Pacific Northwest Travelogue Part 7
Michael Taylor’s nephew, Erik, has been living in the Seattle for one year, and he has become its biggest booster. The first place he takes Michael after his arrival is Pike Place Market. Will the self-avowed foodie be impressed?
I had always thought that Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, was an old structure that had been re-purposed into a new use – you know, the way San Francisco’s historic Ferry Building had been turned into an upscale food emporium several years back.
It was refreshing, therefore, when my nephew, Erik Taylor, informed me that Pike Place Market wasn’t an abandoned industrial site that had been turned into a food haven for yuppies – worse yet, a tourist trap selling postcards and T-shirts.
Pike Place Market had, in fact, started out as a food haven, and it dates all the way back to 1907! Does this have any thing to do with Seattle’s obsession with fresh produce?
200 Independent Businesses
Covering 9 acres, Pike Place Market has more than 200 small and independent businesses including bakers, butchers, cheesemongers, farmers, fishmongers, vintners, and other purveyors of quality footstuffs and other items.
There are numerous cafes, delis, restaurants, and other kinds of eateries selling yummy food that you can eat on site or take home. What you won’t find are fast food chains such a Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald’s, Subway, or Taco Bell.
But there is more than food at Pike Place Market.
Overlooking Seattle’s Elliot’s Bay, Pike Place Market also plays host to a wide variety of art galleries, bookshops, clothing boutiques, florists, newsstands, toy stores – you might even stumble across a magic store or two!
Pike Place Market is not the kind of place that makes you think, “Been there, done that!” I can only speak for myself, but I made SEVERAL stops there during my 9 night stay in Seattle.
Where
Pike Place Market, 85 Pike Street, Seattle, Washington. Telephone: (206) 682-7453.