Best Walking Tour of Fremont, WA- The Self Proclaimed Center of the Universe -"Seattle,Washington"

Today, I am beginning my tour of Fremont by sitting outside in a comfortable whicker chair sipping a latte. I am at the Fremont Coffee Company located at 459 N 36th St, Seattle WA 98103. This coffee shop is in the historic Frank Rosche House, built in 1904.

The bustle of Fremont waking up can be heard, as birds sing and dogs wait patiently in the out door seating for their owners. This is a friendly coffee shop making room for everyone including their four legged friends.

Fremont, the self proclaimed center of the universe is a Seattle neighborhood that is very fun, eclectic, creative and down right weird. It’s well known motto “De Libertas Quirkas” - or “Free to be Peculiar” is prominently visible everywhere!

Some of its more unique residents are the Troll under the Aurora bridge; Lenin, the larger than life statue from Russia’s Red Square, the three story “Mars” attack rocket and the large art glass balls which serve as street lights.

My first stop will be Theo’s - I want to take a tour of the factory early so that I can use up the chocolate buzz before lunch.

Fremont is an odd sized district. On the south side it is bordered by the ship canal. There is a bike and walking paths along both sides of the canal... plenty of benches to picnic and watch the boats go by. The east side sort of ends where you find the troll eating a Volkswagen under the Aurora Bridge and the History House with it’s metal sculpture garden. 36th street sort of caps the district off by creating a triangle as it connects diagonally to the canal.

In this small triangular patch of land there are many things to see and do. Every where you look is art - a neon high diving lady, a three story sculpture on a condo wall and a sculpture which fondly gets dressed up by local residents for all types of occasions called the interurban.

On the first Friday of the month Fremont has an art walk. One of my highlights is to visit the Edge of Glass where the owner will create a blown glass piece of art for you. Other fun things to coordinate with your day tour is either the Sunday Market or the Out Door Cinema. Both are fun and either free or very inexpensive.

In addition to food, clothes and artifacts from around the world you can also find a brew house, coffee roasters, bakeries and a chocolate factory. It is an excellent place to eat and eat and eat...shop and shop and shop.

With all this art, eclectic restaurants and shops people are often surprised to see as part of the community, software and internet giants such as Adobe, Google and Getty Images.

Fremont is the best place - Remember when visiting that individual peculiarities are welcomed! So visit and feel free to be you.

www.fremontfair.com

www.historyhouse.org.