Sensory Overload

Big cities are a bit of a challenge for us – especially on these trips where we spend the vast majority of our time seeking wilderness experiences.  The traffic, the crowds, and the plethora of choices in activities sometimes leave us feeling a bit overwhelmed…  But we enjoy experiencing the culture of other areas – the food, the environment, and the things that make each city unique.  With each new city encounter, we have learned a few things that help us to navigate a little better each time:

1.  Don't try to pack it all in.
2.  Take the time to enjoy your surroundings.
3.  Focus on the things that are unique to the city’s personality.

In Seattle, there looked to be so many interesting things to see and do – science museums, sculpture gardens, the Space Needle, special exhibits, art installations… you name it.  But we knew we wanted to see Pike Place Market on the waterfront – see the fish flying, take in the fresh flowers, and sample the fresh produce.  So we decided to start there.  Abby found a tour of the market online that looked interesting and we all agreed to give it a whirl.  After a quick preview on our way from the parking garage, we met up with our tour guide (Tyler) at the North end.  As luck would have it, we were the only people on his tour for the afternoon – a private event! 

As we walked, Tyler spent the next hour telling all sorts of fascinating tales about the history of the Market, its ups and downs, the city of Seattle, and even tips on places to be sure we check out.  We learned that the Starbucks everyone was standing in line for a block to get into is not, in fact, the original Starbucks – as it burned down some time ago… and this location is close to the original, but is in fact Store #4.  We saw the “gum wall” where theater patrons got bored standing in line and decided to stick their gum as a prank – it has now grown to 15 feet high in some places for about 50 feet.  We even learned about how the mascot of Pike Place Market, Rachel the bronze pig, “saved the market from collapsing" when a drunk driver ran into her instead of a pole that supported the structure.

After learning a bit of history and getting our bearings, we spent the next few hours continuing to wander through various areas of the market.  Abby found some earrings from a local artisan.  We watched them make cheese at Beecher’s and sampled some of their famous macaroni and cheese, tried a couple of items from Three Sisters Bakery, split a cup of frozen yogurt from Shy Giant, picked up some “Oh My God” peaches, pears, and Rainier cherries from a produce vendor, and brought back a “bean to bar” chocolate bar from Indi chocolate for later.  We also had caricatures made of each of the kids as a memento. 

Our grand plans of completing a walking tour around the city did not happen.  But as we left the Market to head back to the pool at the RV Park, all of our senses were on overload…it was a fabulous adventure!  The kids were already talking about what food they wanted to try the next day – and so we decided to go back today – Yum!