Page 143 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Pacific Northwest

PIKE PLA CE M ARKE T AND THE W A TERFRONT  141

0 Washington hub for ships bound for the
State Ferries northern gold fields during
Terminal the gold rushes of the 1890s.
In 1908, Colman extended the
Sign for Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, a Seattle Pier 52, 801 Alaskan Way. Map 3 C2. dock, adding a domed waiting
institution since 1899 @ 15, 18, 21, 22, 56. Ferry schedules: room and a clock tower. The
Tel (206) 464-6400 (recording). 7 elegant tower toppled four
9 Ye Olde ∑ wsdot.wa.gov/ferries years later when the ocean liner
Curiosity Shop Alameda rammed the pier. The
Both a highly efficient transit tower’s replacement met with
Pier 54, 1001 Alaskan Way. Map 3 C2. system and a top tourist similar misfortune when it was
Tel (206) 682-5844. @ 15, 18, 21, 22, attraction, Washington State scorched in a 1914 pier fire.
56, 57. Open 10am–6pm Sun–Thu, ferries transport 23 million Although not as archi-
9am–9pm Fri & Sat. Closed Jan 1, residents and travelers a year. tecturally interesting as its
Thanksgiving, Dec 25. 7 Seattle’s main terminal is predecessors, the present
∑ yeoldecuriosityshop.com
Colman Dock, located on terminal, which was built in
The quintessential curio shop, the waterfront at the foot of 1964, does an admirable job
this Seattle institution has Columbia Street. The dock will accommodating the many
been a fixture of the city’s be undergoing a long-term passengers traveling to
waterfront since 1899. Among restoration and redevelopment Bremerton and Bainbridge
the legendary curiosities are project from 2017. Island. The terminal also serves
shrunken heads, a “freak pig” The original wharf was foot passengers traveling to
with two tails, two faces, three built in 1882 by Scottish Vashon Island.
eyes, and eight legs, a walrus engineer James Colman to A popular tourist activity
skull with three tusks, and three accommodate steamships. is the 35-minute ferry ride
well-preserved mummies that Destroyed seven years later to Winslow on Bainbridge
were discovered in the Arizona in the Great Seattle Fire (see Island, where galleries, shops,
desert a century ago, including p128), it was immediately restaurants, and a waterfront
the much-talked about rebuilt to service Puget Sound’s park are all within walking
“Sylvester.” Oddities, both “mosquito fleet” of private distance of the ferry dock,
old and new, include The ferries. It was also a bustling making for a pleasant day trip.
Lord’s Prayer and oil paintings
engraved on the heads of pins. Ivar’s Acres of Clams
But there is much more to
this tightly packed store than A waterfront landmark since 1938,
quirky curios and unusual the seafood restaurant Ivar’s Acres
souvenirs. From its first days of of Clams on Pier 54 was founded
business, this waterfront shop by Seattle-born Ivar Haglund
has been a Native American (1905–85), a radio and television
trading post. Today, the arts personality and self-promoter.
Eighteen years before opening
and crafts of the region’s Native his popular restaurant, Haglund
Americans are sold through established Seattle’s first
the store, which has also aquarium, also on Pier 54,
provided a number of private scooping the “exhibits” out of
collections and prestigious Puget Sound himself. Wearing his
museums, including the trademark captain’s hat, Haglund
Smithsonian Institution in entertained visitors by singing
Washington, DC, with Native songs he had written about
American art and artifacts. his favorite sea critters. The
Joseph Edward Standley aquarium’s other attraction was
of Ohio started this family-run a fish-and-chips counter across
shop in 1899 – reportedly from the seal cage. It was the seed Hungry visitors and seagulls – all are
earning only 25 cents in the for Haglund’s foray into the food- welcome at Ivar’s
first three days. Fortunately, service business, an enterprise
that grew to include three restaurants, nearly 30 fish bars throughout
Standley persevered, and in the Pacific Northwest, and Ivar’s own brand of clam chowder. Known
1909 he sold his ethnological for his silly puns (“Keep Clam” remains the company motto) and
collection, which had garnered frequent publicity stunts (he once hoisted a 16-ft/5-m salmon
a gold medal at Seattle’s World windsock to the flagpole atop stately Smith Tower), Haglund was –
Fair that year, to New York’s and remains – a colorful Seattle icon. Two months after his death in
Museum of the American Indian 1985, the city celebrated his 80th birthday with a boat parade in Elliott
for $5,000, establishing the shop Bay. And each Independence Day, as Seattleites watch the lavish
with collectors. Nowadays, “Fourth of Jul-Ivar’s” fireworks display over the bay, they remember
this well-stocked shop is run with fondness the “firecracker” who started the tradition back in 1964.
by Standley’s great-grandson.

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