Pike Place MarketSeattle's 1907 public market — flying fish, the original Starbucks, the gum wall, and the neon clock over the Elliott Bay waterfront

Pike Place Market opened in August 1907 so farmers could sell directly to the public and cut out the price-gouging middlemen — and it has run continuously ever since, making it one of the oldest farmers' markets in the United States. It tumbles down the bluff above Elliott Bay in a tangle of arcades and stairways: the main 'Down Under' levels hide tiny magic shops, comic stores, and antique dealers below the street-level produce and craft tables.

The performances are part of the draw. At Pike Place Fish Co., the mongers hurl whole salmon across the counter to a chorus of shouts — the most-photographed scene in the market. Across the cobblestones, the original 1971 Starbucks still pours coffee under its first brown logo, usually with a line out the door. Down in Post Alley, the Gum Wall — a brick passage layered in decades of chewed gum — has become an unlikely (and very sticky) landmark.

Beyond the spectacle, it's a real working market: Rachel the bronze piggy bank, the daily flower stalls (dahlias by the armful in late summer), Beecher's cheese being made in the window, and a dense run of restaurants from Lowell's to Pike Place Chowder. The new MarketFront pavilion and the Overlook Walk connect the market down to the waterfront and the Seattle Aquarium. Come hungry, come early, and plan to get lost in the lower levels.