The Journey: First Days in Seattle

Welcome to Pikes Place Market!

One of Seattle's main attractions is the open air market at Pike's Place, offering artisans goods from jewelry and scarfs to spicy jam and chocolate pasta!

This is the outside entrance with outdoor vendors and to the left along this street are small restaurants and the original Starbucks!

One of my favorite parts is the never ending flowers! The entire left side, for most of the indoor market is every kind of flower you could imagine! The most beautiful and brightly colored arrangements, it made me want to buy some, but I had no vase and no table to put them on :( Mom you would have been in heaven here!!!

Next was the fish market, there is one in the middle (pictured here) and one at the end, it was definitely a main attraction for tourists and people would gather around and listen to the men shout out the fish they had that day and toss them around. The best part is when a crowd gathers and one of the guys tosses a fish out into the crowd, the women scream in terror and jump back only to realize that the giant fish is harmless and stuffed! But what a thrill!! :)

During the summer the tourists come in droves, especially off the cruise ships! So the market tends to be rather crowded, but still worth the visit!

Ambryn making me laugh next to the famous 'Market' sign.

On our way out we couldn't resist a quick stop at the 'Lusty Lady' nearby...

What! It was the cheapest porn in town!! :)

After a lunch of peaches and raspberries Ambryn and I hiked to the Library. I use the word 'hiked' because much like San Francisco, Seattle is a very hilly city! The library is a beautiful and amazing sight right in downtown! It had something like 10 stories each with their own unique design and architecture. I should have taken more pictures but this is all I have...

The grid structure you see surrounds the entire building. This is the highest level we were allowed to visit and it offers a great view of the city! There was the 'red room' designed for conferences and lectures where the halls and walls are a reflective red, it feels like you are in a spaceship. The furniture is very modern and unique, my favorite being the pod-like seats in the children's library, circular and squishy!! My favorite feature of all would have to be the return bin, it was encased in glass so you could see the book get dropped in and then watch it go up the conveyor belt along the ceiling and filed high up onto the second floor somewhere. The Library was well worth the visit, I only wish we had gotten there early enough for the tour! :)

We ended the day with a much needed stop at the car wash. Fit-Fit was still covered in bugs from her journey from Boise and desperately needed some love...