Pike Place Market, Seattle Washington

Our second hop off the Emerald City Trolley in Seattle was Pike Place Market. Whenever we talkegd to anyone who lived in the Seattle area we would ask them what we should see. Pike Place Market was always first on their list. Then they would add, “but don’t go there on the weekend.” So – of course – we went on a Saturday. How bad could it be?

Pretty bad. Pike Place Market on a Saturday afternoon is wall-to-wall people. People trying to thread their way through throngs and lines of people. Sixty people in the line to put their names on the list to be seated in a restaurant. So many people that there were times you couldn’t move at all. Crazy!

But if you want to feel the pulsing life of a vibrant city, Pike Place Market is the place to be. People were selling everything. There were food booths, fresh fruit stands and seafood flying through the air. We picked up some lunch at a BBQ place but there was no place to sit. Fortunately it was a “walkabout” lunch in a container so it was easy to eat while we walked. It was also delicious.

We scoped out cinnamon rolls and cheese curds. We spent some time looking for a bagel shop that was on the map, but apparently no longer in business. A map store interested us for a while. There were plenty of clothing stores. Arts and crafts booths with only a handful of items took up one large area. The area has over 200 shops and 80 restaurants.

Tom and I escaped the crush of people for a while by heading to Waterfront Park. Some Coast Salish were having a festival so we watched the dancers and drummers. There was also a protest of some kind going on, but the signs were all in Chinese and we couldn’t tell what they were protesting.

Refreshed, we headed back into the fray. We admired some Texas donuts and walked by dozens of fresh flower stalls. You could buy a beautiful bouquet for $10. They were the most reasonably priced things at Pike Place Market.