Sights of Seattle, Giant Marshmallows, Salmon Got Boobs?

Spent the day roaming around Seattle which is a very now, very happening city where people are very involved. Sort of.

First of all, Starbucks Coffee originated in Seattle and is still headquartered here. As you might expect, there are Starbucks on every corner, in gas stations, bakeries, heck I even think I saw one in a taxi that went by. And they are all full. A very thirsty and somewhat jittery town.

I drifted down to the Farmer’s Market in downtown Seattle – a very now, very happening fish, fruit, and meat market.

It was thoroughly packed with thousands of people who didn’t seem to be buying anything – I think it was one of those flash mobs who decided to jam the market and keep me from moving. I kept waiting for them to break into their dance routine. While waiting, I relaxed and listened to a little sweet Irish music (Irish fiddle music soothes my roots):

I also got to admire some of the incredibly scary stuff at the fish stalls…

Geez....look at the size of these things!

LOL ... some of those are labeled 'Salmon'. We all now know better, don't we?

This was the place you might have seen on TV where these guys are heaving fish back and forth between counters. Lots of yelling, lots of cheering from the crowd. Also, there were some very pretty flower stalls and flower boxes adorning the buildings:

There were restaurants of every kind in the market: German Bierstubes, Italian pasta shops, Delis, Teriyaki, seafood – I was getting very hungry and having trouble deciding where to eat. What did I finally choose?

It's been almost thirty years since eating here. I now remember why.

In addition to all the Starbucks on every corner, there were a lot of activists protesting, supporting, or ambivalent about a wide variety of subjects. There were people asking me to sign petitions to oust Obama (I did). Others wanted me to support their petition to get the Republicans to quit blocking Obama (I signed). There was even one old guy asking me to side with him to end the war in Viet Nam (I did).  The last guy was part of an incredibly large number of homeless people that littered every little park in Seattle, nearly every street corner, and most tourist spots. They were active, too – usually holding out an empty Starbucks cup or old ballcap – hitting everyone up for “$1.25 for food”. I thought it was an odd amount, but they all asked for the same thing so I think they all received their training at the same place.

Seattle also has a very now, very happening waterfront district with lots of ferry activity, restaurants and shopping, and harbor tours.

This place was pretty cool. Lots of skeletons, shrunken heads, mummified remains, and things made from tiny alligators.

Who couldn't use one of these around the house?

Pigs are cool

Elliott the Otter welcomes you to Seattle

I thought this was another musician calling Seattle home - but this George Benson was a big streetcar advocate so he gets his own line.

I’m pretty jealous of Seattle. I like to rank cities by the ‘WOW factor’ when entertaining visiting relatives. There is a boatload of stuff to do in Seattle that would keep slackjaws like me buzzing for days. I wish my town of Columbus had some ‘WOW factor’, but it doesn’t. We never get much in the way of concert headliners, sports are pretty sad, and the city festivals are lame. I don’t actively encourage my relatives to visit Columbus because (1) have you seen them? and (2) where would I take them?  Still, not sure I would trade for Seattle’s stuff if I had to take the crowds, traffic, and homeless population. Maybe I’ll just visit from time to time.

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I left town to head for Portland, Oregon – the next stop on my odyssey. It would have been easy to just take the interstate 178 miles down to Portland, but where’s the fun in that? So, I took a 120 mile round trip out to the Pacific coast to see the ocean (like I’ve never seen ocean before):

Yep. That's an ocean.

On the path along the shoreline, I thought that maybe I should have just taken the easy way down to Portland. Then, I rounded the bend and was reminded why I take the small roads:

You don't see stuff like this on the interstate. (Don't forget - you can click on the pic to enlarge it)

Or, this...

You know, I love marshmallows. Just love ’em. Recently, you may have seen those super large marshmallows at the store that are guaranteed to get a giggle when you pull them out at smores-makin’ time on a campout. I always wondered where marshmallows came from – and are these larger ones some kind of mutant steroid marshmallows. Well, now I know that they grow on a farm and that I ain’t seen nothin’ yet:

A marshmallow farm in southwest Washington state. Must be all the rain and good soil. Look at the size of those bad boys..

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I stopped in Des Moines, Washington to look at this statue. I’m not sure what it is or what it is trying to depict.

I'm sure they're going to say this is a 'Salmon'. Will they never stop trying?

Wait a minute. What am I seeing here?

As weird as this statue is on its own – a closer look reveals this:

The man is holding onto the fish by way of a sizable set of boobs. What the...??

Yep, that's what they are...

Somethin’s very fishy in Des Moines, Washington.

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Today’s Travel: 287 miles

Total Travel To Date:  9,286 miles