Seattle Day 1: Pike Place Market

“Hey! I’ve seen this before… in a video back in school… something about workplace environments and job satisfaction,” said A as we saw a fish go flying through the air and into the skilled hands of a fishmonger. Friends had recommended that our inaugural trip to Seattle include the market, but we had both forgotten that it was the home of the “World Famous Pike Place Fish Market” where a rather large volume of sales likely came from visitors wanting to become a part of the spectacle. Simple place your order and watch the fish fly. At one corner of the frontmost stalls is a slimy and hideous excuse for a fish that has a sign next to it reading “Hello, I’m a Monkfish.” Curious children would slowly approach for a closer look and when their faces were mere inches away it would often jerk violently and send them running back to hide behind the legs of their parents. The staff must pull the string tied to the monkfish’s tail a hundred times a day, but given the look on their faces each time, it doesn’t appear to lose its novelty.

Across the street from the Pike Place Market itself is the location of the very first Starbucks coffee shop. Although I had heard that this Starbucks had retained its original look and feel of a small cozy café, it didn’t really look that different from any one of the 125 other Starbucks locations within the five miles surrounding the market. Besides that, it was so overrun with people that we didn’t even bother going inside. There would be better coffee later on and a lost stop at generic Starbucks was no loss at all.

A brief note about parking in Seattle. Try not to. Friday was not a holiday in the U.S.A. and so we were forced to pay daytime rates at a downtown lot. To our credit, we also managed to pick out the single most expensive lot in town thinking that we would just pay the premium to not have to battle one-way streets and traffic to save a few dollars. Total cost for six hours of parking? $24 USD. Basically what our meal at the Pike Place Pub & Brewery cost us. [Is anyone else noticing a name theme here?] When in Seattle and doing the obligatory tourist thing, one stop worth making is the aforemention pub. While the food is rather average, the in-house brews are quite tasty and a bargain at $4 for a pint. I highly recommend the Kilt Lifter.

Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale

History
Scotch ale is the strongest of all “Scottish” ales. It is sometimes called “wee heavy,” or the Scottish equivalent of England’s barley wines. Scotland’s cool, damp climate is best suited to the growth of barley, and thus the country’s brewers became accustomed to working with minimal quantities of hops (which they were not anxious to purchase from England). Scotch ales are rich and malty and often accented with a touch of peat-smoked whiskey malt.

Taste
Unlike the lighter “Scottish” ales, this is an authentic heavy Scotch ale. It is lightly hopped with a strong malt character, and a hint of peaty smokiness. Warm fermentation produces fruity esters and balances the sweet malt character.

Working in the place that we do, and living a certain lifestyle, it wasn’t really much of a question that we would visit REI’s flagship store in the heart of Seattle. Boasting a 60ft climbing wall, numerous gear testing facilities and a huge selection of outdoor gear, the REI is as much an attraction as it is a store. It was however, getting rather late and we were both tired of being on our feet. After a quick tour we were on our way without having been tempted to buy anything… although I did see a Big Agnes sleeping bag that I wouldn’t have minded spending some time with.

I have been lucky to have met a great group of amazing people that just so happen to live all over North America. Two such friends were living in Seattle and had graciously allowed us to take over their spare room for the weekend. Meeting up with them after a day of tromping around in the blustery wetness of downtown was a great time for us to unwind with wine and good conversation. A far better way to spend the evening than at an impersonal hotel. We were also able to visit a part of town that we wouldn’t have otherwise bothered to go to and found ourselves mere blocks away from the University location of Zoka Coffee.