tourist-ing: pike place market

Or: I am the worst tourguide ever.

I told you earlier in the week that I had some friends staying with me. Of course, this meant getting in some of the Seattle essentials… particularly Pike Place Market.

We literally left their luggage with my mom, hopped on the lightrail, and headed straight downtown from the airport…

Lightrail shenanigans.

And didn’t even get lost on the INCREDIBLY long (sarcasm) way from Westlake to Pike Place!

Here’s the thing, though. I’m kind of a little country bumpkin. Okay, not really, but I live on the Eastside for those of you who know Seattle, in a teensy little suburb about 30 minutes outside of the city. And there just aren’t that many occasions for me to go to the city. So when I actually DO take friends tourist-ing, I typically end up learning as much as they do.

Hard to tell who’s more of a tourist…

Fortunately it’s hard to mess up Pike Place… except when you go the wrong direction to Starbucks.

Yes, visiting the first-ever Starbucks was essential. As a former barista I’m kind of a groupie. Don’t judge.

Me, friend, camera, phone, & Starbucks… perfect :)

Of course, the plethora of delicious foods at Pike Place more than made up for my relative lack of knowledge. I distracted them with samples so they wouldn’t realize I had no idea what to do or where to go.

First stop was “Sotto Voce”, home of ridiculously delicious balsamic vinegars and oils. Oh, and bread. I love bread.

Then, as we waited for my other friends to join us (read: waited for my friends who actually live in Seattle to help me navigate) we took pictures of the beautiful water.

This (and a few pounds/my love of carbs) is why I will never model.

After they got tired of taking obviously flattering pictures of me (ha), we moved towards the market & loitered there while sampling many other goodies.

As my friend pointed out… I WOULD take a picture of the sign that says “produce”

Not sure what in this picture is nuttier…

FINALLY my friends arrived and directed us towards lunch: CREPES.

We weren’t terribly hungry after eating far too many different flavors of hazelnuts and almonds so we all split a salmon crepe and a peaches & creme crepe. Both were absurdly delicious.

And apparently my guests still had room for the infamous mini-donuts…

Personally, I didn’t want any. Unfortunately, I had no say in the matter and had powdered donut shoved in my face.

Again, model status…

We then wandered down to the gum wall. It’s super amusing, and I realized when I was there that I’d actually never seen it in person. Seattle-ite failure? Yes, yes I am.

There were also some fun beer names…

I always liken Seattle to that one homely girl in high school who pulls out all the stops for Prom and somehow looks like a princess. 90% of the year, my little city is covered in clouds and rather homely. But when it’s sunny? There’s nowhere that’s quite as beautiful.

After a little jaunt along the waterfront we arrived at the entrance to the sculpture park and my dear, sweet friends nearly pushed me into a fountain.

Laughs & smiles were had. Probably at my expense… Oh well.

All in all, ’twas a good day… followed by a few more good days (including a visit to a chocolate factory) that will be documented later :)

Ever been to Pike Place? Tell me your stories! :)
Are you a good tourguide? Slash when can I come visit? ;) I’ll bring cookies… Promise!