Greetings, weary traveler, and welcome to the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle! Although the locals like to refer to Fremont as the "Center of the Universe" or "Seattle's Left Bank", this artistically cool community of 14,000 people is located just North of Downtown Latte-Land. So how do you best describe Fremont? Well, Fremont is an interesting mix of...just about a little bit of everything. But if you're looking for a hip neighborhood full of colorful characters, strange shops, and some pretty decent local seafood, Fremont is hard to beat. Just follow the arrows - although the beans suggest that you avoid that arrow that leads to "Noogie"... at least for now.

As previously mentioned, Fremont is an artist's paradise - that should be obvious the moment you cross the Fremont bridge and stumble across a 7-ton bronze statue of the one-and-only Vladimir Lenin. The story goes that the statue was originally designed by Emil Vontov and erected in Slovakia in the twilight of the Communist era, which didn't sit too well in the late 80's, and poor Vlad found himself torn down by angry counter-revolutionaries in 1989. Issaquah native Lewis Carpenter found Lenin lying face down in a puddle, bought the statue, and brought it back to Seattle. Today, Lenin has found a new home at the Little Village, located in a former garage on N. 35th Street, with a new concrete pedestal firmly underfoot. The beans were happy to hang out with Vlad for a while, but are always quick to remind him that at 89 cents a can, they are definitely a benefactor of capitalism.

The other big local art project in Fremont is called "Waiting for the Interurban", about 5 lonely people who've stood on the corner for a long, long time. The cast aluminum statue by Rich Beyer was erected as an act of love for the community with assistance from the Fremont Public Association. Most people don't notice that the dog peering out from among the people's legs has a man's face. (That's "peering"... with an "R"...) But the story is good. There was an honorary mayor of Fremont who opposed the statue. He didn't like it - didn't like the idea. Stung by the attack, Beyer had the last laugh: He put his face on the mutt's body. The moral of this story? Never tick off an artist. Soon after the statues were put in place, dressing them up for any occasion became the thing to do. Every few days the figures are newly decked out by another unseen hand, commemorating birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, and goodbyes. Now, if we could only get them all to hold their own can of beans....

And since Fremont has a bridge, it only seems logical that they'd have a troll, right? Lurking under the North end of the Aurora Avenue bridge is one of the most popular art pieces in Seattle, the Fremont Troll. Despite the fact that it has a taste for VW Beetles, the Troll is very well loved even by Bug owners. The Fremont troll has been lurking under the north end of the Aurora bridge since 1990. He was sculpted by four Seattle area artists - Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead - for the Fremont Arts Council. The beans were glad that he likes cars more than vegetables, although a little roughage would probably do you good after consuming a carburetor. (By the way, the beans are next to his middle finger - that's just a coincidence, and not an opinion...)

Of course, this being a hip community, even their antique shops offer items you won't find anywhere else. Here, the beans hang out with a giant French fry man in front of a "Deluxe Junk" shop. Black-bean-chili-cheese fries, anyone?

Next on our artistic tour of Fremont is Pigs on Parade. Similar in theme to the Cows and Couches in Chicago and the Mermaids of Hampton, VA, the Seattle Pigs on Parade is modeled after a public art project introduced in Zurich, Switzerland in 1998. In the summer of 2001, more than 200 pigs were placed on the streets of Seattle. The pig models either sit or stand, and are created from reinforced fiberglass by Georgia Gerber, who designed PIke Place Market's famous piggy bank, "Rachel". Most of the pigs will be put on the auction block in October 2001, with proceeds benefiting the Market Foundation at the Pike Place Market. Anyway, this little piggy is "In a Pig's Eye-5", by Marie Hassett. Located on 34th & Evanston Ave N, the design is a mixed media collage utilizing area maps, photos, and found objects (and from the looks of it, a little graffiti, too...) The beans are always happy to hang out with pork, 'cause it's generally a perfect match, but they don't mind going vegetarian, either...

And here's one of the "standing" variety -- "A" Pig, sponsored by the University of Arkansas (Razorbacks) Alumni. A fan of the Arkansas Razorbacks, this pig is adorned to resemble the Razorback species, and proudly supports the team. This pig looked really good until a certain U of W Husky showed up and "marked" it... Heh, Heh - go Dawgs!!!