Sunday, November 23, 2008

Pike Place Market, Seattle, Wa

Saturday was a very long day on the road. We went to Seattle for a 1st Birthday Party. I say Seattle but really we went to Bellevue. Grand-daughter of our very good friends, Sonny & Sher, and also some of their family flew in from Hawaii, and the proud parents from St Louis, Mo. We had a feast fit for a King. After lunch you had to pick us up and roll us out the door. I think we overate. But it's ok, we have done it before and survived. Our plan was to leave Vancouver in the morning, do a little electronic shopping along the way, have lunch and mosey back to Vancouver. But managed a little time for sightseeing. So many freeways down here, and the drivers are no different than where we are from, so aggressive, tailgating and often not very courteous. In order to navigate around Seattle you have to be comfortable using the freeways. So many numbers, I-5 , I-405, 520, I-90

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We used to go to Seattle often to visit friends in Bellevue and Mercer Island, but it has been a long time since we have travelled I-90 over the new floating bridge. I say new but new to us as this floating bridge project has been completed for years.

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I-90 exits around Safeco Field (replacement for the Kingdome) so we ended up cruising around the Chinatown area and headed towards the city centre until we arrived here . . .

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It's difficult to find a parking space in this area so we told ourselves that if we found a spot we would walking around and explore for a while, and we were lucky. It's much easier if you have a bike

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Wish I had my bike here too (whispering to myself). For those that have not visited Seattle, the Pike Place Market is located along the waterfront and most of the shops are located Underground. There are many vendors here selling a large assortment of nearly anything you could imagine, from Seafood, fruit & vegetables, and handicrafts.

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I just love the colour of all those neon signs

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As usual, the Market was very crowded. The isleways are not really that wide and it is hard to wind your way through the crowds and it doesn't help when groups of people just stop to talk (blocking the way).

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The Pike Place Market is also home to the very first Starbucks Coffee.

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It is an exciting place to wonder around. Perhaps next time we can plan for an earlier visit.

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With sunsets arriving much earlier this time of year, it was almost dark and the vendors had to rely on their lights. Twilight is a great time to take photos and a tripod would have come in very handy as I had to resort to hand holding techniques and using walls and lamp posts to steady the camera.

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I quickly got into position and managed a shot of the sun setting over Alki point (West Seattle)

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One last glimpse of the market before our long drive home (back to Vancouver) and the ferry making its way back to Bremerton

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7 comments:

  1. My wife and I were there in January of 2007. We even lucked out with nice weather and plenty of walking. Thanks for sharing the photos. The only thing that was bad out the trip to Seattle was realizing how homelessness is a big issue there.

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  2. One memory that I have of the Ferries on Puget Sound were of the Power naps that I used to steal on the bike while crossing over to the Olympic penninsula.

    I would put the bike up on the centerstand and tuck down low behind the windscreen, reclining on the tailbag, believe it or not, it was very comfortable.

    More than once, I would wake up to see children observing me from the upper deck of the ferry. What an odd sight I must've been.

    E.T.

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  3. Kim and I want to travel to Seattle someday to experience exactly what you posted. When plane fares were low we actually considered making the flight for a 2 or 3 day weekend. Alas, the best of plans...

    As I read through your post and looked at the din of activity I was reminded of trips I used to make as a kid with my mother to Pittsburgh. This would have been in the early 1960's and Pittsburgh was just bristling with activity. During the holiday season the place was magical for a kid with all the people and lights.

    I added you to my blogroll. I am really bad about keeping that up to date. I visit your site, read all the good stuff, and don't share the opportunity with others...

    Steve Williams
    Scooter in the Sticks

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  4. Jeffry:

    actually I didn't notice that much homelessness, perhaps because of the colder time of the year. During the summer I see more homeless around the Market area. Vancouver on the otherhand, has a BIG problem and we have tent or cardboard cities springing up everywhere. The city just can't don anything about it. And also there are those annoying "Squeegie" people . . .


    ET:

    Actually we have a few gulf islands in British Columbia too. Our plan was to ride our scooters over and explore, but it's one of those things that you will get around to "one day" . So far we have visited Salt Spring Island, Quadra, Denman & Hornby Islands, Galiano and a couple near the northern tip at Sointula and Alert Bay

    Steve:

    Seattle is only 150 miles away. Perhaps you will make it one day for a "visit" and we can try to make it down there too. I think Seattle is a very scooter friendly city and there are lots of places to ride with great scenery. Perhaps we can get Orin (http://scootinoldskool.wordpress.com/) to round up a scoot for you and we can turn your visit into a scootin weekend to remember.
    Also thank you for your kind words and recognition. I'm probably more photographer than scooterist and it was always my intention to post pictures of the scenic beauty of the Pacific Northwest. I also have some travel videos on my Youtube channel
    (youtube.com/user/bobskoot), nothing special just pictures of our travels and learning about mp4 editing (all on freeware if you would like more info).
    I consider it an honour and welcome your visits.

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  5. If you want aggressive driving try california. Those Washington State drivers are slow and cautious by comparison. They even stick to the ridiculous 60 mile an hour speedlimits on the freeways. Really.

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  6. I've always been drawn to the Pike's area. Twenty years ago it was pretty seedy. Now it's been cleaned up. Almost too much. The real feeling of life has been slowly replaced by an artificial feel.

    I still remember my first visit to that Starbucks. It was my own personal version of a "journey to mecca". Does it still have the old hardwood floors?

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  7. Hi! I’m the Community Manager of Ruba.com. We’re building a website to highlight some of the most interesting places travelers around the world have discovered. We’ve read hundreds of blogs about Seattle, and we think that this post is awesome! We’d love to highlight excerpts from blogs like yours (assuming it’s OK with you of course) and to discuss other ways of tapping into your expertise if you are interested. I’m at erin@ruba.com.
    Thanks! :)

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