Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle is a fascinating place. 

Fresh Columbia River Salmon 

First of the Season

 JUMBO shrimp from Ecuador. 

There are about 6 to a pound. 

Elephant garlic - huge

Tofu corn dogs - right up Joe's alley!

All sorts of entertainment throughout the market

 Gorgeous flowers

Rachel the Pig, a 550-pound, bronze piggy bank has stood outside the market's famous fish-throwing stand since 1986.The piggy bank collects $6,000 to $9,000 every year. The money helps pay for social services.

We liked the small donuts made at this stand.

From Wikipedia - Pike Place Market is a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington. The Market opened August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continually operated public farmers' markets in the United States. It is a place of business for many small farmers, craftspeople and merchants. 

The Market is built on the edge of a steep hill, and consists of several lower levels located below the main level. Each features a variety of unique shops. Antique dealers, comic book sellers, small family-owned restaurants. The upper street level contains fishmongers, fresh produce stands and craft stalls operating in the covered arcades. Local farmers and craftspeople sell year-round in the arcades from tables they rent from the Market on a daily basis, in accordance with the Market's mission and founding goal: allowing consumers to "Meet the Producer."

Pike Place Market is home to nearly 500 residents who live in 8 different buildings throughout the Market. Most of these buildings have been low income housing in the past, however, some of them no longer are. The Market is run by the quasi-government Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority (PDA). 

The Pike Place Market sees 10 million visitors annually.