In the 19th century no one was betting on Seattle to become the great metropolis of the Northwest. The Washington capital was placed in Olympia and the railroads all built towards Tacoma. Then in the 1890s gold was discovered in the Yukon in the far north and tiny Seattle on the Puget Sound was the nearest port to ship supplies into the wilderness. Because of that, exploring Seattle has now become very popular.
The 605-foot high Space Needle, a souvenir of the 1962 World’s Fair, became a symbol of the city and the rejuvenated Pike Place Market a favorite destination. Dropping a few shekels in Rachel, the 550-pound bronze piggy bank that acts as an unofficial mascot, helps keep the century-old stalls humming. Pike Place Market is one of the country’s oldest farmers’ markets and all Seattle RV parks will have maps leading to Pike Place and Pike Street.
The original Starbucks.
Starbucks opened in the Pike Place Market in 1971, taking its name from the chief mate to the tyrannical Captain Ahab on the Pequod that was chasing Moby Dick. The coffee roasters were moved to the current location at 1912 Pike Place in 1977 where the sign outside retains the original logo. Nearby the Seattle Gum Wall came is second in voting for “The Germiest Tourist Attraction in the World.”
You can still see more remnants of old Seattle south of the market at Pioneer Square. After a fire scorched the 19th century town the charred buildings were covered over and the muddy tidal flats graded for the first time. When some of the old buildings showed murmurs of life glass insets were placed in the sidewalk to provide some illumination. You can tour Underground Seattle upon which modern-day Emerald City was built.
Exploring Seattle RV parks will provide convenient access to all Puget Sound destinations including Tacoma, that had been Washington’s first “City of Destiny” when the Northern Pacific Railroad selected Commencement Bay as the western terminus for its line across America’s northern tier. Those heady days have endowed the town with signature art and history museums.
Pike Place Market
One collaboration between glass sculptor Dale Chihuly and the city of Tacoma resulted in the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, a 500-foot-long covered pedestrian footbridge that brings visitors from the downtown core to its cultural corridor beginning with the Museum of Glass. The Chihuly Bridge of Glass includes three installations including a ceiling of glass shapes and forms that simulate being underwater and a series of 109 sculptures encased in glass cases. The Crystal Towers that soar forty feet above the bridge deck are meant to illuminate and evoke the mountain peaks, such as Mount Rainier, that dominate the skyline to the east of both Puget Sound cities and all of Seattle’s RV parks.
