Joe and Nancy

Joe and Nancy
Our Home on Wheels (Click on image above for our web albums.)

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Pike Street Market Place, Seattle, WA

We did not spend a lot time here as it was very crowded with folks from all over the world.  I never have liked crowds, but we did want to at least visit, take a couple of pics, buy something and get the heck out of dodge.
This place just about any kind of produce and seafood you could imagine.
From Wiki:  Pike Place Market is a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington. The Market opened August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. It is a place of business for many small farmers, craftspeople and merchants. Named after the central street, Pike Place runs northwest from Pike Street to Virginia Street. With more than 10 million visitors annually, Pike Place Market is Seattle's most popular tourist destination and is the 33rd most visited tourist attraction in the world.
Did I mention that it was crowded, and it's lunch time.
We bought some some Copper River Sockeye Salmon and froze most of it.
This covered market aisle is about two blocks long.
Across the street is this little park overlooking Puget Sound and all the humdrum going about in this busy seaport.
Above, folks looking down on Hwy 99 as it passes thru town.  Below, a bus stop looking toward Pike Street.
Above, if you buy a fresh fish from this market, you have the option to stand on the other side of the counter and have the sales person literally toss the huge fish over to you.  And if you don't catch it, you catch it from the assembled crowd.
Above, the ferry headed to Bainbridge Island I think and below cruise ships, perhaps headed to Alaska and inward and outer passages.
OK, there was this gross alley just behind the market place and there were a lot of people staring at the walls of GUM!  YUK!  Thousands of ABC (Already Been Chewed) GUM stuck to the walls.
From Wiki:  The Market Theater Gum Wall is a local landmark in downtown Seattle, in Post Alley under Pike Place Market. Similar to Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obispo, California, the Market Theater Gum Wall is a brick alleyway wall now covered in used chewing gum. Parts of the wall are covered several inches thick, 15 feet high for 50 feet. The wall is by the box office for the Market Theater, and the tradition began around 1993 when patrons of Unexpected Productions' Seattle Theatresports stuck gum to the wall and placed coins in the gum blobs. Theater workers scraped the gum away twice, but eventually gave up after market officials deemed the gum wall a tourist attraction around 1999. Some people create small works of art out of gum. It was named one of the top 5 germiest tourist attractions in 2009, second to the Blarney Stone. It is the location of the start of a ghost tour, and it is a popular site with wedding photographers. A scene for the 2009 Jennifer Aniston film Love Happens was shot at the wall in 2008.
Found this little craft beer brewery in the alley too.  It did tours at 2 o'clock, but we din't want to hang around.
On the way back to Tacoma, we caught a glimpse of Mount Rainier along I-5. Well, that about wraps up our visit to the Pike Street Market.  There are just so many sights and places to visit in this huge megalopolis. We are staying longer than planned, so that we may squeeze in a few more.  RVing Beach Bums signing off for now, from Coburg, OR, July 28, 2015.










Klondike Gold Rush NM, Seattle, WA

From Wiki:  Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park is a National Historical Park commemorating the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1890s. The gold rush was in the Yukon Territory, and this park comprises staging areas for the trek there, and routes leading in its direction. The park consists of four units: three in the Municipality of Skagway Borough, Alaska and a fourth in the Pioneer Square National Historic District in Seattle, Washington.  This blog will be about the latter, in Seattle, WA.
I could offer words in this blog, but would not bring anything more than what the story boards will say that I will include here in this blog.  So, I hope you enjoy your walk through this tour of this small, yet informative story of the crazy-wild, adventurous folks seeking their fortunes. 
Pics of pics are a neat way to share what is actually seen and tells the story, in pictures, of the events.  They are so illustrative of the real view of the horrible conditions and hardships encountered by everyone seeking their fortune.  Unfortunately, a very small percentage ever found it.
Above, the Chillkoot Pass from Skagway.  An awesome pic of the thousands of prospectors and others seeking a  means of fortune, trudging up the pass.
While in Seattle, we took a couple interesting pics of the football stadium and other buildings.
Well, that about wraps up our blog on the Klondike Gold Rush from the Seattle perspective.
So, RVing Beach Bums signing off.  This blog written and published from Coburg, OR on July 28, 2015.