PIke Place Market

Pike Place Market has it all, from fresh vegetables to flying fish

Seattle's oldest open-air produce, seafood and crafts market remains the city's best. Like the Space Needle, coffeehouses and precipitation, Pike Place Market is one of Seattle's strongest cultural pillars. It's practically impossible to imagine what the the city would be without it.

To walk through Pike Place Market is to see Seattle's no-nonsense approach to work and offbeat approach to leisure, both in full practice. Here you'll see fishmongers cavalierly tossing salmon to each other, as if playing basketball; you'll see stalls filled to overflowing with fresh fruit and vegetables; you'll find artisan-made goods ranging from jewelry to paintings; fresh-cut flowers and still-blooming plants; and you'll discover wines, teas, beers and cheeses, all locally-made, all exquisite.

Digging deeper, one unearths even more treasures. There are rare books and paper goods; theaters featuring improvisational comedy and European-style cabaret; dining experiences ranging from take-away counters selling piroshky to elegant sit-down restaurants; and buskers performing in nearly ever musical genre one can imagine. You'll even find a shop that sells nothing but wind-up toys, and the very first Starbucks Coffee ever built.

The crowd who frequent Pike Place Market on any given day may appear largely tourist in nature — some days it seems like every other shopper at Pike Place is holding a camera — but Seattle locals prize the Market's offerings just as highly. Many pay special weekday trips during their lunch hours to pick up specialty items — animal, vegetable and mineral — that can't be found in neighborhood markets. They know well that Pike Place Market and its offerings are absolutely one of a kind.

- by Geoff Carter, Seattle Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)