Larry's Birthday, Day Two or Are You Experienced?

We left Jumbo at 9:15 this morning for day two of Larry's Birthday Experience - EMP! Ever since we decided to move to Washington, Larry has told me that one of the things he most wanted to do was pay a visit to this amazing museum of musical memorabilia. Naturally, I thought it would be the perfect birthday present, especially since he is a HUGE Jimi Hendrix fan.

The traffic wasn't too bad, we found the museum, and after driving around a few blocks a few times, came upon a relatively cheap parking lot - $9.00 before 10:00 a.m. It was 9:59 when we pulled into the lot, but we made it!

The entrance...

Larry's ready!

First stop -

Guitar Gallery: The Quest for Volume presents 55 vintage, world-changing guitars from the 1770s to the present. Instruments on display span the development of the guitar through the lives and accomplishments of innovators such as Orville Gibson, Leo Fender, and Les Paul, and the musicians who played them to fame such as Bo Diddley, Dave Davies of the Kinks, Eddie Van Halen, and Kurt Cobain. 

Our next stop was the Hear My Train A'Comin;- Hendrix Hits London exhibit. I was pretty touched by viewing Jimi's clothing. He was so small!

What a wonderful exhibit - thank you, Paul Allen!

 Some of Mitch Mitchell's clothing...

 

This was the main reason for our visit - James Marshall Hendrix...

This was one of my favorite photos on display. Two souls who left this earth much too soon...

 Larry saw Jimi one time at Atlanta Pop in 1970. Jimi  performed at around midnight on the Fourth of July to the largest American audience of his career, presenting his unique rendition of the Star Spangled Banner to accompany the celebratory fireworks display.

During that festival,  Larry had to pay a visit to the free clinic tent because he had gotten fireworks ash in his eye while lying on the ground, looking up and listening to Jimi play.

We saw the Block by Block Lego Architecture exhibit...



and the Icons of Science Fiction...


We went up to the third floor and Larry took this shot of the stairway from above...

On The Wall -  This large-scale video wall hosts a collage of audience-picked songs in distinct custom categories. Visitors are invited to step up to one of two voting stations, type in their selection, and see how it ranks on the big screen.

 I choose the category of Best Songs to Sing Along To In the Car...

Larry chose Best Songs of Your Parents' Generation and picked Patsy Cline...

 Spectacle: The Music Video -

 Larry singing along with Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues...

We decided that it was time for lunch, so headed for the POP restaurant...

We've got our drinks...

and waited for the food...

I was trying to figure out how to turn the flash off on my camera - I never was able to do it!

Still waiting...

Here it is... I ordered the Space Noodle Salad...

 

and Larry had a Sobo Wrap... his face says it all... way too much cabbage! 

For a person with a hiatal hernia, not a good thing! He was hoping for a lot of avocado, with just a touch of cabbage, but oh, well!

at least he had a lot of parmesan fries!

When we were finished eating, Larry decided that perhaps he should confirm the ticket stub for free admission  to Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection that was advertised on the EMP website.  He was gone for quite some time...

and waited...

and waited some more...at one point there were four employees assisting him...what could be wrong?

 
When he finally returned, he said there was a computer glitch and they couldn't figure out how to print a receipt, so instead cancelled our admission fee for today and we are now yearly members...it was only a few dollars more!

 This is the nice young man who helped Larry get everything straightened out...

Here are the links to Larry's Go Pro videos of our visit to EMP-

http://youtu.be/T6kxVjIPt0c

http://youtu.be/wa3vrM1dNi0

 We left EMP and decided to head for the waterfront and the Pike Place Market...

 Larry really wanted to see the flying fish...

We wandered around until we came upon an ice cream shop. The young girl behind the counter scooped up a big cone full of blackberry cheesecake for Larry and a bowl of espresso chip for me.

 I remembered to bring my old-lady cane along today - it made a big difference!

We wandered on down to the Victor Steinbrueck Park and encountered this amazing jazz musician. I felt bad because I only had a dollar to put in his tip jar; He was truly amazing.

Larry soaking up the music...

I insisted that Larry pose by the fountain in front of the aquarium...

Here's the link to Larry's Go Pro video of our Pike Place visit-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-hCU63gHeE&feature=youtu.be

We went back to the car and  headed on down the road. At some point we noticed some papers on our windshield. It looked suspiciously like a traffic ticket... Oh no! We thought those prime waterfront parking spaces were free - didn't see the signs...

a $44 dollar fine - I'll just pay it and pretend it never happened!

We drove around looking for a way to cross over the Aurora Bridge. We finally did drive over a bridge, but whether it was that one or not, we're still not sure! In any case, we couldn't seem to find our way back to I-5. It was a very frustrating drive home, but at least we kept going in the right direction, and eventually ended up on Bothell Way, and finally into our driveway. Duchess was delighted to see us!

 I put the orchids  that I  bought at the Pike Place Market on Dot's piano - just where they should be.

 Larry modeled his Jimi Hendrix shirt...

and we watched Jeopardy and Master Chef - the perfect ending to such a great day!