While I had hoped to find a place to take peek of the flight line of Renton Factory, I wasn’t too keen on another encounter with Boeing Security. So I headed back north to Pike Place Market. I had been there about 13 years ago when I was 14, and absolutely loved it. It was just as nice as remembered, just a lot more crowded.





During my last visit to Seattle 13 years ago, I paid a visit to this coffee shop at Pike Place Market called Starbucks for the very first time. I had no idea at the time, but the first Starbucks I went to was also the very first Starbucks store. 7 years after that, I was a college sophomore struggling with grades due to a little too much partying. As a result of that, my parents were threatening to cut me off. It was really time to shape up. So I applied for a job at my local Starbucks store, and got hired as a barista. Between working nearly full time and taking 18 credit hours each semester to catch up on my course work, I had no time to party. As a result, my grades improved significantly. During my senior year, I got promoted to assistant manager. With the increased workload, it was a bit harder to maintain my grades but I made it through. Starbucks was the kick in arse I needed to jump start my career and I’m very appreciative of it. So I’ve been a very loyal customer even after I left, and I’ve always wanted to go back to the place it all started for Starbucks at Pike Place.

I wasn’t surprised to see a long line snaking from the store when I arrived. While I usually hate long lines, I sucked it up and waited. The line moved very quickly, as I’m sure the partners running the store are used to this type of crowd. While waiting, we were entertained by a very good quartet setup just outside of the door. When I finally entered the store, I was greeted by a friendly barista who was responsible for make sure everyone stayed in the right line, as the line eventually diverges. It was very efficient setup, which greatly contributed to the speed of the line. As the couple in front of me took awhile ordering, the greeting barista struck up a conversation with me. The conversation evolved to into a “coffee conversation” after I told her I was an ex-partner. Eventually, I was helped and walked away from the counter with tall cup of the delicious Sumatra blend.







On display at the store was Starbucks’ original logo. The logo, internally known as the “Siren’s Eye”, was changed to the now ubiquitous green and white logo prior to Starbucks going mainstream as the original was deemed to be a bit too racy. Even many diehard Starbucks customers were unaware of the original logo until the company used it in the launch of the Pike Place blend back in 2008.



After getting my Starbucks fix, I headed into the Pike Place itself. I was blown away by the variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, and seafood available there.









By this time, I was getting really hungry since I hadn’t eaten since my early breakfast. One of the seafood vendors I passed was selling delicious looking seafood cocktails. Caving into temptation, I bought one of the Dungeness crab cocktails. It wasn’t cheap at $13 each, but it was simple, fresh, and delicious. So good, I bought one more before moving on.







I stopped by one of the waterfront restaurants for a bread bowl of seafood chowder to round out lunch, while enjoying the view of the Puget Sound.





Upon reaching the end of Pike Place, I exited to see a wedding party taking pictures in front of the market. I then began walking the length of the market on street checking out the many shops there.







Now that takes some serious body control.