Ballard, WA - My 1st and 4th day stops on my Seattle tour were to the always incredible, always awesome Archie McPhee store. I’ve been shopping their online store for years and and was a ball of nonstop excitement about visiting the real life place. It is the rubber chicken and bacon floss mecca of the world. I was in heaven.
When you first enter the store you’re assaulted by a sheer wall of crazy plastic bits hanging from the celling, tacked to the walls and in bins for your buying pleasure. They have a section of wallets, shelves bobble heads, a wall of Jesus’, wigs, masks, urine specimen kits. The place is a wonderland of junk, and yes it seduces you into buying it. I mean really, who doesn’t need a glow in the dark squid?
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Seattle, WA - I’ve seen the AWESOMENESS of gum art before. Having lived in Philadelphia I became acquainted with the strange revolution and attraction that comes from seeing gum donnors cover a surface with gum…but never like this. In Philly we have gum trees, but in Seattle they have a gum wall. And WOW what a gum wall it is. Almost every square inch of the brick from the reach of a person’s arm down is covered in gum. And not just globs of gum, but words and symbols written in gum, items stuck to gum, gum icicles, gum phrases, gum memories. One of the chef’s of a nearby restaurant was taking a rare Seattle smoke break staring at the wall and the select groups of tourists the took pictures and added their mark. I asked him how many of the pieces were his, he said none, he tries to stay as far away from the wall as possible…but his mom had left more than a few pieces behind. This gum wall has history.
Seattle, WA - If you enter Pike Place Market by the big sign by the clock you’re bound to see her. She’s bronze, she’s big and she’s the donation hub of Seattle’s most famous market. Pike Place Market may be know for the fish throwers, the flowers, or even the odds and ends, but the reason it’s all still around is Rachel. She’s a big bronze pig. Weighing something like 600 lbs. she may just be the heaviest pig, and piggy bank, in the world. I’m pretty sure there are larger pig and banks out there because she doesn’t boast her enormity, but I love her girth. Kids and tourists love her too. Snapping photos and climbing on top of the life sized pig make great photo ops and fun for the whole family. While she was originally cast to bring in funds to keep the market going and you can see the bronze tracks of the more liberal donnor with there names on them in the area. Don’t fret if you don’t have a handful of change, the money slot is plenty big enough to bills…maybe one day she’ll be equip to take plastic.
