A troll, some gum, and fireworks...

So the biggest thing on our list for Seattle was Pike Place Market and all of the FOOD! What does one do when they go on vacation, really? See sights and eat food, right? Right? Well... that's what we do. Pike Place Market has been around for over 100 years and is the longest running farmer's market in the US... Plus it's the home of the original Starbucks!

So off we went... but first! A troll lives under a bridge in Seattle... The Fremont Troll is a roadside oddity of sorts. It was created by an arts group to work to revitalize an area in Seattle that had, years ago, become skeezy... This guy is big and gruff... He's at the top of a hill, under a bridge, holding a VW Beetle that he looks like he has hijacked. The kids were impressed! We hung out with the troll for a while.

After our visit with this tough guy it was off to the market... Pike Place Market is crazy big and twisty, turny... There are samples (like a hippie Costco!) and vendors being super friendly and entertaining! There's even a place to kiss a fish. We sampled berries and cherries and salmon and clams and pasta and asparagus and more! We also got clam chowder that you could slap someone really important to get again... It was so good. After shopping and sampling and gawking we went down to the waterfront to ogle the sound and people watch. Beautiful water in Seattle... clear to the bottom in the sound. Crazy! Then we went back to the market in search of the crazy things there... there's a Sasquatch, a brass pig, and lots of gum. GUM! There's an alleyway just under one of the market halls that has become an interactive "art" installation of sorts... People plop their gum on the walls there... It's colorful and pretty and gross and smells like juicy fruit... I made sure the kids didn't touch anything!

See? See how gross? There are gooey strands of gum everywhere for yards and yards and yards... We made the mistake of not buying gum to add to the "art" but I don't feel too bad about that!

We have to take some time today to stock up on supplies for the next few days so off to boring stuff-shopping. We got fruit and some snacks at the market but to keep our costs down, we are off to Trader Joes!

We are going to Columbia Center to watch the July 4th fireworks from 76 stories up tonight... Beautiful!

Tomorrow, Mount Rainier!