Seattle, Washington: Pike Place Market

I love farmers' markets. 

It's one of the first things I look up when we are moving to a new place.  Little ones, big ones, fancy ones, simple ones...I like them all. 

The main reason I like them is for the chance to purchase the freshest of veggies and fruits, but also simply for the atmosphere.  There's just no comparison.  Folks gathered together selling, sharing, smiling, chatting, and just having a good time.  For sure the best grocery shopping ever :).

Pike Place Market is huge.  The fruit and veggie selection was out of this world...

...and the flowers.  Oh, the flowers!  GORGEOUS arrangements of the freshest flowers for only $10 per bouquet!  Say whaaat???  If I lived near this market, I'd always have bundles of these flowers around me.  Hotel room, RV, or even a tent...as long as I had a flat place to sit them, these flowers would be going home with me on the regular :).

Most markets have a vendor or two selling some kind of meat or eggs.  This market on the edge of the bay sold seafood and fish...and lots of it!  Some of it looked really good...

...some not so much!

We got to see the famous fish toss...

flying fish: right under the black seahawks sign

...he caught it, too!  Color me impressed, fish are so slimy...I'd have dropped it FOR SURE, hahaha!

Besides the usual market fare, Pike Place has so much more to experience.  We wandered down Post Alley...

...found the Gum Wall.  Um...

...ew?  But cool at the same time, haha!  So gross that you can't help but check it out and want to run away at the same time :).

We debated on going into the "Original Starbucks" for some coffee.  I say " " because I've read that it actually isn't the original one.  Some say it is, some say it isn't...I dunno.  We probably would have went in anyway if not for the ridiculously long line that snaked down the street...not my idea of a good time, so we passed on that one.

It was getting late and we were getting hungry, so we asked around about a sit down restaurant that would welcome the kids.  We were pointed to the Athenian Seafood Restaurant, which was right there in the market (and seafood, yay!)...

While waiting to be shown to our table, we saw this poster on the wall: 

hello

This is the restaurant from the movie!  Pretty neat :).  We were seated at a table upstairs with a view of the water.  Great view, great food, we were happy.

blurry picture, but that view...

By the time we finished dinner, pretty much everything in the market had closed.  We did manage to snag some donuts as big as our face to take back to the hotel for dessert...

these were the neatest lights...

We big fat puffy heart loved our little visit to the king of all markets and can't wait to go back (those flowers are calling my name....)!