See it, hear it, smell it at the National Nordic Museum | Meanderings by Mindy Stern

Travel column by local writer Mindy Stern.

Mercer Island owes its lushly landscaped Lid Park to former mayor and city council member, Aubrey Davis (1918 – 2013). In the 1960s, Washington state was eager to complete I-90, fulfilling the vision of a highway connecting all the way from Boston to Seattle. A 13-lane freeway slicing through the north end of Mercer Island was proposed. Davis’ mantra was “we don’t want to see it. We don’t want to hear it. We don’t want to smell it.”

His steadfast advocacy led to the creation of Mercer Island’s Lid Park, built to mitigate the impact of the highway on the neighboring residents. Today, everyone can enjoy its playgrounds, picnic areas, ballfields, tennis courts, and trails for walking and biking. At 90 acres, the Park on the Lid — renamed Aubrey Davis Park after his death — is the largest freeway lid in the United States.

Wandering through Faux Flora, a groundbreaking show at the National Nordic Museum in Ballard, I thought of Davis. This immersive multimedia exhibit is all about seeing, smelling and hearing. And I think he would have loved it.

In 2017, a quartet of Icelandic siblings, Jónsi, Inga, Lilja and Sigurrós Birgisson, opened Fischersund, a perfumery in Reykjavik’s Old Town. Using wild Icelandic botanicals and essential oils distilled from natural elements, they created a line of products that are unisex, earthy, and deeply complex. The siblings each possess impressive artistic talents – Jónsi, the brother, is a musician, and the three sisters work in latex, photography, collage. In addition to retail, their boutique incorporates visual art, live scent experiences, and music, all of which inspired, and are on display in the Faux Fauna show.

In the dimly lit gallery, immense, glowing 3-D photographs of what looks like plants move and morph into other-worldly images. Beneath each piece, a cloche, or bell-shaped, glass dome sits face down on a small shelf. Traditionally used as miniature greenhouses to protect fragile plants from the cold, each cloche contains a small clump of fiber, drenched in a mysterious fragrance. No two smells are alike. Scents of fir, spruce, and moss transported me deep into a forest. From above, an audio track of ambient music enhanced the experience. The sounds of drops of water, whooshing wind, clicks and clacks matched each morphing visual.

“You were smart to come on a weekday morning, and early,” the volunteer guarding the exhibit told me. “It gets very crowded on weekends, so it’s hard to hear the soundtrack. And there can be a wait to smell the cloches.” Good to know!

The gift shop carries beautiful, high quality woolen scarves and sweaters from a variety of Nordic countries. There’s also a large array of Fischersund perfumes, room sprays, candles, and more to complement the show ($18 – $195). I left without a physical memento of our visit, but the olfactory memories will last forever.

After the show, my friend and I were hungry. The mountains were out on this cold, crisp and cloudless day — Mount Rainier, Mount Baker and the Olympics, all shiny, with white lids. We needed to have lunch somewhere with a view! Driving past the Hiram Chittenden Locks towards Shilshole Bay, we nabbed a window table at Ray’s Cafe, the upstairs dining room in Ray’s Boathouse. With a view of snow-capped Olympics, Argosy tour boats, and pleasure craft gliding across the water, we ordered lunch and watched our natural surroundings in awe.

A deep aroma of wood chips, salt and the sea rose from a salad of smoked scallops and bay shrimp. Closing my eyes, I recalled some of the smells from the show. This day was a treat for all the senses: the eyes, the nose, the ears, and the taste buds.

The Faux Fauna exhibit has been so popular, its run has been extended to Feb. 23, and other museums are in discussion to feature it. Don’t miss this unforgettable experience during its Ballard run.

Meanderings is a travel column by Mindy Stern, a Mercer Island resident whose essays can be found at www.mindysternauthor.com.

Photo by Mindy Stern

Photo by Mindy Stern