Seattle- Belltown and Pike’s Market
Since dear wifey had never been to Seattle, this stop was a must. We’re here for 2 days staying at the Belltown Inn reportedly within walking distance to most tourist sites. Found the hotel easily enough and did the register thing. I asked about parking and low and behold, yet another fun fact about the Belltown Inn, they don’t have parking. Any parking! There is a public pay lot just a block away ($20/day) or they do have garage parking at the apartment building across the street for $20/day. Funny how those things didn’t show up in the brochure.
What else didn’t show up in the brochure? Maybe the fact that the hotel is undergoing major renovation or the fact that there are several (6) homeless shelters and missions located in the same vicinity. We try to use Google Earth to look over a neighborhood before we book homes but for hotels in the city, it’s a little harder. Still, room was fine and we had no issues with the wanderers. And at a mere $250.00/night, what do you expect?
Brief blurb about Seattle. Home of the 1962 Century 21 Exposition (no not the real estate people) or commonly called the “World’s Fair”. Here they showcased the “Space Needle”, the Pavilion of Electric Power, the Office of the Future and a monorail. The monorail is still in use today as is the Space Needle but the other exhibits are gone.
Before the World’s Fair, somewhere around 1852ish, Seattle was founded and named after Chief Si’ahl of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. Once the settlers successfully pushed the native Americans out of the area, logging and commerce flourished. By 1910 it was one of the largest cities in the United States. Today there are approximately 685,000 people making this city home.
Our touring begins with an early morning breakfast right next door to our hotel that didn’t have a restaurant. Biscuit Bitch had a catchy sign and severed, what else, biscuits and gravy along with eggs and other toppings. Although the breakfast was good, something tells me we won’t be seeing any commercials any time soon. Probably best to stick to word of mouth.
Loaded with belly bombs now off to Pike’s Market before the crowds. Short walk down hill and made it before the hordes arrived. Lots of vendors getting ready for the day selling everything from flowers, fruits and vegetables, tee shirts to their flagship, fish! Although no one was throwing fish or anything else, early morning is a great time to visit Pike’s Market. With few people crowding the narrow walkways it was easy to take pictures and talk with vendors.
