However, it’s doubtful that Conan O’Brien had Seattle in mind when he came up with the episode. He claims that he got it from seeing some random billboard that just said “monorail” on it. Since Conan was living in LA when he was a writer for the Simpsons, it was probably a billboard there in town. As to what it meant:
He doesn’t remember the exact details of it, but one word stuck out: “It just said ‘monorail.’ I don’t even know why.”
Funny enough, Conan did eventually marry a woman from Seattle (Liza Powel, who is still his wife), but he didn’t meet her until years later, in 1999. Long after he stopped working at The Simpsons and had his own talk show.
Ride share between the Seattle Center and Pike Place Market isn’t a big deal. We essentially did this last weekend (stayed at a hotel close to the market, used Lyft to get to the Seattle Rep theatre and back). Good times. We stayed at the Alexis Royal Sonesta hotel, which was pretty good.
IIRC, the Seattle Monorail is one of only two Alweg monorails still in use today. The other one is at Disneyland, which might be why Conan had it in mind when he was living in LA.
Has anyone mentioned the Fremont Troll? It’s an actual troll under a bridge. A great piece of public art, well worth checking out if you have the time.
The trolls have started to breed… there are a few new ones every year. A sculptor has been making large ones out of junk, and they’re impressive. We happened across one just walking along the beach (just north of Colman Pool… a public saltwater pool).
EPILOGUE:
Our two night stay at the Mediterranean Inn was good. The location worked out perfectly for us: lots of restaurants in walking distance; an easy walk to the Space Needle, glass museum, and other points of interest.
The room was clean and recently renovated on the fifth floor. Not a great view, but we could see the top 1/4 of the Space Needle. The staff were EXCELLENT; I can’t praise them enough, and there were a lot of them (often 4 or 5 people at the counter).
Downsides:
$50-70 more expensive than hotels, particularly those a mile further out
elevators on busy (ship-departing guests) mornings can be very problematic, with wait times of 20+ minutes noted
if you have a vehicle, parking is expensive (in my view), and there is essentially no “temporary” or guest parking, if that matters to one’s situation
I would certainly consider staying there again, but I would also look at cheaper options if that specific location wasn’t critical.