Seattle may seem like one big city but in fact Seattle is divided into distinctive neighborhoods, each with their own distinctive personality. And none has a more distinctive personality then Fremont, the self proclaimed Center of the Universe.
Only in Fremont will you find a really big concrete troll devouring a Volkswagen Beetle but this is Fremont where the motto is “Freedom to be Peculiar”
The best day to visit Fremont is Sunday. Rain or shine the Fremont Market is open and it is not to be missed. Part farmer’s market, part art show, part flea market you never know what you’ll find there and every week different vendors join the regulars. One week you’ll find dozens of pairs of used shoes then it will be a guy selling vicious looking swords.
A must have at the Fremont Market are the dirt cheap bouquets of flowers. Ten dollars buys a huge array of fresh cut blossoms that will easily last a week once you get them home. Also check out fresh produce, usually picked the day before, and if you get the munchies there are vendors making fresh crepes, pizza from a mobile wood fired oven, kettle corn and some killer chocolate. The Fremont Market opens at 10:00 and stays open until 5:00. It’s best to get there early and avoid the crowds. Head down 34th Street and you can’t miss it.
If you are a collector, Fremont is for you. Start with the Fremont Antique Mall which has 50 dealers selling everything from furniture to jewelry. If you like vintage clothes look through the racks and take home a bowling shirt or a nice fedora. For the vinyl connoisseur stop by Sonic Boom Records which has a huge collection of LPs and 45s. Then drop into Dusty Strings Store and admire the hand made instruments. They look and sound beautiful so if you don’t already play, they may inspire you to learn.
No trip to Fremont is complete without a tour of some of the neighborhood’s more peculiar sites. On the corner of Fremont Avenue and 30th Street you will find a thirty foot statue of Vladimir Lenin. Brought from the former Soviet Union after its fall, the statue remains in Fremont and, if you happen to have $150,000, it is for sale.
On Fremont Avenue and 34th you will find a statue of five figures entitled, “Waiting for the Interurban”. What you can’t predict is how the figures will be dressed. It is a common past time in Fremont to dress up the statue in whatever style a person might choose and it changes regularly. The only rules are first come, first served.
Look up as you wander Fremont and you will see a 53 foot, Cold War era rocket pointing into the sky. It is on the roof of a building at 35th and Evanston and, fortunately, there is a sign nearby that explains how the rocket landed in Fremont.
And what about that troll? It is under the Aurora Bridge and was put there by the Fremont Arts Council to avoid the area becoming a dump. Why is it eating a Volkswagen? Apparently trolls are fond of shiny things. Stop by, take a picture and have all your friends shaking their heads when you show them.
A visit to the Fremont may not really make you peculiar but this neighborhood definitely has a laid back air about it that just makes you feel good. You’ll be back.
