Tat’s Bizarre Travels

Fremont, WA - My last stop on my walking tour of Fremont was “Waiting for the Interurban,” a strange little statue of people waiting for the bus and dressed… well differently almost every hour. I must have seen then in at least three outfits while I was about. It’s appearently tradition for the folks of Fremont to dress these poor commuters up as they see fit. And directly behing them is another pile of cloths. I’m not sure if they were the ones they were just wearing or if they’re the next intended outfit, but it’s like a Walmart for the less fortunate back there!

The Interurban statues have their own nifty little but stop complete with coverage, I guess so their fancy duds don’t get wet, and are on an island in the middle of the street all on their own. In fact they’ve got the nicest bus stop I’ve seen in or out of Seattle! Of course no bus goes past. I guess that’s supposed to be the poetic irony of the statue, but something tells me it would be a little more awesome if they had the opportunity to mingle with the regular commuters and feel their pain.

Fremont, WA - Under the Aurora Bridge in Fremont stands the Fremont Troll. He’s a large fellow with an apparent dislike for Volkswagen Bugs, or possibly a childish love that makes him have to possess them. Either way, he’s truly awesome…yet another of the great sites to see when wandering through Fremont.

The Fremont Troll was constructed by four local artists and was sponsored by the Fremont Arts Counsel. It’s quite a sight to behold and people flock to get a closer look, or just hang off of him (or out his nose). While I was there the troll went from being virtually alone to having at least 20 people gathered around at one time. Both kids and adults clamored around the beast to have their pictures taken. It was almost like Christmas the way the troll get’s everyone having a good time.

I’ve got to say, I especially love the big guy. Not only is he somewhat of an artistic masterpiece, I love how he’s hidden away under the bridge. It’s not a far trek from the hart of Fremont, but it’s still very close by to a bunch of residences. If you get a chance stop by, he’s right on (you guessed it) Troll Road.

Fremont, WA - You may wonder, as you walk through the streets of the free and democratic Fremont Washington what on earth is a statue of Lenin is doing there. And I don’t mean the Beatles Lenin (which may seem a bit more likely in this odd Seattle neighborhood), I mean the father of the Soviet Union. The man who helped to tear down the tyranny of the Russian monarchy and brought rise to even more tyranny, and a cold war, and now misplaced nuclear war heads. And why, you may wonder, is he standing in front of the Taco Del Mar in Fremont, WA? Well, as with all of the other awesomely bizarre treasures on the Fremont walking tour, you can read all about it.

Apparently Lenin was brought over by a Seattle resident who happened to be teaching English in the former Soviet republic. The statue was on the verge of being melted into scrap when he rescued it from becoming any number of classy Russian chachkies. After spending a whopping $13,000 for the statue and an even more impressive $41,000 for the shipping Lenin finally came to America. The owner passed away before he could enjoy the artwork he spent a small fortune on and so now the statue is on exhibit (and sale by the former owner’s estate for $250,000) on the corner of North 36^th Street.