This Hipster-Friendly Unique Seattle Mall Is A Funky Shopping Mecca In Washington For Vintage Lovers

While many visitors to Seattle have places like the Space Needle and Pike Place Market with its hundreds of unique shops on their bucket lists, there's another funky shopping mecca located outside of the city's center that will get you off of the beaten path to experience something truly one of a kind: the Georgetown Trailer Park Mall.

This hipster-friendly mall isn't like Washington's other world-class shopping meccas filled with hundreds of standard stores. The Georgetown Trailer Park Mall opened in 2010 and consists of eight trailers housing seven stores and a wedding chapel. You can buy items such as vintage clothing, art, jewelry, cookies, and other charming finds.

The mall is conveniently located just a 15-minute drive from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle, and about half an hour from Pike Place Market by public transit. The mall is only open on weekends from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., February to December (with extended hours during the summer), and is a must-visit if you want some locally made items and an experience you can't get anywhere else.

The stores at the trailer park mall are run by local artists and curators, so you won't need to search hard for unique items that you can't find at big chain retailers. You can browse racks of curated vintage clothing and shelves of handmade and secondhand items at Third Wave Mercantile, one of the stores in the mall housed in an Argosy trailer. In the oldest trailer in the mall from the 1950s, smell your way through coconut soy wax blended candles that are sustainably packaged at a store called Natures Element. If you like glass sculptures and jewelry, find plenty made by an artist named Kare Cole at their store, Boxes of Glass. They also have another store in the mall called Venus Fly Tricks that is home to prints, clothing, art, tattoos, and tarot card readings.

Art lovers will certainly want to make sure they stop at the Royal Mansion Gallery, a rotating art gallery showcasing Seattle's up-and-coming artists. You can see all sorts of mediums displayed there, like canvas paintings, photography, pottery, illustrations, sculptures, and more. There's also Gadfly and Flynn that features art made of wood, cement, and paper, and also sells jewelry, cigar boxes, and other knick-knacks.

As you browse these quirky collections, treating yourself to a sweet treat is a no-brainer. Right in the mall in a Silver Streak trailer from the 1970s lives the Lowrider Cookie Company. It has mouth-watering flavors such as brown butter triple chocolate chip, birthday cake, and salted toffee pecan.

One of the many things that makes the Georgetown Trailer Park Mall unique is its wedding chapel. Yes, that's right — you can get legally married in a trailer. The Shotgun Wedding Chapel is a trailer decorated with pink walls and a small ceremony area where couples can tie the knot in an intimate space. Shotgun Ceremonies, the company behind the space, offers a $400 wedding package that includes an officiant, witnesses if needed, a short ceremony, music, and two shot glasses. You will need to hire your own photographer, and the space is pet friendly. If you want to get married by Elvis, the company even has an impersonator available for an extra $250 (prices accurate as of this writing).

There are also many seasonal events happening at the mall that bring extra pizzazz to your visit, including Halloween events, holiday markets, and summer flea markets. There's also the neighborhood of Georgetown's monthly art event, called ART ATTACK, where many businesses open to highlight community members and their art. Though there are plenty of artsy Seattle neighborhoods filled with eccentric eateries, shops, and attractions, the Georgetown Trailer Park Mall certainly sets this neighborhood apart as a must-visit area of Seattle.