West Seattle, Washington
09 Monday
That’s the start of the Ataxia Awareness “Walk ‘n’ Roll” along Alki this morning. (Here’s more about ataxia, a nervous-system disorder; here’s how to reach the local support group.) P.S. The Alki Beach Run for Northwest Hope and Healing is tomorrow (online registration is closed, but race-day registration starts 8 am tomorrow @ the bathhouse). Second note – on the way to Alki this morning, we MAY HAVE solved part of a mystery:
That tent is on the industrial site just east of the Bronson street end, which in turn is just east of Salty’s. Between the tent, the nearby rental trucks, and the lights (photo below – one of at least two such setups on the site), we think it MIGHT be … we emphasize, MIGHT … be part of the answer to the movie-site mystery we reported two days ago. Maybe.
Of course, whatever’s happening there might have happened yesterday .. might be happening tonight … or who knows when. But we’ll keep an eye out. (SATURDAY NIGHT UPDATE: Karen says now that more setup has happened, it looks like a wedding. Oh well.) Meantime, close by, a quick pic of one of our favorite pockets of West Seattle fall colors:
That’s at Duwamish Head Greenspace. As for what else is up this weekend – check the West Seattle Weekend Lineup! Which is missing one activity we just were reminded of, in e-mail from West Seattle naturalist Stewart Wechsler, who says a few spots are still left:
Owl Hoot at Camp Long
Tonight, Sat September 27 7-9 p.m.
Ages 5 and olderA family friendly program. All ages and levels are welcome. Barred Owls
are likely (they’re usually around at Camp Long, but not always vocal or
visible) We will at least be able to see remnants of old pellets under old
perches. We’ll also keep an ear and a number of eyes out for Screech Owls,
which are possible, but not very likely anymore, since Camp Long was taken
over by Barred Owls. Great Horned sometimes show up in late October, but
we’ll try hooting for them just in case. After a short presentation with our
mounted owls of several species, we’ll look for owls. Remind me to bring
the Bat Dectector, as there are likely still some bats around. We’ll poke
around for pellets to pull apart and hear how to hoot. Please call (206)
684-7434 to register.
(click to see larger version of the photo)
From WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham: “Medic 32‘s Mark Colley strolls back and forth along the rear bay of Station 32 on SW Alaska St. as he exercises his pipes. Seattle Firefighters Pipes and Drums’ newest member was kilted at the annual 9/11 police and fire get-together at the Red Door this year. The group plays at memorial and ceremonial events associated with fire and police.” Prints of Matt’s WSB photos and his other work are available at his site, mattdurhamphotography.com.
In the last Cafe Revo update, proprietors Sean and Sofia Zadra Goff mentioned a mural would be painted on the south side of their Avalon/Luna Park building. Drove by today and noticed the mural’s in progress — no surprise it features a scooter! Not far away, a reminder outside Delridge Community Center:
Saturday afternoon’s health fair is part of a new effort to get the city Parks and Recreation Department more involved in helping people stay healthy. And a little ways further south on Delridge, the first sighting of a regular-gas price in the $3.60s:
Yes, we know Arco is usually somewhat lower, but some of the other stations aren’t too far behind – about 15 minutes earlier we noticed the California/Charlestown 7-11 and California/Andover 76 were both down to $3.72 for regular.
A week or so ago, we spotted the predecessor to that sign at West Seattle Nursery – it simply said “Under New Management,” which brought us a couple of notes from folks who wanted to know if that meant the nursery had been sold. Never got to check in person, but this amusing new sign appears to be proof it hasn’t. Meantime, a sign in The Junction proclaims a new development’s name; exactly one month after the teardown of an old house at 41st/Edmunds, south of Jefferson Square, a sign in front of the steeply sloped lot declares the future cluster “The Incline on Edmunds”:
The web address on the sign, by the way, takes you to a page with (currently) only renderings of the future definitely-not-cookie-cutter townhomes. Last but by no means least, tonight’s the official full moon; on the other side of the moonrise we shot last night, Scott C sent us this photo of the moonset early this morning:
Can’t guarantee a similar sight Tuesday morning, but the moon’s high in a cloudless sky right now, so if you’re up early, look toward the Olympics, just in case.
We were heading north to The Junction just before 1 pm when a Blue Angels-like roar preceded the sight of several military jets flying west. Figured it had something to do with the Seahawks game at Qwest Field; indeed, the Game Day page says “four F-15 jets” (Air Force stock photo above) were to fly over the stadium following the national anthem.
Congratulations to the Westcresters team (click that pic for a full-size version so you can see everyone better!) for their achievement in this weekend’s PAWSWalk – they raised more than $4500! (Some of it, from a doggie-treat bake sale at Westcrest last weekend, and we hear some WSB’ers stopped by.) Next, a different view of Sunday’s Car-Free Day on Alki (our full coverage is here):
Babs sent that after returning from what she termed a “glorious bike ride.” And speaking of glorious, we got this next shot while at the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza for the Saturday sunset concert (coverage here):
Don’t mean to jinx anything, but there are indications next weekend might be nice too. Lots going on – including the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup and the Evergreen State Barbecue Championship on Alki; we’ll be previewing the big events in the next day or two.
Karen Berge was a little startled to see this sight in her neighborhood a short time ago (the photo was taken at 36th/Dawson) – a group of mostly unclad bicyclists. We don’t think this photo shows anything X-rated; and we’re pretty sure (from what one guy has written on his back – BURN FAT, NOT OIL – visible in a larger version of the photo) that it’s got something to do with this protest (warning, link includes some actual nudity; bottom line to the protest, pun not intended, under the umbrella of the “World Naked Bike Ride,” is to call attention to what “the dangers of oil dependence” and the dangers faced by cyclists and pedestrians). Karen said they were last seen “heading north”; makes sense since as we were about to publish this, we got word they’d just gone through the Admiral District (past Click! Design That Fits, WSB sponsor, who sent that tip). 6:18 PM UPDATE: After posting this and leaving the house for a while, received reports of the bicyclists being spotted pretty much all over West Seattle – Alki, Lincoln Park, etc., plus a few more photos, like this one taken by Bill Schrier as they pedaled north on California through the Admiral intersection:
ADDED 7:06 PM: And here’s a photo from California/Oregon, courtesy of Mac, followed by some info our original spotter, Karen, found online:
Karen found a wiki all about the ride; even an online flyer. It says this was the last of three such protest rides in Seattle this year. Side note — almost everyone who reported sightings included some variation of the line we almost used as our first headline on this post – “West Seattle, or Fremont?”!
A little more than two hours after we published our story about Zeeks Pizza signing a lease for the old Corner Inn building at California/Fauntleroy, we were waiting at the light at that intersection, when along came those gentlemen to take down the “FOR LEASE” sign. Here’s what we were on the way to check out:
That’s the southwest wall of 6053 California; we reported yesterday morning that demolition had begun, but it’s proceeding slowly – the most distinctive facades of the building, on its south and east sides, haven’t come down yet, and the backhoe’s currently parked. (In a most-likely-unrelated move, a city crew is working in the street by the building right now – looks like they’re roughing in sharrows.) Last but not least, thanks to Gina for the tip that sent us up to the Admiral District for this shot:
According to Gina, the fences just came down today on the now-grassy area of the Lafayette Elementary playground, formerly an all-asphalt zone; groundbreaking for Lafayette playground improvements happened on the last day of school in 2007 (WSB coverage here).
We posted this first at partner site White Center Now, since it’s in the unincorporated area, but the photo’s too good not to share here too. We got it along with this report from Phoebe:
There were goats running around loose near SW 106th Street and 28th Ave SW this AM! (map) I saw them darting out into traffic and then ducking into this yard for a snack! I parked my car and tried to find where they had escaped from, without any luck. Eventually I called animal control, who told me the goats are technically in King Co (Seattle city limits end at SW 106th & 32nd Ave SW) and that she would “see what she could do.” I drove by again at 10:00 and I didn’t see them in the area … I hope they made it home safe & sound!
Spotted quite the lineup along California SW between Alaska and Morgan Junctions this morning, so we stopped for pix: The Westenders Scooter Club (mentioned here during the Sustainable West Seattle Festival in May) stopped at C&P Coffee during their weekend-long “Tour di Mari” rally — as the Westenders’ website explains it, this is “… the famous Water Ride … perfected during Amerivespa 2007.” (You might recall multiple scooter-group sightings during that mega-gathering.) Members told WSB they were heading toward Des Moines after the coffee-shop stop.
You can find out lots more about the club online at westenders.org.
The catering truck and tents are the only aspect of the production we can photograph, since they’re publicly visible; the folks shooting a movie inside Hiawatha Community Center wouldn’t let us shoot what they’re doing in there. Just as this afternoon’s storm started to let up, we headed over to check it out, after receiving an e-mail tip from Andrew, who wrote to ask what we knew about the movie, adding, “I was just there working out [at the Hiawatha gym] and there is a large film crew there with a room full of extras.” We did manage to find out the movie’s called “Dear Lemon Lima” and it has a “coming of age” plot, which makes sense considering that its iMDB page points eventually to a message board post from someone listing some reported cast members such as:
Meaghan Jette Martin from the Disney Channel- Camp Rock, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody and the Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream
>>>
Elaine Hendrix from The Parent Trap, Joan of Arcadia, ER, Charmed, Crossing Jordan and CSI
>>>
Vanessa Marano from The Gilmore Girls, Without a Trace, Malcolm in the Middle and Finding Nemo
>>>
Zane Huett from Big Love and Desperate Housewives
>>>
Eleanor Hutchins from Law and Order and Half Nelson
>>>
Kari Nissena from Nip Tuck and Huff
Here’s a more formal version of the list from iMDB. Now, we can’t say for sure whether any or all of those actors are actually at Hiawatha for the current round of shooting, which is supposed to continue through tomorrow; a cruise through Google Blog Search suggests they’ve been shooting around the metro area for a while – one of those links further elaborates on the plot, describing it as “a hilarious heartbreaking story of a very imaginative half-Eskimo girl trying to find her place at an Alaskan prep school.” TUESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: A flyer at the Admiral Starbucks says extras are needed TOMORROW (Wednesday), lunch will be provided, call this number for more info: 425-246-2725
Nathan sent photos from an odd incident near his house, 39th/Raymond vicinity (map):
At 4:45 PM I came upstairs after hearing some voices on the street only to see a brown Chevy Blazer had been driven into the roundabout near my house. The police had just arrived and indicated that the car was in park, so it appears that someone had driven the Blazer into the roundabout, put it in park and then locked it. No word on whether it was out of gas. The Blazer has Indiana plates. The car was blocking part of the intersection so the police have towed the car.
So if that was your car … the police will know how you can get it back (non-emergency number: 206/625-5011.)
That’s the crowd from one of at least two Breast Cancer 3Day fundraisers in West Seattle this weekend — left to right, the grownups in the photo are Kyle Minaglia, Jennifer Carlson, Amanda Armstrong, and Kristi Keithly. Kristi had e-mailed WSB to let us know about her fundraising barbecue at 62nd/Admiral tonight; she’s working to get to her fundraising goal. She’ll be in the 3Day (which reportedly will travel through West Seattle again this year; here’s our coverage from last year) in honor of a dear old friend, diagnosed with breast cancer and not even 40 yet. The story’s a lot like that of 33-year-old West Seattleite Tracy Dart, who is blogging here about her breast-cancer battle — and getting ready for the 3Day with a fundraiser outside West 5 this coming Sunday, 11 am-6 pm. Meantime, back in the Alki area, the Community Center‘s advisory council was barbecuing tonight too:
The council helps keep things humming at this community hub, and put on the event as a community thank-you (and an opportunity to get the word out about the ongoing need for volunteer help). Now we head south to The Mount, where tonight’s outdoor concert drew a sizable crowd to enjoy the always-fabulous West Seattle Big Band:
Providence Mount St. Vincent (WSB sponsor) has one more Friday night concert to go – next week it’s Steve Rice and Big Squeezy. To go with our video clip from tonight, here’s a photo just sent to us by Karen:
And one more photo from WSB-land — it wouldn’t be a REAL West Seattle summer night without a spectacular sunset:
Thanks to Relaena Sindelar for sharing that incredible view.
Thanks to JayDee for that sunset shot. After we originally published this post half an hour ago, this view came in from David Hutchinson:
There are still sights to be seen tonight; check out the nearly full moon if you haven’t already (nice picture on Creighton‘s blog, by the way). Latest forecast: Sunny and 90s tomorrow AND Saturday. Here’s a cooling view, from Lincoln Park:
Luckie actually took that one yesterday, by Colman Pool. Not far away, in Fauntleroy tonight, great night for a barbecue:
That video shows an overview of the big crowd on the northwest lawn of The Kenney during tonight’s annual barbecue. The Kenney, by the way, is just about to file applications with the city to initiate its major redevelopment project; we spoke with its CEO a few hours before tonight’s event and plan to publish our report tomorrow.
Idyllic setting for the free Blue 55 concert east of the Alki Bathhouse this evening … the lawn right in front of the band was sparsely occupied but outside the photo frame, many more people were enjoying the music from the seawall and the sand. More outdoor music Friday – the second of four summertime Friday night concerts at Providence Mount St. Vincent (WSB sponsor), this time with Maia Santell – dinner and beer/wine available for purchase at 5 pm, music starts at 6. Back to tonight: Another outdoor party, this time in White Center:
JenV sent that photo tonight from Big Al Brewing, whose grand opening we mentioned earlier in the day. And another followup – after we posted the $4.01 gas-price sighting from California/Andover this afternoon, we got two reports of $3.99 gas elsewhere, and photographed this one (California/Charlestown) tonight while heading to Alki:
In the background, you see Charlestown Center – today was the day the leasing company had told us it would be “turned over” to its first tenants (a fitness center and hair salon, as reported here last week). No sign of them yet but we’ll keep an eye out. Speaking of fitness centers, we see Snap Fitness – coming to Jefferson Square – has posted job openings in the WSB Forum “West Seattle Jobs Offered” area (free to any business hiring for a job actually located IN West Seattle!); speaking of salons, Salon 08 on Genesee south of California has its grand-opening celebration Friday night.
That’s the California/Andover 76 station a short time ago; same price for regular at California/Charlestown 7-11 nearby. Looks like the next “below $4” sighting in West Seattle may not be that far away after all. Overall, though, seems we West Coast-ers are still the ones paying the most, according to this national update (Oklahoma has the cheapest average, $3.60/gallon).
Jenny Simonds included that photo with the pix we posted with her account of last Saturday’s Friends of Lincoln Park work party; this wasn’t another scene from said party, but rather from her L-Park-area neighborhood. Probably a LOLcat-style caption in there somewhere.
Seen from the ferry Sealth between Fauntleroy and Vashon just before sunset – Mount Rainier with a cloud cap. Meantime, a final shot from West Seattle Summer Fest as we departed – the start of an evening full of shutting down and packing up:
Junction streets were set to reopen late tonight; next scheduled closure, California SW next Saturday midday for the West Seattle Grand Parade, south of Admiral to south end of The Junction; our parade countdown starts in the morning.
Kayle sent that photo and this note:
6:30 am Sunday. We live in the ravine above Salty’s, up near Walnut in North Admiral. We’ve been hearing three coyote pups and mom at night … now they have been waltzing around our deck in the mornings! The pups look healthy, well fed and are bold. Watch your pets!
Then this afternoon, JC sent this:
Not sure that this is particularly newsworthy, but it certainly made my jaw drop: I was just driving up the north end of California Avenue, coming up from Harbor Drive at 2:43 pm. A little more than halfway up the hill, I had to stop for an otter which was loping across the road towards bay side of the street. There was a white pick-up truck coming down the hill who also had to stop. The driver and I exchanged astonished shrugs as the otter disappeared into the bushes.
In the previous reader-report wildlife post (which coincidentally mentioned coyotes and an otter), we noted you’ve got a chance tomorrow night to hear various experts talk about “coexistence with coyotes,” though you’ll have to go to Rainier Beach to do it. ADDED EARLY TUESDAY: Maybe you’ll see City Councilmember Sally Clark there. One of the newer entries to her official blog mentions her first-ever coyote sighting (she lives near Seward Park).
Lots of folks working today – like Seattle Police. Not just the ones on the bridge mentioned earlier, but the car shown above and other officers who kept the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade safe. We’re showing you that car from the end of the parade because of something we overheard a few minutes later – as it passed a home further west on Sunset, a man yelled out to the officer(s) in the car, “NICE JOB ON THAT BANK ROBBERY!” The car paused, and the man continued, “Really! Great job! You guys deserve those raises you just got!” (WSB coverage of the incident in question is here.) Now, speaking of people working today:
That’s John and Frances Smersh at Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) in Admiral, having a 4th of July sale till 3 pm, including some items you’ll see outside the store:
More shopping and other events, on the 4th of July page. Now a photo not taken on the 4th, but we just received it this afternoon, and it fits in the Admiral theme since it was taken from Hamilton Viewpoint, so what the heck: Another great view of this week’s lightning – this one from Kris at szimages.com:
Tonight’s forecast sounds a bit chilly.
That’s the festive scene at Hamilton Viewpoint a short time ago, right after the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade ended there — food and fun (our parade video will be up in a bit, along with coverage of the first-ever Ercolini Park parade) ensued. On our way there, we noticed a parade detail that we hadn’t caught in our video – along the route (44th and Sunset, heading west, then up to Atlantic, heading east, across California, down Palm to Hamilton VP), several houses put out speakers with Sousa marches and other parade-perfect music, like this one at California/Atlantic:
Other scenes: Here’s Alki, BEFORE the crowds – thanks to Dan E for these shots (don’t forget the traffic restrictions kick in at 6 pm; also we just got a text message that speed patrols are in action on The Bridge right now):
And now, completely unrelated to the holiday but we happened to spot it while driving through Morgan Junction on the way home — these signs are tacked up on poles along both street sides of the MJ Starbucks:
Still no official word on which stores are closing, by the way. ADDED 12:30 PM: Thanks to Joe Follansbee for a shot of West Seattle’s own tall ship Yankee Clipper (based at the marina under The Bridge) – proclaimed the city’s official tall ship by Hizzoner (who you’ll see in our upcoming Admiral parade coverage) – Joe photographed crew members and Sea Scouts relaxing on board yesterday afternoon as Tall Ships Tacoma geared up:
Joe also sent those beautiful pix of tall ships sailing from Elliott Bay toward Tacoma the other day.
At Don Armeni, parking restrictions kick in at 4 pm this afternoon, according to that sign and others. Not far away, parking is OK until mid-afternoon along California Way and Ferry Avenue, which have these signs:
Closer to the Alki business district, you’ll see no-parking signs which are actually for Saturday’s Seafair Pirates Landing extravaganza. (But don’t forget, as we’ve mentioned repeatedly, Alki and Harbor Avenues are going to be off-limits to all drivers but residents by late afternoon tomorrow – click here to read details.) More holiday coverage in the hours to come, and on our 4th of July events/infopage. Meanwhile, the lowest tide of the month bottomed out about an hour and a half ago; we surveyed the scene off Beach Drive across from Me-Kwa-Mooks:
Seattle Aquarium naturalists are out at Constellation and Lincoln Parks till 2 pm today and will be out again 11 am-3 pm tomorrow (-3.4 low tide at about half past noon tomorrow; monthly chart here).
It started with a bus ride on the 37 – met at California/Alaska by West Seattle Junction Association executive director Susan Melrose (in sunglasses, at left). Last night, more than a dozen concierges from downtown hotels came to The Junction to find out more about places they can recommend their guests visit. From the bus stop, they set off on foot:
Next stop, champagne at Clementine, whose owner Linda Walsh (facing the camera at left) hatched the idea with Georgia Blu owner Krista Means:
The Junction contingent got Russell Hathaway of the Seattle Hotel Concierge Association (and Hotel Vintage Park downtown) to assemble the “tour group”; along with visiting other spots (we didn’t follow the whole tour), they had dinner at Ama Ama. Interesting side note: Several of the participants said visitors thinking about moving to Seattle are the ones who most often ask questions about our side of the bay.
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