Freemont seems to embody the spirit of Seattle. It is an arty little place known for its public art, quirky shops, great food and evening fun. We loved wandering through the upscale thrift shops, rushing through record stores and perusing menus posted outside of busy eateries. No visit to Freemont would be complete without a visit to this neighborhood’s public artworks like “The Troll” (who hides under a bridge grasping a real VW Bug) and an oversized sculpture of Lenin (who awkwardly stands guard in the town center).My favorite part of our visit to Freemont was the discovery of a fantastic all dessert café. Simply Desserts has amazing homemade cake and strong fresh coffee. My slice of yellow cake with blueberry jam and lemon icing was almost as unforgettable as my husband’s chocolate confection and irresistible espresso. This tiny bakery shop in Freemont sells cake by the slice, muffins, brownies, cookies and cupcakes. Their patrons are often Seattle residents and the conversation on summer evenings is amiable and buzzing.
On our trip to Simply Desserts we sat next to a group of mid-life locals dressed extravagantly in vibrant feathery outfits for a birthday celebration. They struck up a conversation with us- polling us on our opinion of the cake we’d selected- and the talk developed into some fabulous recommendations for our activities for the rest of our trip.
Within walking distance from Freemont is GasWorks Park. An obsolete Gasworks factory has been converted to open public space and the old equipment has been painted so that it towers out of the surrounding fields of rolling green grass on the side of a Seattle waterway. The arty park has plenty of room for a pick up baseball game, roller blading, picnicking and snoozing in the sun. One favorite feature was a 28 foot sun-dial mosaic at the top of one of the park’s hills. When I stood in the perfect spot in the middle of the sun-dial (on two footprints lined up with the actual calendar month and day) My shadow fell on the correct time of day. I was struck by the coordination of functional art in the park. The GasWorks themselves were functional machines now standing as art just like the creative sun-dial that with a bit of interaction moved beyond a new-age mosaic to a historical lesson in the science of time.
Find time in your Seattle travels to spend an afternoon in Freemont. Enjoy the special treats at Simply Desserts, find a fabulous record in an independent shop, and take a moment to check the time in Gasworks Park!
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