Saturday Smile-"Happy Birthday Space Needle!"

Many of you are likely aware of my obsession with the Space Needle. It's right up there (haha, get it,"UP there"...?!) with my amour for La Tour Eiffel. Only I get to see the Needle a lot more. Well, more as in at all because I have never actually SEEN the ET...yet!

Today is a very special day here in Seattle...April 21 is the 50th anniversary of opening day of the
 Century 21 Exposition aka The Seattle World's Fair!

Which also means

it's the Space Needle's (or the "Space Cage" as was it's original name back then!)

50th birthday!



 Marilyn made this and yes I am going to make one for myself...someday!



(and put that damn calculator away...yes, I am 2 years older than the Space Needle!).  

What an exciting even that must have been, with five main display areas: The World of Tomorrow, The World of Science, The World of Commerce & Industry, TheWorld of  Art & The World of Entertainment. So many things in the World of Tomorrow were seen for the very first time anywhere  and they were just simply "out of this world" (yeah, I'm on a roll, huh?), like the Bubbleator &  Monorail. 
Lots of celebs and important people attended the fair during it's 6 months of festivities,even Elvis, who filmed "It Happened at the World's Fair", well, right there at the Worlds Fair!

I bet if I had been a bit older, I would have absolutely loved everything about the fair! (I attended the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville Tennessee, when I was 23 yrs. old and it was fascinating! The highlight was getting to see a Panda bear from China!) Of course this anniversary has been the big deal around Seattle for weeks now, and this weekend there is a big celebratory event at Seattle Center to honor the memory of one of Seattle's finest moments.
The Needle's "roof" even got a new coat of the original paint color this week: GALAXY GOLD! I haven't gotten to see it yet but Jeff took a "drive by shot" for me on his way to work this morning...



no, i don't think IT is leaning to the left, there must have been a dip in the road when he took the pic...
while DRIVING! Wonder where he got THAT bad habit...?!

 ...which explains why we are not down there with party hats on, taking a ride up in my beloved Needle on her (his?!) special day (at the throwback to 1962 price of only a BUCK! ...compared to the current cost of $19!...not that it's not worth every penny!). He doesn't normally work weekend but of course, on the weekend we wanted to go there and to see the amazing Tulip Festival AND it is sunny & reaching 70+ degrees, there is some stupid broken computer system crisis he has to fix! Oh well...I hope to get down there later this week, and spend a less crowded moment with the iconic UFO on a stick that I inexplicibly adore so very dearly (I never had much of a thing for the St. Louis Arch when I lived there for 47 years!..go figure!), to  let it know that I think it just gets better with age! (as it well should, since it got a 21 million dollar "face lift" in 2000, which is 5 times the cost to BUILD it!). I have probably taken literally hundreds of photos of the Needle in the almost 4 years I have lived here (next month is my anniversary of moving here!)...but I can always find a new angle, mood or espression to capture when I see it!



photo by me


There is so much more interesting information, facts and trivia about the Needle and the Fair, and it seems everytime I read another article on their history, I learn something new!
It's an exciting and happy day here in The Emerald City and I just wanted to share our city's SMILE with you!




at last years Solstice parade! photo by me


Have a wonderful day!
Happy Me (I'd be HAPPIER if I were THERE!)-Laurie Z!