I realized on the plane that the only things I knew about Seattle were based in the early 90’s. This makes sense as the Emerald City’s golden age coincided with my own coming of age but what surprised me just a little was the empty gap between then, and my now middle age.
Granted, the Seahawks did win a Super Bowl between then and now, yet in my mind, and I might argue most minds, Marshawn Lynch and Richard Sherman were the whole story there. So much so that for all I can remember the Seahawks might have played all their games in Sherman’s back yard- in some undisclosed American town.
If I try real hard I can remember the show Frazier, but no one remembers Frazier until after they remember Cheers, and that is all Boston. And, if anyone remembers Cheers they will either remember Sam Malone or Woody, then maybe the Red Sox, and none of that will lead you back to Seattle.
Wait, but if you think of Woody, you will drift over to Toy Story, which is Tom Hanks, who was in Sleepless in Seattle, so maybe you can get back to that town- but only if you do so by also going back to 1993.
And that is a bit of a shame since the place is worth a visit.
I knew about the place where they toss the fish, and back in 1992 I went up to the top of the Space Needle, but what I didn’t know was that at the base of that tall pointy tower is something even better.
MoPop, or the Museum of Pop Culture. 
It looks a lot like the Disney Concert Hall on the outside, but the inside is much more Nirvana than Beethoven. Literally.
There I saw Kurt Cobain’s cardigan, Eddie Vedder’s demo tapes, and a whole pile of guitar’s broken by both of them. 
I also saw Jimmy Hendrix’s guitar from Woodstock,
Prince’s blouse,
Spock’s shirt, The Wicked Witch of the West’s hat, the Hobbit’s sword, the Swamp Thing’s face, The Shining’s axe, and a six fingered glove from the Princess Bride.
It was fascinating, enjoyable, and oddly validating that they had artifacts from all sorts of pop culture things from when and wherever, but when it came to things from Seattle, they only had the things I remembered.
Except the Sonics. I cannot forget the “X-Man” Xavier McDaniel terrorizing the Jazz. But both he, and the team, have left town.
But not everything has left…
[continued tomorrow]
Brohammas 