Early Summer (Or Late Spring) In Seattle – Part 1

This past week, my DH and I took a much-needed vacation to the Seattle area. We ate tons of local seafood, took lots of pictures, hiked, dreamed, and bitched about the hills. A (mostly) good time was had by all.

These are shots from “Vacation Day 1” – Pike’s Place Market (I loved it every bit as much as I thought I would, even if the 1980s-era Frugal Gourmet wasn’t around for a tour) & Pioneer Square. I could visit ‘The Market’ on the regular with no problem (other than having to find parking and shove myself through throngs of lollygaggers during peak hours).

According to the Pike Place Market website, the market was brought about by public outcry due to price-gouging by produce middlemen in the early 1900s. Consumers were fed up, so City Councilman Thomas Revelle championed creation of a public street market that would give consumers a place to connect directly with farmers. Pike Place Market opened on August 17, 1907 with a total of eight farmers – who were met by 10,000 eager shoppers. Over a century later, Pike Place Market is America’s premier farmers’ market, with over 200 year-round permanent businesses, 190 craftspeople, 100 farmers who rent space by the day, 240 street performers, and more than 300 low-income apartments for the elderly.

Pioneer Square was also neat – lots of cool old architecture and little shops. According to the Pioneer Square website, it is the ‘birthplace of Seattle’ and the ‘city’s first neighborhood’.

Pike Place Market