Local Tourist, Downtown Seattle Waterfront

Being a tourist in your own backyard, whether it is getting reacquainted with an area or discovering a new one, touring locally has some great advantages. We decided it had been a while since we last played tourist in our backyard, more specifically, downtown Seattle Waterfront and Pike Place Market. What better way to kick off a holiday weekend and enjoy a Friday afternoon.

We parked in the garage for the Bell Harbor Conference Center and hoofed it to our first destination, Pike Place Market. After strolling up upteen flights of stairs, we weaved our way through the crowds to Post Alley looking for substance (lunch.) We settled on Italian at LoPriore Bros. Pasta Bar. I ordered cheese tortellini and my husband had a humongous meatball sandwich. Delizioso! We sat right at the bar where the cooks entertained us while preparing the meals. Our bellies stuffed, it was time to say, "Addio" and explore.

I heard something about new improvements at Pike Place Market, I just didn't know what, so I had an excuse to explore, to find out what was new and what hidden gems the market had to offere. We looked for nooks and crannies to venture into while enjoying what is traditional about Pike Place Market.

When visiting Pike Place Market, a must see, is the famous Pike Place Fish Market and the throwing of the fish. Get your phone ready, video is best and wait for it.

Pike place famous fish throwers #pikeplacemarket #seattlewaterfront #fishthrowing #fishthrowers

A post shared by Karla Locke (@kklocke1) on Aug 31, 2018 at 7:41pm PDT

To the left of the Fish Market was a small hallway that looked like a dead end, it's worth scouting because a door leads you to a lush rooftop garden. Operated by volunteers, this rooftop garden grows food for local food banks. But the garden is also a great place to relax, enjoy the waterfront vista and the coming and goings of the Washington State Ferries.

Next we meandered through the main part of the market, enjoying the wares of the artisans, food vendors, and the flower vendors. When we reached the north portion and was back outside we walked to the park, I still had not located what was new or different. When I turned to look back at the market I discovered its newest gem — Marketfront, a  beautiful 30,000 sq feet addition. In the middle of the hubbub of a busy farmers market was a place to gather, appreciate the view, and enjoy a beautiful Seattle day. A worthy reminder of why we live here. I had to learn more and discovered there was a lot more to this area than just a beautiful space, there are 40 units of low-income and senior housing, and includes seven working/living spaces for artists. There is also Market Commons, a center with social services. The covered space provides year round space for local artists and vendors to introduce their work to the public. It was worth the trip.

It was time to journey back down the upteen steps and walk along the waterfront, enjoy ice cream by the Seattle Wheel, and people watch. What better way to spend a beautiful Seattle Afternoon and be a local tourist in our own backyard.