Pikes Place Market was on our list of must do’s when in Seattle for the week, it is a day trip if you are staying outside the city. We actually stayed 12 miles away at Vasa Park Resort in Bellevue and took the bus into the city to save our sanity trying to park the Beast (aka our Ford F350 Dually). We did drive into town one afternoon, early on in the week, but navigating the streets and avoiding the buses was a nightmare.
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Pikes Place Market was a neat experience full of homegrown/homemade goods by the locals. From fresh produce, fresh seafood and fresh flowers the market vibe was, dare I say, fresh. LOL
As you can see there are near endless choices of fresh produce, even some items I have never seen or tried before. Shopping space totals nine acres to explore and find some awesome goodies to take back home with you. The afternoon we visited there were two cruise ships in port adding a few thousand additional tourists to the mix.
“On the public market’s first day, August 17, 1907, crowds of shoppers seeking fresh produce and bargains descended upon the new marketplace. The first farmer sold out of produce within minutes. Within a week, 70 wagons were gathering daily to sell along the newly named Pike Place, a wooden roadway that connected First St. to Western Ave.” Pikes Place Market History
COFFEE!!
Everyone knows that Starbucks is an iconic Seattle establishment, now worldwide, and we couldn’t resist grabbing a cup of Joe at the first Starbucks location at 1912 Pike Place. A cute little store where you can pick up souvenir coffee cups with designs not available in any other locale. It was fun to stand across the street and reminisce about how life was so simple before the Starbucks/Internet Cafe revolution.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION!!
Visiting Seattle requires a fair amount of foot travel but thanks to the awesome Seattle public transportation system we were able to whiz across town to the iconic Space Needle. Dogs are allowed on public transportation as well which made the day with Maggie so much easier. Check out Maggie, below, riding the Monorail. She actually liked it much better than the bus ride into the city. We really loved the fact that Seattle public transportation allows pets to ride with you. Thumbs up Seattle!!
Built for the 1962 World’s Fair the Space Needle is an observation tower and a landmark of the Pacific Northwest. During the ’62 World’s Fair, the Space Needle drew over 2.3 million visitors. Surrounded by a beautiful park with street performers and musicians this was the most peaceful and relaxing part of our day trip to Seattle.
With Maggie along for the adventure we were unable to take a ride to the top of the Space Needle but we’re okay with that. We’ll save that adventure for another visit. Rather than taking the ride up the needle we decided to chill out in the park and enjoy our time there. Aaron spotted Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream stand which gave us the perfect excuse to take a short break. Maggie turned on the charm and the girls working the stand fell in love with her. So much so that she trotted away, no pun intended, with a scoop of vanilla on the house. As you can see she really liked it.
SEAFOOD!!
We really enjoyed Seattle, even with all the hustle and bustle of the crowds. Everyone we met was really nice and we gained a lot of Seattle knowledge chatting it up with some of the locals. Weather couldn’t have been better, no rain the day we visited.
Of course, what visit to the pier is complete without a seafood meal. Fish and Chips at Ivar’s Seafood was a perfect end to our day in Seattle. Maggie was allowed to sit outside and dine with us although she wasn’t too sure about all the panhandling seagulls!
We will definitely be visiting Seattle again. We had a great time in the city and every expectation we had coming in was met. I can’t end this post without giving a big shout out to our camp host at Vasa Park Resort for providing very detailed instructions and maps for getting in and out of the city and to the public transportation system for getting us to each destination quickly and effortlessly. We just wish getting around every large city was as easy as Seattle.
We’re off to the next stop where adventure surely awaits. Stay tuned to the blog for a rundown of our visit to North Cascades National Park. So long for now……thanks for tagging along.
Our Seattle’s photos can be seen below in our Photo Gallery