West Seattle shopping scenes: Festive extra touches
If you squint really hard at our iPhone photo, you’ll see the musicians up on the “balcony” at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) tonight – we dropped by for a few things and suddenly, loud and clear, live Christmas music resounded throughout the store. (Our checker said they had a harpist last night and there’ll be carolers tomorrow – they close at 6 pm – our Christmas Day grocery-store-info list is here.) We’ve also noted more than a few reports of Santa at West Seattle Thriftway (like this one in the WSB Forums) – and other merchants in extra-festive moods; in Northwest Art and Frame in The Junction, for example, during a busy time just before 6, cookies and skin-care samples were being handed out to people waiting in line to check out. Happy West Seattle shopping to all! (Some Christmas Eve shopping hours, just sampled from what was tweeted today on Twitter – Click! Design That Fits [WSB sponsor] in the Admiral District is open 11 am-3 pm tomorrow; Easy Street Records is open till 6.)
West Seattle Holidays: A merry Admiral Christmas
What will Santa bring? If Stu Hennessey from Alki Bike and Board knows, he’s not telling. Not even the kids who stopped in and looked up at the “on-reserve” section in Stu’s Admiral District shop (2606 California SW) on Christmas Eve-Eve. AB&B is one of the Admiral merchants who banded together to sponsor WSB this season with an invitation to “Shop Local in the Admiral District” this holiday – here’s the whole group (you’ll find coupons on that page, and more WS coupons here) – also in the group, Linda’s Flowers and Gifts on the SE corner of California/Admiral:
That’s owner Linda Harader, back left; we dropped by as she and her team worked on more pre-Christmas orders. A bit further south – it’s not just retail merriment this Christmas week – think local for your services, too:
That’s longtime WSB sponsor John Moore, whose Northwest Insurance Group is at 3210 California SW, has one of the more unusual office trees in the Admiral District – he says it was salvaged from a Starbucks where it appeared to be destined for the trash one post-Christmas season. We asked him for a holiday message – and he offered some safety advice:
Happy Holidays to our existing clients and future clients from Northwest Insurance Group! Please be extra diligent this Holiday Season to keep gifts and personal belongings out of view in your cars as it is the season for car break ins. Let your Neighbors be aware to keep an eye on your place if you are traveling during the Holidays and be sure to install some inexpensive timer switches for lights to go on and off.
Make sure you double-check that your plumbing lines have been wrapped to protect against freezing weather, and you might consider shutting off the hot water tank if it’s older since they likely to cause the most damage on vacation weekends or holidays. If you are brave enough to deep fry a turkey, please exercise extreme caution and locate the deep frying device a nice safe distance from your house! … . We wish you all a Very Happy New Year!!
(Northwest Insurance Group represents more than a dozen A-rated companies.) More shopping check-ins tonight and tomorrow!
West Seattle coffee shops open Christmas Day
Making your plans for Christmas morning? Here’s our final holiday list (joining West Seattle restaurants open Christmas Eve and/or Day, West Seattle grocery store hours for Christmas Day, and West Seattle Christmas Eve/Day church services). This time, we’ve canvassed the coffee shops, as per WSB holiday-season tradition, to see who’s open Christmas Day:
Cafe Rozella – 8 am-noon
Caffe Ladro – 7 am-noon
Diva – 8 am-1 pm
Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) – 8 am-2 pm (with staffers who volunteered, says proprietor Lora)
Pioneer Coffee – 7 am-1 pm
Starbucks/Morgan Junction – 8 am-3 pm
Starbucks/Triangle drive-thru – 7 am-3 pm
Tully’s/Alki – 7:30 am-3 pm
Tully’s/Morgan Junction – 7 am-2 pm
This also will be linked from the West Seattle Holidays page, and in the sidebar list of headlines. If you have additions/changes, please share that info – we’re also collecting notes on Christmas Eve hours (when your store’s closing, etc.) and you’re welcome to send those along. (Now, off to The Junction and Admiral and Triangle and Alki and Westwood and … clock’s ticking for last-minute shopping!)
West Seattle Preschool Fair: Still a few spots left
It’s almost school-decision time, and for those with little ones going to school for the first time, a West Seattle Preschool Fair is being organized for February 22nd. We first mentioned it here last week; organizer Tana Dorsey says there are a few spots left for any preschools that haven’t yet signed up to be part of it. Here’s all the info.
If you have county business, get it done today – furlough tomorrow
King County just sent a reminder that tomorrow’s another “furlough day” – so if you have county business, today’s the day to get it done. Included in the reminder, as noted the other day, Metro Transit has schedule changes most days through New Year’s:
Metro bus Sunday schedules will be used on the following holidays:
* Friday, Dec. 25 – Christmas
* Friday, Jan. 1 – New Year’s Day
The reduced weekday Metro bus schedule will be in effect on:
* Thursday, Dec. 24 – Christmas Eve
* Monday-Thursday, Dec. 28-31 – winter holiday period
* Monday, Jan. 18 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Details on other transit and commuter services such as the Water Taxi [editor’s note: that’s the Vashon-Seattle foot ferry; ours is on hiatus] are available here: metro.kingcounty.gov/up/holiday-service.html
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