Strange Tourist Attractions in the Seattle Area

Seattle is one of America's most vibrant and lively cities. There is a cacophany of coffee shops, museums, coffee lounges, unique buildings, coffee cafe's, tourist venues and coffee huts to visit. If, however, you have exhausted all the mainstream tourist sites, there are always some more out-of-the norm places to visit.

Here are some of the more unusual and unheralded tourists attractions in the Seattle area:

The Longview Squirrel Bridge
Longview, WA
A full-size Stonehenge Replica
Mayhill, WA
Soviet "Cobra" Submarine
Seattle, WA
The Freemont Troll
Freemont, WA
An "Authentic" Lenin Statue
Freemont, WA
Washington State's Only Reptileman and Serpentarium
Monroe, WA
The World's Largest Daniel Boone Statue
Little Rock, WA
Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute
Ellensburg, WA
RichArt's Art Yard
Centralia, WA

If you are from Seattle--or have visited Seattle in the past--and you have any suggestions of unusual places, to visit, please post your ideas in the comments section.

ATA 2008 Awards and New Reception Announced!

Here's the latest news about ATA 2008: ATA Annual Awards Ceremony, traditionally held in conjunction with the Monday Plenary, has been moved up to the Sunday Opening Plenary this year. Don’t miss it - the awards honor the best of the best in telemedicine:

ATA President's Award: Individual
Supported by The Global Telemedicine Group

ATA President's Award: Institutional
Supported by AMD Global Telemedicine, Inc.

ATA President's Award: Innovation
Supported by InTouch Health

ATA Industry Council Award for Leadership in the Advancement of Telemedicine
Supported by Vesalius Ventures

ATA SIG & Chapter Achievement Award
Supported by AT&T

ATA Student Paper Award
Supported by the Center for Connected Health

Telemedicine & e-Health Journal Award
Supported by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

Also new this year, SIGs and Chapters will be hosting a Welcome Reception on Sunday, April 6, from 3pm-4pm – immediately prior to the Opening Plenary. Don’t miss this opportunity to pick up information on member group activities and network just before the meeting convenes. This reception is made possible with the support of Providea.

One fine day in Seattle

I just came across this great time-lapse video of Seattle. It certainly makes me want to go visit. If anyone has been to Seattle and has any picture's they'd like to share, please post them in the comments section.

Telemedicine and the Final Frontier

The annual ATA Networking Dinner is the premier opportunity to connect with the leaders in telemedicine. This year, the event will be held on Tuesday, April 8 at Seattle's Experience Music Project. This amazing facility, deisgned by Frank Gehry, features a diverse collection of band memorabelia and interactive musical activities.

Adjacent to the EMP, and also open to attendees, is the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. The museum pays homage to the most respected of science fiction practitioners—writers, artists, publishers and filmmakers. As a fan of the genre (AKA: a self-confessed dork) I am excited to see SFM's collection of sci-fi memorabelia. Their holdings include the original mockup of the Death Star and the models for ET and Dr. Zaius (Planet of the Apes). Also featured is Captain Kirk's Enterprise command chair—the fons et origo of any sci-fi enthusiast.

It is fitting that ATA will have an event in the SFM. Indeed, the once-fantastical visions of science-fiction writers have been the inspiration for many of the technological developments which have facilitated telemedicine. Star Trek communicators gave rise to cellular flip-phones. B-9 (Lost in Space) protected Will Robinson just like remote medical robots care for modern patients. The Tricorder was the intellectual antecedent to wireless remote monitoring systems. While many of sci-fi's promises have yet to materialize—I'm still waiting for commerical moon flights and the flying car—telemedicine is truly the realization of healthcare's final frontier.