West Seattle, Washington
02 Friday
(Bald Eagle, photographed last month by Jon Anderson)
Here’s info you might find useful on this Memorial Day Monday:
TRANSIT
Metro: Sunday schedule
West Seattle Water Taxi: Sunday schedule
Washington State Ferries: Changes noted here include Sunday service on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route
Sound Transit: Sunday schedule
Other services: See a list here
TRAFFIC CAMERAS
Our page highlighting local cameras is here
SDOT’s map with cameras and alerts from around the city is here
CLOSURES/CHANGES
Seattle Public Library facilities
Schools
Government offices
Banks
No charge for street parking in Seattle neighborhoods with city pay stations
OPEN
Highland Park Spraypark (11 am-8 pm, 1100 SW Cloverdale)
NOT HAPPENING
*No Memorial Day service this year at Forest Lawn
Anything else we should know/let others know about? Texting’s the best way to reach us today – 206-293-6302 – thank you!
(Photo by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)
So you’ll know before you go, here are the transportation/transit changes for the Memorial Day holiday on Monday:
WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES: Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route on Sunday schedule, most other routes on Saturday schedule
WATER TAXI: West Seattle route (and its shuttles) on Sunday schedule, Vashon route out of service
METRO BUSES: Sunday schedule
SOUND TRANSIT BUSES & TRAINS: Mostly Sunday schedule – here’s the list
OTHER SERVICES: See the list in this Metro Matters post
(WSB photo)
It’s a Memorial Day weekend tradition – West Seattle VFW Post 2713 is at Admiral Safeway (2622 California SW) with Memorial Day poppies, by donation. The poppies have a century of history. As explained, “The VFW Buddy Poppy program provides compensation to those who assemble the poppies, provides financial assistance in maintaining state and national veterans’ rehabilitation and service programs and partially supports the VFW National Home.” Post 2713 reps will be at the store until noon, and again 10 am-noon tomorrow (Sunday, May 28th).
(WSB photo from 2022 parade)
Independence Day is just seven weeks away, and organizers want to be sure you know the West Seattle 4th of July Kids’ Parade is on! Here’s their announcement:
Mark your calendars and start planning your bike, strollers, scooter, and wagon decorations! The West Seattle 4th of July Kids Parade is happening again this year!
The parade is made up of families in decorated bikes, strollers, scooters, wagons, and more! The parade starts at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 4 in the North Admiral neighborhood at Sunset Ave. SW and 44th Ave. SW. and winds through the area to end at Hamilton Viewpoint Park for games and food trucks! Local businesses will be on hand with craft booths and activities for kids of all ages. The annual potato sack races will take place in the park and this year we have new potato sacks! Families are welcome to bring their own snacks and picnics and hang out. This year the food trucks will be back! So far Mini the Dough Nut and Lil’ J’s Super Dawgs said they’ll be there!
If businesses are interested in sponsoring a craft or activity table, please reach out to Megan Erb at meganerb@hotmail.com.
If you haven’t been in the parade before .. no RSVP necessary to participate; just show up. (Here’s our coverage from last year, including video of the entire parade.)
If you haven’t finalized plans for Mother’s Day (this Sunday, May 14th) yet, Lily’s Salvadorean Restaurant proprietor Lily Anaya asked us to share this invitation:
On Sunday, May 14th, Lily’s Salvadorean Restaurant will be hosting a special Mother’s Day brunch from 11 am to 1 pm. There will be a Mariachi band performing during this time to add to the festive atmosphere. However, the restaurant will remain open throughout the day to continue the celebration of all mothers.
We are excited to invite families to join us for a delicious meal and a fun-filled day at Lily’s. We will be offering a special menu for the occasion, featuring some of our most popular dishes as well as some new creations.
We look forward to welcoming many families to Lily’s Salvadorean Restaurant this Mother’s Day!
Lily’s – which also runs a popular West Seattle Farmers’ Market booth – has been open more than a year at 2940 SW Avalon Way. (Anybody else with a special Mother’s Day plan? Let us know!)
As we do most years, we’re building a list of Easter/Holy Week/Passover services in West Seattle. Several local faith institutions already have sent their info, but we’d welcome more – date/time/brief description, email to westseattleblog@gmail.com. (And if you have special activities in connection with services, like a breakfast or egg hunt, you can include that too.) Thank you!
(Bald Eagle photographed along Harbor Avenue by John Skerratt)
Good morning and welcome to Monday, February 20th, Presidents Day. Here’s what you should know:
TRANSPORTATION
Transit – No Water Taxi service today; Metro is on a regular weekday schedule; here’s the Sound Transit holiday plan
Traffic cameras – Here’s our page of West Seattle-relevant cameras; the citywide map is here
Parking – No charge today for pay-station spaces on city streets in neighborhoods with them
OTHER SERVICES
Schools – Closed
Libraries – Closed
Parks facilities – Here’s what’s closed and what’s open
Mail – Holiday for most USPS facilities/services
Banks – Holiday
WEATHER
Windy and rainy, high near 50. (And looking back – two years ago, we were coming out of a big snowfall!)
EVENTS
Check the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar – highlight for tonight is 7 pm comedy at Otter on the Rocks (4210 SW Admiral Way) – check here to see if any tickets are left.
If you see news – including traffic trouble – please call or text 206-293-6302 when you can do so safely – thank you!
As featured in our Sunday event list, the Vietnamese Cultural Center of West Seattle held a community Tết (Lunar New Year) celebration on Sunday. On behalf of the center, Lynda Bui shared the photo and this note:
Under cool gray skies, members of the community and Vietnamese Cultural Center gathered to welcome the Year of the Cat. The great lion-dance team of Vietnamese Youth Group GĐPT Vạn Hạnh joined us with a wonderful performance. It is rare to be able to gather on the actual day (and on a weekend) so we thank everyone for making time to join us.
Best wishes to you all in the new year. May all your endeavors go your way and good health to you all! Thank you for your support and we’ll see you again. Happy Vietnamese Lunar New Year!
You can see video here.
P.S. Two more Lunar New Year celebrations are yet to come in West Seattle, both welcoming the community too – West Seattle HS Chinese students’ event at Hiawatha on February 3rd, and the Seattle Chinese Garden‘s New Year Lantern Festival on February 5th
Good morning. It’s Monday, January 16th, Martin Luther King Jr. Day – here’s info for this holiday:
TRANSPORTATION
*One last reminder – the low bridge has been back open to all users since Friday afternoon
*Metro: Regular weekday schedule
*No Water Taxi today
*Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth state ferry route on usual 2-boat schedule
*Free parking today in areas of the city with on-street paid parking
*See citywide traffic cams here, West Seattle-relevant cams here
OTHER SERVICES/FACILITIES
*Schools closed
*No USPS services except Priority Mail Express
*Banking holiday
*Libraries are closed
*Most Seattle Parks facilities closed
WEATHER
*Partly sunny today, chance of pm rain, high in the upper 40s.
HAPPENING TONIGHT
*See the event list on our West Seattle Event Calendar.
Got news? Text us at 206-293-6302,or email westseattleblog@gmail.com if non-urgent – thank you!
Ice and snow didn’t stop the volunteer bakers of West Seattle this holiday season! The photo above is from Ross at West Seattle Coworking, where homemade cookies for The Christmas People were dropped off and packaged during a few days just before Christmas. He reports, “This year we had the goal to collect and distribute 7,000 cookies.The first day we only had about 1,000 cookies. The second day was the great freeze and we only had 2 donors (understandably). Luckily the good-hearted West Seattle community showed up at the very last day and, in what feels like a Christmas miracle, we were able to collect and distribute an additional 5k cookies for a grand total of ~6,000 cookies. All those bakers, and volunteers made a difference for thousands of less fortunate in our area.”
On this first post-holiday weekend, you might be taking down the tree, lights, etc. So here’s one more reminder about recycling:
TREES: If you have curbside pickup, you can put yours out in 4-foot-max sections, through month’s end. Or, take your tree – up to three per vehicle – to the not-far South Transfer Station. (Here’s the original announcement.)
LIGHTS: You have dropoff or even mail-in options if you have lights, working or not, that you want to recycle – King County’s website has an updated-for-this-season list.
Good morning. It’s the second day of the new year and the last day of the holiday season, the “observed” holiday for New Year’s Day. That means some changes for today – here’s what you should know:
TRANSPORTATION
*Low bridge still closed
*Metro on Sunday schedule
*No Water Taxi today
*Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth state ferry route on Sunday schedule
*Free parking today in areas of the city with on-street paid parking
*See citywide traffic cams here, West Seattle-relevant cams here
OTHER SERVICES/FACILITIES
*Schools closed (UPDATE: Texter points out Vashon Island School District has classes today)
*No USPS services except Priority Mail Express
*Banking holiday
*Libraries open today
*Most Seattle Parks facilities closed
WEATHER
*Partly sunny today, chance of rain tonight, high in the 40s.
Got news? Text us at 206-293-6402,or email westseattleblog@gmail.com if non-urgent – thank you!
(WSB video and photos)
A sea of people dove into 2023 with a quick plunge into Puget Sound this morning. The crowd for this year’s Alki Beach Polar Bear Swim stretched all along the beach, from the paved promenade on the west (above) to the easternmost sandy stretch (below, where organizer Mark Ufkes counted down)L
As our videos show, many spent less than a minute in the water. “It wasn’t so bad,” declared one person, before adding: “Well, when you’re in there, it’s bad.” The water temperature today is 48 degrees, five degrees warmer than the 43-degree air at swim time. Sights along the way – Truly the lifeguard was standing by (OK, floating by) in case anyone needed help:
These guys went in twice, with push-ups inbetween:
Not many costumes this year, but we did spot some festive headwear:
Some brought their little ones, who dug in the sand, oblivious to the throng of splashers:
P.S. Unrelated but in a similar spirit, the Special Olympics Polar Plunge is returning to Alki Beach on February 25th – info’s in our calendar listing,
(Rainbow photographed this past week by Jerry Simmons)
Welcome to 2023! Here’s some info we hope will be helpful on this holiday:
LOW BRIDGE: Still closed because of mechanical problems – here’s the latest info.
BUSES: Metro‘s on the Sunday schedule. (The free rides were just for New Year’s Eve, so fares ARE being collected today.)
WATER TAXI: Not running today.
FERRIES: Regular 2-boat schedule on Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route – check for alerts here.
MORE TRANSPORTATION NOTES: No charge for street parking in areas of the city with pay stations … West Seattle-relevant traffic cameras are here; see all cameras citywide via this map.
GROCERY HOURS TODAY: Though we don’t make New Year’s Day lists because closures/changes are far less common than the other fall/winter holidays, we do have three grocery notes for today: Trader Joe’s is closed; PCC West Seattle (WSB sponsor) opens three hours later (9 am); Metropolitan Market opens two hours later (8 am).
CHURCH SERVICES TODAY: Here’s our updated-for-today list of local churches continuing to offer online services as well as in-person.
NEW YEAR’S DAY WALKS: Emerald City Wanderers are hosting New Year’s Day walks, starting at St John the Baptist Episcopal Church. The 6- or 10-kilometer walks are noncompetitive, starting between 9 and noon. There is no fee, though contributions to help defray costs are welcome. Hot soups and beverages will be available during and after the walks. St John’s is at 3050 California Ave SW.
ALKI POLAR BEAR SWIM: You’re invited to join in the annual tradition of running into Puget Sound with hundreds of others at 10 am sharp, from the beach across from Duke’s – here’s the original announcement.
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: After taking Christmas off, the market is back today, usual time and place, 10 am-2 pm on California SW between SW Alaska and SW Oregon.
ALKI CLEANUP: Stay after the Polar Bear Swim – or show up just for this! From Jessica, who has long hosted monthly beach cleanups:
Clean up Alki beach and surrounding streets
When: Jan 1 2023 11 AM to 12:00
Meeting Location: 2452 Alki Ave SWPickup sticks and buckets provided. Welcome to bring your own. Bundle up and join us! If you cannot join us, clean up for one hour around your own neighborhood. Take a pic and share it with us! Text Jess at 206-769-6330 to RSVP.
OTHER NOTES: Seattle Parks closure info is here … Libraries (city and county) are closed.
WEST SEATTLE YULETIDE: Last night this year to enjoy the Iversons‘ music-synched light show, 6:30-10 pm, on 38th SW between Genesee and Dakota.
If you see/hear news, please text/call 206-293-6302 – we appreciate your tips 24/7/365!
(WSB photos/video)
By the time tonight’s Not-So-Silent Night Parade headed out from the Highland Park Corner Store lot, the crowd was going on 100 of all ages, carrying lanterns, lights, bells, drums, and noisemakers. Here’s how it looked and sounded:
Pre-pandemic, the parade was a New Year’s Eve tradition, a spirited walk through several blocks of Highland Park to ring out (and drum out, etc.) the old year and welcome the new one. Since the last one, the parade-presenting Highland Park Improvement Club has been through something else – the fire that gutted their building – but they’ve continued serving as the heartbeat of the community anyway, and that’s why the parade went on.
Along the way, as well as making noise and music – we spotted a trombonist in the crowd – paraders yelled “Happy New Year!” at people who came outside to wave and watch.
The parade ended at Riverview Playfield, where all gathered in a circle to watch another part of the tradition:
As one person called out to the circle just before that, “This is to celebrate the fact that we’re all still here” as another year begins.
(Slime mold evolved into iridescent spheres – photo by Rosalie Miller)
Welcome to the last day of 2022! Here’s what’s happening, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide and year-round Event Calendar:
LOW BRIDGE CLOSED: Reminder that the West Seattle low bridge is closed to all road and path traffic until it’s fixed, and there’s no date estimate for that yet. We’ll have an update on the situation later today.
FARE-FREE TRANSIT: As announced earlier this week, most transit services – including Metro and the West Seattle Water Taxi – are not charging fares today/tonight.
FOOD DRIVE’S FINAL DAY: This is the last day of the holiday-season food drive at Canna West Culture Shop (5435 California SW), open 10 am-6 pm.
MORNING MUSIC: 10:30 am-noon at C & P Coffee (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor), Marco de Carvalho and Friends perform.
FREE WRITING GROUP: 10:30 am in West Seattle, registration required – full details in our calendar listing.
NEW YEAR’S EVE WALKS: Hosted by the Emerald City Wanderers, starting from St John the Baptist Episcopal Church. “The 6- or 10-kilometer walks are noncompetitive, starting between 4 and 7 PM on New Year’s Eve. There is no fee though contributions to help defray costs are welcome. Hot soups and beverages will be available during and after the walks.” St John’s is at 3050 California Ave SW.
NOT-SO-SILENT-NIGHT: Highland Park Improvement Club is bringing back this neighborhood tradition. Gather 5:30-6 pm at Highland Park Corner Store (7789 Highland Park Way SW), the starting point – details here.
MUSIC FESTIVAL AT THE SPOT – 6 pm to close, all ages, bands and a DJ, details here (2920 SW Avalon Way)
WEST SEATTLE YULETIDE: Final weekend for thousands of lights synched to music outside the Iversons‘ home on 38th SW between Genesee and Dakota – 6:30-10 pm.
WEST END GIRLS NEW YEAR’S EVE at The Skylark, 8 pm – details here (3803 Delridge Way SW)
NYE PARTY & COMEDY SHOW at Admiral Pub, 9 pm – details here (2306 California SW)
NYE PARTY AT LARIAT BAR: 9 pm tribute to GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling), plus karaoke and midnight champagne toast (9829 16th SW)
WEST SEATTLE BOWL NYE: 9:30 pm party, reservations here if any remain, (39th/Oregon)
MIDNIGHT FIREWORKS: the Space Needle will do it again to greet 2023. Light and drone shows too – details here. Watching from West Seattle? Most north-facing parks/hillsides have a view, but don’t go too last-minute, especially along the water – parking and standing space can fill up.
Have something to add? Email info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
As we say goodbye to the old year, many are also ready to say goodbye to their Christmas tree. Here’s the annual reminder from Seattle Public Utilities about how to do that if you have curbside pickup or the ability to take your tree to the transfer station:
In addition to curbside collection, Seattle residents may drop off trees and other holidays greens for free at SPU’s north or south transfer stations through January 31. Stations will accept up to three trees per vehicle.
Recycle Your Holidays: Composting Christmas trees is just the beginning when it comes to holiday recycling. Many common holiday items can be recycled or reused. Customers can find out how to cut down on the amount of holiday waste that ends up in the landfill by checking SPU’s Where Does It Go Tool: seattle.gov/util/myservices/wheredoesitgo.
(WSB file photo)
A lively all-ages way to start your New Year’s Eve is back this year – the Highland Park Improvement Club‘s Not-So-Silent-Night Parade Since HPIC’s building remains closed, awaiting rebuilding after last year’s fire, the parade will start at Highland Park Corner Store (7789 Highland Park Way SW) and proceed to Riverview Playfield. Bring a light, noisemaker(s) – drums, tambourines, whatever you have – costumes if you want. There’ll be free cider as everyone gathers at HPCS between 5:30 and 6, and hot chocolate and cookies at the end of the parade. It’s on no matter what the weather does (so far, the NYE forecast looks fairly calm, mostly cloudy, 40s, slight chance of rain. The parade is a tradition dating back to 2009!
This is one of the NYE/NYD options in our West Seattle Holiday Guide, and we’re still adding to the list – let us know if you have something to add!
This morning’s wind burst brought an earlier-than-planned end to the season for the holiday light show at “the 4040 house,” Ryan‘s display on Genesee Hill, featured here December 4th. We got this update from Ryan:
Unfortunately, our hopes of running the show through the New Year will not be possible. This morning’s high winds damaged some of the support structure and with higher winds in the forecast there is not enough time to safely initiate repairs.
While this may be disappointing news, the good news is we have already started planning for next year! While we don’t want to spoil any surprises, you can expect to see even more lights and holiday cheer.
On a personal note: We would like to thank our neighbors for their patience and support this holiday season. Without your kindness this would not have been possible.
We would also like to thank everyone who visited us this year. Seeing so much joy and happiness made this entirely worthwhile.
Please have a safe and prosperous New Year. We will see you at 🎃 Halloween!
Tonight is both Christmas and the 8th and final night of Hanukkah, so we have lights from both holidays – above, it’s the last night the Grand Menorah will illuminate the lawn east of the Alki Bathhouse. Below, one more residential Christmas-lights display to share – 30th and Barton:
Thanks to Alice Kuder (Winter Wander scavenger hunt creator) for that photo. And finally, thanks to Jerry Simmons
for this one:
Thanks to everyone who’s sent photos of this season’s lights – you can scroll through this archive to see what was shown on previous nights.
(Photo by Hana Alishio)
Merry Christmas! Happy 8th night of Hanukkah! Here’s some info we hope will be helpful on this holiday:
LOW BRIDGE: Still closed by mechanical problems as of early today – check the camera for changes.
BUSES: Metro‘s on the Sunday schedule.
WATER TAXI: Not running today.
FERRIES: 12:55 pm update – after a service-reduction alert earlier, WSF now says “The Fauntleroy Vashon-Southworth route will continue to operate on the regular schedule today.”
MORE TRANSPORTATION NOTES: No charge for street parking in areas of the city with pay stations … West Seattle-relevant traffic cameras are here; see all cameras citywide via this map.
NO WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: Taking Christmas off, but it will be back next Sunday (New Year’s Day).
COFFEE SHOPS OPEN TODAY: We found six – here’s the list.
RESTAURANTS AND BARS OPEN TODAY: Eight Eleven are on our list – see it here. (5:08 pm update – just added three more!)
GROCERY STORES OPEN TODAY: Again this year, only the three Safeways (Roxbury, Admiral, Jefferson Square) are open (8 am-5 pm) – all other West Seattle grocery stores are closed until tomorrow.
CHURCH SERVICES TODAY: Nine of the churches on our list have Christmas Day services.
OTHER NOTES: Seattle Parks closure info is here … Libraries (city and county) are closed.
AFTERNOON BIRD/NATURE WALK: 1 pm at Lincoln Park – details are in our calendar listing.
SEE A MOVIE: The Admiral Theater (2343 California SW) is open this afternoon/evening.
If you see/hear news, please text/call 206-293-6302 – we appreciate your tips 24/7/365!
If you haven’t been out yet today, the good news is that most of the ice has melted (watch out for remaining slick spots here and there). The bad news – the usual pre-holiday rush has been compounded by people having missed a few days of shopping time. Particularly groceries. Above, West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) has people directing traffic in the parking lot. Inside stores – and we’ve been to several – you’ll find scenes like the one Bill Schrier tweeted from Metropolitan Market:
Tonight’s closing times for local grocery stores – and hours for the ones open tomorrow – are all listed here.
Every year, we compile lists with some Christmas basics – churches with services Christmas Eve/Day, grocery-store hours Christmas Eve/Day, restaurants/bars and coffee shops open Christmas Day. We keep adding to the lists until the holiday’s here, so if you have info to add, please let us know – westseattleblog@gmail.com is the best way to send info. In the meantime, you can see what we have so far by going here for the restaurants/bars list, here for the church-services list, and to our Holiday Guide‘s Christmas section for the grocery store and coffee lists (which will have their own pages in our Event Calendar by Saturday). Thanks to everyone who’s already provided info by email, phone, or web!
P.S. We welcome info for New Year’s Eve too – the events we have so far are also in the Holiday Guide.
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