West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
Even as some of the bar parties just start getting into gear, we are in for the night. We traveled north to south, east to west, across West Seattle, including a stop at Skeleton Theatre (we’ll put up video in the morning — it’s playing again tomorrow night, so you have another chance to go see for yourself). We saw luminaria and lights, costumes from A(ngels) to Z(ombies), but we’re also glad to be back at WSB HQ sharing your Halloween scenes — including this last round of photos before the Witching Hour arrives. First, from the inbox: Tigger turned up to greet trick-or-treaters at Westwood Village tonight:
More major cuteness from the inbox: Baby Nate goes crustacean for his first Halloween:
We had seen this cool decoration outside a house not far from Skeleton Theatre but didn’t get a picture – Todd did:
Todd also was one of 2 people who sent us a photo of “Feed-O” the scary cat – this “Feed-O” photo is by MIST, who says the cat “was spitting out gummy rats”!
Now a final round of jack-o-lanterns. From Danny and Diane, a pumpkin with a statement:
A seasonal pumpkin array, from “mtnester” of Shorewood:
Huindekmi sent this next one and noted, “We don’t carve our pumpkin till Halloween”:
And the proud wife of Dan sends his creation, saying, “he just LOVES Halloween” …
Speaking of attacks – we have heard one more time from “West Seattle Art Attack,” who e-mailed WSB to say: “I placed a final pumpkin tonight in a deserving yard. It was a very pretty purple and pink one that my wife didn’t want to part with. I’ve discreetly checked on a couple of my previous placements and they haven’t moved. I’m not sure if the owners even know they are there.” Quick! Go check your yard (or tell your friends to check theirs)! You don’t want an unnoticed WSAA pumpkin sitting out there till spring … 11:55 PM ADDENDUM: This blogger tells the sorrowful saga of a nearly trick-or-treater-less night for her first West Seattle Halloween. Boo!
Be safe, whatever you are up to. Here’s another West Seattle jack-o-lantern photo, this time from Heidi & Daniel; one more round later tonight — and thanks again to everyone who has sent theirs in!
Just received two notes in the past few minutes (thank you!!!!) about “PUBLIC AUCTION” signs up at the ex-GEE/ex-Huling site. As we reported last week, an auction was indeed part of the plan to enable the Gees to officially clear out by the end of November. 6:30 PM UPDATE: Thanks to Mike for finding this webpage about the auction and sending this photo:
While looking online for the legends of “haunted West Seattle,” the most unusual one we came across was … the Rite-Aid on California between Alaska and Morgan Junctions. Scroll to the 4th entry under “Seattle area” on this page. (It’s right below a much-better-known allegedly haunted WS spot, the Rainbow House.) Any favorite lesser-known haunts to share? Meantime – more jack-o-lanterns; first, “pumpkitties” from Margelyn:
And these two are from Kevin — a witch with cauldron, followed by “a tree that wishes you happiness”:
Still time to send yours; we’ll post more during Halloween night.
Someone e-mailed us a few weeks ago saying they had heard Thai on Alki (1325 Harbor Ave, next to Alki Tavern) was going out. So we’d been keeping an eye on it; drove by last night and, for the first time, noticed the interior looked fairly empty except for people doing some work; went by this morning to try to find out more — the signage is gone (as shown at left), the place looks cleaned out. No permit applications for anything at the site, no note on the door; the phone is answered with an announcement that sounds like business as usual, but it didn’t allow message-leaving. Looking up the corporate registration for the company that holds the business license, we found the name is the same as someone who had a Craigslist ad up a few weeks ago (pointed out to us at the time by a reader) selling restaurant items (the ad’s not cached in Google but one line of text from it that is, includes the Thai on Alki number). Another tidbit noted during research: The parcel has been owned since 2004 by “Salty’s Properties.”
OK, maybe “caught on camera” isn’t entirely the best phrase, since this photo (and others) came from “West Seattle Art Attack” him/herself — and proves they have accomplices — shown here at one of the five houses where they say they left pumpkins last night. (Catch up on what this is all about by reading yesterday’s first post and later update.) Ahead, see if you recognize the four other distinctively decorated homes “hit” last night — plus, beneath the photos, one caveat from WSAA:Read More
(Jack-o-lanterns designed by Ryan & Abby, carved by Lisa & Abby) The big day/night has arrived. Many Halloween happenings are on our WSB Events page; some biggies include:
MORE BUSINESS TRICK-OR-TREATING: The merchants of the Admiral District are offering treats 3-6 pm today; Westwood Village businesses are welcoming trick-or-treaters 5-7 pm.
GROWNUP FUN: Many WS establishments are partying tonight, including Skylark, where the “Come as You Aren’t” Battle of the Bands sounds like a hoot (full lineup here); and northeast West Seattle will be alive with the sights and sounds of Skeleton Theatre, 6-9 pm.
HIGH POINT HAPS: Check out the full list on the Events page – some great stuff going on in West Seattle’s award-winning development, including a canine costume contest at 7:30.
LATER: We’ll be mentioning some legendary West Seattle haunts, including the most unlikely-sounding one we’ve come across so far. Save your faves for comments on that post!
Just two days ago, we told you about the fundraising deadline today for matching funds to make Ercolini Park (48th/Alaska; photo above from last summer) a true park when construction work begins shortly — and we have word from Bill Barna that, thanks to one last big donation — $2,800 from Wanda Pommer — they made it! Bill and everyone at Friends of Ercolini Park send out a huge thanks to everyone who helped them reach the goal and says the big thing now is to make good on commitments of volunteer time (also vital in the “matching funds” process); as Bill explains, “It is also important to remember that all the volunteer hours that were pledged have actually been assigned a dollar value. If the volunteers don’t make good on their contributions some of the park features may suffer. So, PLEASE, everyone who committed time … make good on your pledge.”
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