Road Trip, Day 8/9 - Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market opened in 1907 and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. It is far younger than it's smaller but older counterpart in St. Louis - Soulard Market. I love Soulard Market and don't go as often as I should - but I am forever glad that Soulard isn't a tourist destination like Pike Place is in Seattle.

That being said, if I lived in Seattle - despite the tourists, I would be there often. The flower bouquets are out of this world and ridiculously cheap:

And the fish, the famous fish place was a lot of fun. This is the one where they throw their fish at each other. It's a little stage-y but they are certainly entertaining:

There's a smaller one down the way, which looks similar but without the fun:

There's tons of tasty looking fruit:

Including this amazingness that I was introduced to in Oregon: Rainier cherries:

On the second day, N & I had a delicious lunch here:

I highly recommend it - it reminded me of a great food truck here in St. Louis called Seoul Taco.  I had bi bim bap with bulgogi and the fried rice underneath was the best I'd had in a long time.

Here are more pictures of the market in general:

Because I can't get to Seattle soon, I will be getting my happy self over to Soulard and hoping that Rainier cherry season will come again soon. I had no idea how delightful those cherries were. Thanks W & G!!

Road Trip, Day 8 - Chihuly Gardens - Nighttime

Chihuly Gardens is beautify in the daytime, but the nighttime is where the magic comes out, don't you think?

More pictures here!

Next up, Pike Place Market.

Road Trip, Day 8 - Chihuly Gardens - Daytime

My appreciation of Chihuly began in 1996 when he had an installation at the St. Louis Art Museum. One part of that installation stuck with me - the Persian Ceiling. I walked into a room with a glass drop ceiling. Between the glass and the lights were oodles and oodles of beautiful Chihuly glass. I vowed right then and there, that I wanted a room like that... if I ever won the lottery.

Then, he came back to the St. Louis area to do an installation at one of my favorite places in the world, at Missouri Botanical Garden, in 2006. Again, my love for Chihuly was renewed. I wish we had been able to keep more of the beautiful work.

This amazingness opened in 2012, and I bookmarked it for when I would ever been in Seattle. Winner winner for me! One of the great things about Chihuly Garden and Glass is that they have a day/night pass - so you can see the gloriousness in the daytime and then lit perfectly at night. And it's both an indoor installation and an outdoor installation.

Warning: VERY image heavy post ahead!!

We went at noon and enjoyed the Glass Forest:

The Northwest Room with Baskets and the drawings:

Sea Life:

My favorite Persian ceiling:

Mille Fiori (Italian for "thousand flowers"):

Ikebana and Float Boat:

His famous Chandeliers:

and famous Macchia:

We wandered around the garden and marveled at its beauty:

There are only like a million more photos found in the Seattle set. I tried really hard to pare down, but I LOVE Chihuly... can you tell???

Nighttime coming soon!