Long known as one of the most popular tourist destinations in Seattle, Pike Place Market (or simply “the Market”) is a wonderful local landmark that everyone knows of, yet few Seattleites ever take advantage of the awesome possibilities the market has to offer. A great date in and of itself, a trip to Pike Place Market can also serve as a fun prelude to an afternoon spent together preparing a fresh and delicious meal together, crafted with ingredients from only local farmers, fishermen, butchers, and peddlers, the experience is sure to please.
If you are going to do the market as a stand-alone date, go at lunch time (if you work downtown) or in the morning/early afternoon on a weekend. Weekends will obviously involve more crowds, but bumping shoulders and hips with trying to navigate the markets halls is part of the experience, so embrace it.
Two musts are: come hungry and come with cash. In addition to offering excellent ingredients to cook with, the market’s vendors also sells countless prepared options for as little as $2-$3, and plastic is frowned upon if not simply rejected in such transactions. Fifteen dollars, and a small something from five or six stands is the perfect way to fill up on a variety of vittles. The pantheon of choices is constant fuel for conversation, and if you have different tastes in food (fresh grapefruit for her… fried chicken gizzards for him?), the market is practically certain to please all, vegans and veal-fanatics alike.
While practically every tourist makes the fish toss a destination within the market, the showmanship and theater of these fishmongers is sure to entertain every time, and I always am sure to spend a few minutes at their counter each trip.
After having your fill in the marketplace, check out the original Starbucks retail location and grab a quick post-meal cup to fight off the alkaline tides. If the sun is out, head to Victor Steinbruek Park to enjoy the view of Elliot Bay while watching the ferries sailing in and out of the downtown piers to Bremerton and Bainbridge Island.
Written by: Samuel Fisher - SpeedSeattle Dating Resident Blogger
