One of my favorite aspects of traveling is tasting the local food. To me, part of traveling is tasting the flavors of place. So when we spent 48 Sleepless Hours in Seattle before our Alaskan cruise on Princess out of Seattle (to be published soon), we had to taste all that Seattle had to offer, and not just the coffee. I scheduled a VIP early access tour of Pike Place Market via Savor Seattle. Our charismatic tour guide, Mark Boeker, met us down a dark alley with a chewing gum wall (seriously), planned our morning with visits and tastings, and walked us through the famous Pike Place Market area of Seattle on the Waterfront. As much as I love trip planning, I don’t like crowds or lines, so it was wonderful to let Mark guide us through the market, skip lines, and provide a sampling of tasty treats along the way (all included in the price of the tour).
Our first treat of the morning was a buttermilk biscuit and coffee from Honest Biscuits. Carbs and caffeine! Now that’s a great way to start a busy day!
Our next stop in the Corner Market was Daily Dozen Doughnuts where we tried maple glazed bacon doughnuts. I’m glad I ran that morning. I died of happiness. I mean…bacon…on a doughnut!
We then went up to the rooftop Pike Place Urban Garden to marvel at the flowers, scenery, and co-op urban gardening that was going on. I enjoyed seeing the cold weather flowers that we don’t see down in Houston. And we could spot our cruise ship from the rooftop, which we would be stuffed and boarding in a couple hours.
There we tried Market Spice‘s signature Cinnamon Orange Tea, which was perfect for the chilly Seattle air.
We then went back downstairs to sample fresh fruit and vegetables at Frank’s Quality Produce. If I lived here, I would shop here every day. I was so happy to be there during peony season. I loved the pop of color from these market flowers.
Next we visited Pike Place Fish Co. and enjoyed their singing and world famous fish throwing demonstration. We tried several types of salmon, which would be the staple protein we would sample at every stop on the Alaskan cruise. Salmon never tastes this fresh in Texas! Love love loved it.
Speaking of fresh, we proceeded to Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, where we sampled three types of fresh cheese as well as their World’s Best Mac & Cheese that made me hate myself for my lactose intolerance. That mac & cheese was HEAVENLY. You can find the recipe here (and if you ever bring it to my house, I will slap you, eat ALL the mac & cheese, then slap you again).
To add some exciting spice to our morning, we stopped at Country Dough for a chicken flatbread. Yes! Damn good spice.
Our final stop was at Rachel’s Ginger Beer for a ginger beer float. It perfectly cooled off the spice from the flatbread and left us fat and happy, ready for our cruise.
Mark was a wonderful tour guide and made us feel so welcome. This tour was surprisingly affordable and worth every penny. I felt like we tasted the best of the best of Seattle, all in two hours. If you take this tour, don’t eat breakfast ahead of time…you wont need it!