen masks coming out of the ceiling compartment. Why not just tape it, someone asked? When they couldn’t get it shut, they did tape it. But too late for us to make our connection in Charlotte.
By the end, we’d had enough of traveling. But it didn’t spoil our time.
Previous Alaska Blogs:
Alaska Cruise Review Part I – Why cruise to Alaska? Let us count the ways. Bring a calculator
https://www.golfintheusa.com/1448-2/
Alaska Cruise Review Part II — Alaska ports of Call – Sitka is all about wildlife with culture and history thrown-in
https://www.golfintheusa.com/alaska-ports-of-call-sitka-is-all-about-wildlife-with-culture-and-history-thrown-in/
Alaska Cruise Review Part III — Alaska ports of Call – Skagway; Waterfalls, gold miners and a taste of the old west
https://www.golfintheusa.com/alaska-cruise-review-part-iii-alaska-ports-of-call-skagway-waterfalls-gold-miners-and-a-taste-of-the-old-west/
Alaska Cruise Review Part IV — Alaska ports of Call – Juneau. Alaska Capitol, Tracy’s King Crab Shack and Whale watching
https://www.golfintheusa.com/alaska-cruise-review-part-iv-alaska-ports-of-call-juneau-alaska-capitol-tracys-king-crab-shack-and-whale-watching/
Alaska Cruise Review Part V — Alaska ports of Call – Victoria, Canada, Butchart Gardens, Spaghetti Factory and Big City
https://www.golfintheusa.com/alaska-cruise-review-part-v-alaska-ports-of-call-victoria-canada-butchart-gardens-spaghetti-factory-and-big-city/