Page 165 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Pacific Northwest

F AR THER AFIELD  163

The restored Red Barn, Boeing’s
original 1910 airplane factory
and a National Historic Site,
is part of the museum. Its
exhibits include the world’s
first fighter plane.
The Personal Courage
Wing, which opened in 2004,
houses the Champlin Fighter
collection containing 28
historical aircraft, mainly
from World Wars I and II.
Especially popular are the
A cyclist on Alki Beach, a stunning view of Seattle in the background museum’s simulators, including
the challenging space-
of Historic Places. A visitors’ y Museum of docking simulators in which
center at the east entrance Flight participants try to link up with
offers trail maps and inter active the Hubble space telescope.
exhibits for kids. 9404 E Marginal Way S. Tel (206)
Home to over 250 species of 764-5720. Open 10am–5pm daily.
birds and other wildlife, the park Closed Thanksgiving, Dec 25.
offers more than 7 miles (11 km) & 7 8 = -
of hiking trails, including the ∑ museumofflight.org
2.8-mile (4.5-km) Loop Trail,
which circles the park and passes The West Coast’s largest air and
through forests, meadows, and space museum, the Museum
dunes. For beach exploration, of Flight takes visitors on a
the park has two very different fascinating journey from the
habitats: the rocky North Beach earliest days of aviation to the
and the sandy South Beach. Space Age. The museum features
Discovery Park is also home 39 historic airplanes, of which
to the Daybreak Star Cul tural more than half are suspended
Center. Operated by the United from the ceiling of the six-story
Indians of All Tribes Foundation, Great Gallery. Visitors can sit in
this cultural and educational the cockpit of an SR-71 Blackbird
center houses a collection of or F/A-18 Hornet, and board
Native American art. The annual the first Air Force One, the US Aviatik D-1 in the Personal Courage Wing
summer Pow Wow features presidential jet. of the Museum of Flight
some 500 dancers, 30 drum
groups, arts and crafts, and a The Men Behind Microsoft
salmon bake.
Seattle is home to two of the world’s wealthiest men and most
E Daybreak Star Cultural Center accomplished entrepreneurs. Bill Gates and Paul Allen met at a
Near north parking lot of Discovery prestigious Seattle prep school. Sharing a fascination for computers,
Park. Tel (206) 285-4425. Open 10am– the boys soon landed jobs with a company that paid them in
5pm Mon–Sat, noon–5pm Sun. computer time instead of cash. There they pored over manuals and
7 = explored the computer system inside and out. In 1973, Gates left for
Harvard University but kept in
touch with Allen, with whom
t Alki Beach he vowed to go into business
one day. By 1975, Bill Gates was
1702 Alki Ave SW. Tel (206) 684-4075. the US’s most successful college
@ 37, 56. dropout, having left Harvard
to devote his energies to the
When the first European settlers company he founded with his
landed on Alki Beach on a friend. Microsoft went on to
stormy November day in 1851, become the Goliath of the
they were welcomed by Chief computer software industry.
Seattle and his Duwamish tribe In 1985, its headquarters settled
(see p31). Today, this lively beach in Redmond, a suburb of Seattle.
is the coolest place in town to In 1986, the company began
be on a warm day. The beach public trading. Today, Microsoft
offers spectacular views of Puget Bill Gates, co-founder of Seattle- employs over 90,000 people in
Sound, the Olympic Mountains, based Microsoft 135 countries.
and the Seattle skyline.

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