Seattle's Pike Place Market

If you love being overstimulated with colors, scents, sights and sounds, Pike Place Market is the place to go. The Market opened in 1907 and is "one of the oldest continually operated public farmers' markets in the United States." (Wikipedia) I also read that it is the oldest still in its original location.






Covering roughly seven acres, it is a riot of color. Or maybe just a riot. On a Friday, it was packed with people. One wonders if there is ever a slow time?

Although there are food stalls and small restaurants scattered throughout the Market, we opted to eat at Lowell's--famous for its clam chowder and the fact that one scene (featuring Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner) from Sleepless in Seattle was filmed there. We happened to park right outside and were starved, which also helped us decide.





Fred has already finished his clam chowder and is busily dispatching a salmon sandwich in the above picture. I had fish tacos (yum!)

One of the most entertaining free things to do at Pike Place Market is to watch the fish tossing at Pike Place Fish. Once a customer selects a fish from the display case, the fishmongers all chant the order in unison as the selection is tossed behind the counter to be wrapped. A dungeness crab is flying, almost dead center, in the picture below (click on the picture to see a larger size).



People also like having their photo taken with Rachel the Pig, one of the icons of Pike Place Market. It was so crowded, we couldn't get close, so I settled for this family getting their turn. Rachel is also a piggy bank, collecting money that is used for the Market's social services program.


We walked around for about an hour, marvelling at the number of different things for sale and trying samples, despite being stuffed from lunch.










Above, from top to bottom: Making cheese at a cheese shop; a window of glasses in an alleyway, and the original Starbucks, opened in 1971, which was so crowded we couldn't get in it. The line went down the street.

We had a great time strolling around, people watching and marvelling at the offerings. Pike Place Market is located along the downtown waterfront, just north of Pioneer Square and just south and west of the Space Needle. (Obligatory Space Needle shot here.)



I highly recommend taking advantage of Seattle's excellent public transportation system if you want to visit the downtown area. You can get off and on within the downtown zone for free. We drove, and while yes, we did get parking at the Market, we were lucky, and driving downtown in general and in the Market in particular is a slow tortuous process.

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