One of the things on my “to do” list was to go to the Public Market, commonly know as Pike Place Market when I got to Seattle.  High on my list was to see the fish vendors throwing the large salmon from the front case of the fish stand to the counter person.  I must have seen this dozens of times on the Food Network and Travel Channel.

Right after checking into our hotel on Thursday afternoon, four of us headed down to the market.  We first went to the Steelhead Diner for a late lunch.  Had to try their “Scotish Kilt Fish and Chips” made batter made from a local beer.

We then started to go through the market and the shops along the street.  Flower vendor after flower vendor, all with beautiful bouquets of the most colorful and freshest flowers I have ever seen.  Almost everyone leaving the market had these beautiful bouquets in hand, probably because they were all priced from $5 to $15.

Just as there were lots of flower vendors, there were many fruit stands.  Again, with a bounty of fresh fruit so colorful the bins looked like rainbows.  Bright red strawberries larger than golf balls, apricots the size of a baseball, and on and on.

There were at least three fish stands.  One seemed to specialize in shell fish.  The biggest shrimp I have ever seen, Alaska King Crab legs that looked like they were two feet long, Lobster tails that weighed a pound and a half.  Ofcourse there were halibut, snapper and several varieties of Salmon, including Copper River salmon.  They were gigantic.  Finally got to see what I came for and that was the vendors throwing the fish.  Trying to get a picture of this feat was impossible.  Kind of like trying to capture a picture of a whales tail when it dives.

Along the street shops was the famous Beechers Cheese Shop, lots of specialty foods vendors, and the very first Starbucks.  They still have the original logo in the brown color.  The line in the store was all the way back to the front door.  This must now be the businest Starbucks in their chain.

Ok, I know what you are thinking.  Day 3 of the cruise and I haven’t blogged about the onboard experiences yet.  A second blog will be posted later today and I promise that the weeks cruise festivities will start with that blog.  So check back again.

If you want more information or have any questions, email me at www.cruisewithole.com.  You can also visit my website, http://www.cruisewithole.com for an almost endless amount of general cruise information.

Until tomorrow,
Bon voyage