What) The Space Needle is a tower in Seattle and is a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest region. Located at the Seattle Center, it was built for the 1962 World's Fair. The Space Needle is 605 feet (184 m) high at its highest point and 138 feet (42 m) wide at its widest point and weighs 9,550 tons. When it was completed it was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River. It is built to withstand winds of up to 200 miles per hour and earthquakes of up to 9.1 magnitude, which would protect the structure against an earthquake as powerful as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. The tower also has 25 lightning rods on its roof to prevent lightning damage. 

    The Space Needle features an observation deck at 520 feet (160 m), and a gift shop with the rotating SkyCity restaurant at 500 feet (150 m). From the top of the Needle, one can see not only the Downtown Seattle skyline, but also the Olympic and Cascade Mountains and surrounding islands. Photographs of the Seattle skyline often show the Space Needle in a prominent position, even appearing to tower above the rest of the city's skyscrapers, as well as Mount Rainier in the background. This occurs because the tower, which is equivalent in height to a 60-story building, stands more than a kilometer northwest of most downtown skyscrapers. (1)

    Where) 400 Broad Street

    Why) I never had any intention of going to visit the Space Needle but I kept noticing it as I was walking around.  Eventually, I started taking pictures of it and that is how we ended up at this point.

This is the view about a block from my hotel.

This is the best picture I was able to take. As usual it is not as good as ...

... a picture that was easily found using the internet. (1)

Thanks to those same "skills", I was able to photograph this flying saucer that was sitting on top of ...

... Wait a minute. I guess that was just the Space Needle and as usual, I was quickly able to find ...

... a much better night view waiting on the internet. (1)