Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/162450
weekender Seattle & Tacoma Short of cheering for their beloved sports teams, Seattleites are a relatively humble crowd. Which is curious, considering how the Emerald City and its environs have quietly changed global culture – from Boeing's invention of the airline industry, to Microsoft's launch of the personal tech age and, perhaps just as vital to humanity, Starbucks' coffee revolution. Fortunately for visitors and locals alike, new innovation-focused museums are highlighting Seattle's oftoverlooked prescience. Museum of History & Innovation (MOHAI) A significant upgrade to what was once a humble out-of-theway museum, MOHAI opened on Lake Union in January in a decommissioned Naval Reserve built in 1942. The $90-million, 50,000-sq.-ft. reboot is a love letter to the city, funded by private donations with the most recent and notable being the Jeff Bezos Center for Innovation, opening Oct. 12. The Amazon founder, and new Washington Post owner, will pay tribute to some of Seattle's leading innovators. The 10 W e s t w o r l d p10-11_Wknder.indd 10 >> Fa l l 2 0 1 3 [ ] october 3 Museum of Flight's Astronomy Day october 12 MOHAI'S Bezos Center for Innovation opens november 9 LeMay's Route 66 Exhibit addition joins a collection of four million pieces, from 99 microbrews stacked on a wall to a sculpture made from a local schooner, that join interactive history lessons on screens of all sizes. mohai.org LeMay — America's Car Museum Just south of Seattle, Tacoma boasts one of the largest car museums on the continent. Most of the 500 cars belonged to local entrepreneur Harold LeMay, with other collections brought in as needed. Opened about a year ago, the streamlined silver curves of the new building overlook downtown Tacoma. Visitors can wander through almost two centuries of carriages, box cars, tanks, Model Ts, right up to today's electric race cars. And don't miss the addictive stock slot car racetrack on the bottom floor. lemaymuseum.org Museum of Flight Seattle is synonymous with aviation, thanks to Boeing, so it's fitting that a local must-see is the largest private air and space museum on the planet – with more than 150 aircraft, from wacky flying cars to a space shuttle simulator. Outside, all manner of aircraft buzz overhead, while on the museum grounds, airliners of all vintages coax visitors to step back into a nascent jet age. museumofflight.org Sleep Here Of course, Seattle isn't all coding and engineering: it's also home to Hendrix and Vedder. Kick back at the decidedly artsy Hotel Max, complete with rock frontmen decorated room doors and 350 pieces of local art, all contained within a converted downtown heritage building. hotelmaxseattle.com –Tom Gierasimczuk Y Member savings and benefits: bcaa.com/roadtrips (top) Andre Jenny/All Canada Photos, Tom Gierasimczuk, LeMay Museum, Seattle 13-08-19 1:53 PM