On 8/6/25, we left Bow, Washington, and headed for Seattle. “The Coffee Capital of the World” resides restlessly under the constant supervision of mighty Mount Rainier.
The top reason for our expedition to the Pacific Northwest was my niece, Nicole Lyon’s, wedding to Stephen Arifin. We had a half day to ourselves in the “Queen City of the Northwest,” so we headed to one of the country’s oldest and largest farmers’ markets. The 9-acre Pike Place Market is located on the waterfront.
With winding alleyways, a historic arcade, and commanding views of the bay and skyscrapers in the “Highest City at Sea Level,” the multi-story Market is crazy fun.
We were parched from our travels and chose Old Stove Brewing-Pike Place for a beer tasting flight and a Grilled Salmon Sandwich. The perfect combo for the “City of Craft Beer,” also known as “Salmon City.”
Pike Place Market is full of weird surprises. A wall in a lower winding hallway represents the museum for the world’s tallest man in recorded history, Robert Wadlow.
Wadlow stood 8 feet 11.1 inches tall and weighed 439 pounds when he passed away in 1940 at the age of 22. By depositing a quarter in the coin box, you can look through a stereoscope viewing slot at Robert’s size 37 brogue.
On the bayfront walkway behind Pike Place Market, these kids seem to be waiting for Robert Wadlow to play with them.
A perfect example of Seattle’s eccentric character is The Gum Wall. In the 1990s, actors and patrons of Unexpected Productions began sticking their gum on Post Alley’s brick walls. The gum walls are cleaned every 5 years or so, but they don’t stay gum-free for long.
Pike Place Fish Market has been on the corner of Pike Street and Pike Place since 1930. Facing bankruptcy in 1986, the Market began throwing fish, playing games, and featuring customer performances, which received media and TV coverage, turning Pike Place Fish Market into a tourist destination with 10,000 visitors a day.
In the heart of “Pedestrianopolis,” in front of quirky Pike Place Market, even this whackadoodle failed to stir up any visible concern from locals or tourists. The inhabitants of the “Foggy Metropolis” could not be bothered by him. By the way, I used only a few of Seattle’s 32 nicknames in this story.