Seattle; It's NY... only prettier, friendlier, and cleaner!

Seattle is a great city. It has all the hustle and bustle of New York; museums, restaurants, shopping galore! But that's where the similarities end. Seattle reminds me of Disney World. The place is so clean, I think a crew of "cast members" comes out at night to vacuum away any trash. The people act like Disney employees, as well. Everyone is polite and helpful.

I think Seattle knew that some Floridians were here. The sun was shining bright. The view from the top of the Space Needle was breathtaking. Mt. Ranier could be seen in the distance, with its snow-capped cone. Fresh water lakes surround the city on the east, with the inlets of the Puget sound on the west. But as high up as we were, you still couldn't see the Pacific.

The Experience Music Project was amazing. It's a hands-on museum that explores how popular music is created and the role it plays in our culture. In the Oral History room, I listened to dozens of accounts of what it was like to be involved in the world of Rock and Roll. Like Stephen Spielberg's WWII veterans project, this will give future generations a chance to hear first hand what life was like in the late twentieth century. In trying to explain how valuable oral history, I asked her to imagine how awesome it would be if we had video of Jefferson telling us what he was thinking when he wrote the Declaration of Independence.

The special Disney exhibit was fantastic. After spending time learning about the way Walt and company used music to help tell their stories, I will never again watch a Disney movie the same way. Did you know that "Bambi" has only 850 words of dialogue? The rest is music. Disney was acutely aware of the effects of music on his audience. Themes and songs were carefully placed to invoke to proper emotion. The sections on Ashman and Menken and the Sherman brothers were enlightening. As a music teacher, I think a whole course could be taught on the music of Disney.