Seattle’s Pike Place Market

Open since 1907, the market is a bustling place where live music provides the backdrop to the hundreds of shops and thousands of visitors every day.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The market’s main arcade is lit and styled with a theatrical touch, but the food holds center stage.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A flower merchant assembles a bouquet.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Fruits of varying shades brighten a produce stand.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Even the corn is colorful.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Seemingly every type of fish is available.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Fresh crabs are stacked in ice.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Fish are a huge part of the Pike Place Market, but not just as a food offering...  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

...They’re also part of the entertainment. Tossing fish is a tradition at the Pike Place Fish Market -- a show-stopping crowd pleaser for tourists and customers.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Curtain up on the flying fish show.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A Ferris wheel is the latest addition to the Seattle waterfront, where the city’s aquarium and a variety of restaurants are just a few steps from Pike Place Market.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A sailboat heads out from Seattle with Mt. Rainier in the background on a beautiful summer evening.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The last of the sun’s rays illuminate people strolling through Post Alley at Pike Place Market as visitors shift from shopping to dining.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The Pink Door in Pike Place Market is an upscale restaurant serving Italian food.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Restaurants and shops line the city’s waterfront, providing visitors with a wide range of choices.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Some of the pedicab operators on the Seattle waterfront are one-man entertainment.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Although a few of the restaurants do stay open late, most of the market area is idle by 10 p.m., and surrounding blocks can be sketchy.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Rachel’s Ginger Beer is one of the newer businesses in the market, drawing large crowds for her handcrafted ginger beer flavors and interesting alcoholic combos, including a mule dispensed from a slushie machine.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The original Starbucks (well, almost original; the original original is gone) in the Pike Place Market in Seattle is a popular tourist attraction. A rotating roster of musicians performs for the crowd from assigned positions.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

There is more to the historic market than produce and fish. For example: the Giant Shoe Museum, next to the Old Seattle Paperworks on the lower level.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The cheese process is in full view through the large picture windows of Beecher’s Handmade Cheese at the Pike Place Market.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Collectibles, crafts and novelty items all vie for shoppers’ attention at Pike Place Market.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The Seattle Aquarium, a short walk from Pike Place Market, gives visitors and locals a quiet break from the city.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Street musicians add a colorful musical backdrop to the shopping scene.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Pedestrians on 1st Avenue pass the giant public market sign.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The gigantic barrel facade behind the bar houses the taps dispensing whiskey, cognac and other hard liquor at Radiator Whiskey, where the sips can be paired with comfort food.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Southern fried chicken topped with sauteed spinach is served with brown gravy at the Steelhead Diner at Pike Place Market off Post Alley.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Tables in Post Alley add a dash of color to one of the dining areas.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Matt’s in the Market offers a bird’s-eye view of some of the other shops and eateries.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A Monte Cristo waffle ($6) is on the menu at the Moore Coffee Shop, off the lobby of the Moore Hotel.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Rachel the piggy bank is the market’s unofficial mascot. Visitors from all over the world climb onto the big metal pig for a picture.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A group on Segways tours the marketplace.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A man calling himself “Magic” offers a sample of his marijuana, now legal in Washington, for sale in Victor Steinbrueck Park next to the market.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Customers dine inside the tiny Pike Place Chinese Cuisine.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A violinist serenades shoppers.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

“Twister Tom” is a fixture at Pike Place Market where he makes animals, hats, flowers and other objects out of balloons for the many tourists and visitors.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Sitting in Seattle traffic on 1st Avenue, a man on a scooter wears a panda hat.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A wall of gum at the Market Theater in Post Alley has become a popular tourist stop.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A brick wall at Seattle’s Market Theater is covered with chewing gum several inches thick, with some artfully placed and shaped, others now forming gooey stalactites.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)