West Seattle, Washington
05 Sunday
If you’re looking out at Puget Sound, toward Bainbridge or northward, early this morning, you might see the USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63; US Navy photo at left) on the last leg of what’s expected to be its final journey: The 47-year-old carrier is expected to tie up around 9 o’clock this morning in Bremerton, where it will be decommissioned (a public ceremony is expected sometime next year). The Kitty Hawk has been sailing up the coast from San Diego, where it stopped last month after a 10-year deployment to Yokosuka, Japan. ADDED 8:59 AM: Gary J got this photo before the Kitty Hawk turned into Rich Passage:
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.
Coming in from downtown on the Elliott Bay Water Taxi less than an hour ago, not only did we see fish jumping in the bay – we saw this lively crowd angling for them from the dock at Seacrest. Didn’t get a photo, but as we walked away from the dock, we saw one man who’d made quite the catch, cleaning a 2-foot salmon over in the Seacrest sink. (If you want a different view of the salmon now running in local waters, looks like it’s a great time to visit the Ballard Locks fish ladder viewing area, according to our friends at MyBallard.com.)
The water’s really the place to be when the temperature peaks in the early evening – David Hutchinson sent that Tuesday sunset shot of Argosy’s Goodtime II off Alki. Temps could be into the 90s by day’s end (and that Smog Watch is still in effect). And if you’ll be looking for a place to chill with good company by evening, join the “Project Runway” viewing party at Ginomai (southwest corner 42nd/Genesee) to cheer for Hotwire< barista Blayne — 8 pm doors open (bring non-alcoholic beverage/small dessert to share), 9 pm show.
We spotted that person fishing just offshore at Lincoln Park at sunset tonight – sparkling end to a beautiful day. On West Seattle’s “other” big beach, low-tide-walking and volleyball started the day (both shown in this clip):
The Alki Volleyball Association had qualifying going on all weekend for next month’s US Open in Huntington Beach, California; another big volleyball event on Alki is just two weeks away – the EVP Pro Volleyball Tour is visiting in two weeks (here’s our coverage of last year’s stop). Also at Alki today, the Festival of Indian Culture (back at the beach after a detour to the Eastside last year) – these photos are courtesy David Hutchinson:
And in the early afternoon, we caught some of the first people to use the Delridge wading pool on its first Sunday of the season – added after community concerns were called to the Parks Department‘s attention (WSB coverage here and here):
Later in the day, we’re told, the pool drew quite a crowd. Meantime, now that all the really big festivals are past – it’s time to just relax and enjoy simple pleasures like wading pools, Colman Pool, beaches, parks, forested trails … we’ll be spotlighting some of those options this week.
Starting with “beyond” — offshore, in this case:
ELLIOTT BAY: The Seafair fleet is expected to arrive in the bay around 1 pm, parading past Pier 66, docking at Pier 90, so there should be West Seattle viewing opportunities. More info here on Thursday-Sunday touring opportunities. According to the Coast Guard Local Notice for Mariners, the vessels expected include USS Princeton, USS Germantown, USCGC Steadfast, and three Canadian ships – HMCS Yellowknife, HMCS Saskatoon, and HMCS Raven.
ALKI: As previously mentioned, we’ll be there this morning for the mayor’s announcement of upcoming Car-Free Days, including one for Alki (you heard it here first last Friday; 9/7 is the expected day). We’ll send out first word of the official announcement as it happens via Twitter (check the aqua box halfway down the sidebar on all WSB pages).
DELRIDGE: First community meeting for the skatepark (which as reported here will be designed by a West Seattle firm), Delridge Community Center, 7:30 pm.
JUNCTION: Ginomai (SW corner of 42nd/Genesee) is the scene of the next “Project Runway” party to cheer for Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) barista Blayne, doors open 8 pm, show on the big-screen TV at 9, bring a nonalcoholic beverage and small dessert to share.
Dozens more West Seattle events, from today on into 2009, all listed here.
Cami just sent that photo of a submarine seen from Alki (some are stationed at Naval Base Kitsap, not all that far away) and it gives us an excuse to remind you that Seafair Fleet Week is just a week away. The list of visiting ships isn’t available online yet (we’re checking with Seafair PR) but the tour schedule is – July 31-Aug. 3. (Which of course coincides with the airborne Navy representation at Seafair, the Blue Angels – squee!.)
Thanks to David Hutchinson for the sunset silhouette of the Tribal Journeys canoes and onlookers at Alki (here’s our earlier report, with more info, photos, and links) – the canoes will be on the beach till Saturday morning, so there’s still time to go see them in person. Meantime, thanks to Austin for photographing this fireboat show near Seacrest:
Photos, video, news tips, reader reports always appreciated, editor@westseattleblog.com (other contact options listed here) … thanks!
Thanks to David Hutchinson for those photos and word that the Tribal Journeys canoes have landed at Alki (which explains the Lincoln Park sighting earlier) – the canoes at Alki (on the sand east of the Bathhouse) are Muckleshoot canoes, according to the Tribal Journeys website. We visited during their stop last year (WSB coverage here) – quite something to see if you can get down to the beach tonight (reading the online schedule, looks like they may be here through tomorrow night too, with security watching the canoes while their occupants are bused to accommodations elsewhere). Canoes are traveling four routes as part of this event, all bound for a celebration in British Columbia.
We spotted the city’s newest fireboat Leschi cruising past Seacrest at sunset – no spray but scenic nonetheless. To the southwest, David Hutchinson caught this view of a sailboat near Alki Point:
One other photo to share – a different view of the Mount Rainier cloud we photographed from a ferry west of Fauntleroy last night – West Seattle resident Scott took this pic from Sunrise:
We love photos, from beauty shots to breaking news and beyond – editor@westseattleblog.com any time!
That’s actually a screen grab from a video clip that we considered too short to use but the scene was irresistible — After the Seafair Pirates came ashore (first round of photos in our first report here), we wandered up to the street-side spot where their land vessel Moby Duck was parked east of Alki Bathhouse, and watched (and videotaped) as they mingled with fans and even brought a lucky few onboard their “ship.” More pirate pix ahead, including video of the scalawags hoisting a young fan onto Moby Duck (which is a modified DUKW amphibious craft), but first, we have video of the actual landing, as the everpopular U.S. Army Mechanized Landing Craft came ashore, preceded by cannon fire, of course (and a bit of a jolt as the vessel hits the beach):
More ahead, including the Moby Duck scene at streetside, the seawall crowd, pix of Pirates and fans, and the fireboat putting on a show:Read More
Thanks to Susan Grossman of Singing Pixel Photography (who contributed the Space Needle lightning shot the other day) for that shot from Harbor Ave. And thanks to Amy, who answered the request in the comment thread from last night’s Alki post, and sent these photos of that unusual sight in the sky:
(Now the obvious question before we launch an extensive round of Googling … what exactly is that? Hang-glider with pontoons? Ultralight?) ADDED LATER: A look at neighborhood chaos after dark, further northeasti – this is from Meredith:
She wrote in part, “… the FUN went on for about 2.5 hours. You can see the pileup. The pedestrians, the family getting out at the road closed sign. The silver SUV (Lexus LX, I think), just parked there as the driver walks away. This left the incoming traffic STUCK between Admiral and Grayson, Grayson St. traffic couldn’t get out, and no emergency vehicle could get into the area AT ALL if needed.”
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).
Huge thanks to Joe Follansbee, a West Seattleite and tall-ships expert who took and sent those photos of the beauties sailing past Duwamish Head this afternoon — we got a couple tips (thanks to those tipsters too) but couldn’t get down to get pix in time, then were thrilled to receive these from Joe. He says the first is “the Lynx out of Newport Beach, Calif. It’s a replica of a War of 1812 privateer.” Second is “the Lady Washington, a replica of one of the first American vessels to visit what would later be Washington State.” (Seen in a WSB film favorite, “Pirates of the Caribbean”!) Third is “the Hawaiian Chieftain, which was inspired by 18th century South Seas trading ships.” (Joe is communications director for the last two.) All of course are headed to Tall Ships Tacoma (complete info on that here), along with the U.S. Coast Guard square-rigger Eagle, which we covered yesterday (here and here) and is seen below in a photo from before its departure this morning (thanks to JayDee for this pic taken from the Water Taxi):
Fog and low tide don’t mix very well. Just ask the two guys who are sitting in that powerboat right now, waiting for the tide to come back in so they can get back out on the water. Thanks to the person who called to let us know about this; we walked out to ask the stranded boaters if they’re OK, they said yes, “we just got lost” while heading out on the first day of crab season (not-yet-deployed baskets were stacked in their boat). Onlookers (like the person standing by the boat’s stern) are also checking on them; meanwhile, ferry foghorns are sounding just offshore, and it looks like the fog’s pulling back. (The tide bottomed out about 20 minutes ago, so they shouldn’t be stuck too much longer. Tomorrow at 11:39 am, by the way, the tide’s almost as low as the mega-low tide in early June, so boaters – and tidewalkers! – take note.)
(USCG Eagle, photographed from Duwamish Head viewpoint, added 4:49 pm)
We are continuing to update the “West Seattle bank robbery leads to downtown gunfire” story. Also, we are at Duwamish Head watching for the Coast Guard tall ship to come into view. (3:45 PM UPDATE: Looks like it’s coming around Magnolia now; 4:24 PM UPDATE, well in view now – though its sails aren’t up – and fireboat is out too.) But we are working on other news too, starting, in this post, with the big news from Starbucks – 600 company-operated stores to close this year. So far, NO LIST AVAILABLE – but this “message from Howard” just posted at starbucks.com after a 2:30 pm conference call says that all stores will know “by mid-July” if they are staying open or closing. (A commenter at starbucksgossip.com claims word’s due tomorrow.) The earlier news release says more than two-thirds of those that will close are stores that have opened in the past couple years.
You just might see this from West Seattle shores as the vessels head toward Pier 66 this afternoon: The Coast Guard Academy “tall ship” Eagle (photo above) — billed as “the only square-rigger in U.S. government service” — making a one-day Seattle stop on its way to Tall Ships Tacoma (no public tours here, alas), accompanied by a three-boat Coast Guard Heritage Fleet. This USCG media advisory has details on the ships and says Eagle will arrive around 3:30 pm. (You can also read more about this Heritage Fleet here.) 3:45 PM UPDATE: We are at Duwamish Head and not seeing the ships yet. Two USCG choppers are flying together toward Magnolia Bluff, though, so maybe it’s soon.
WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli sent that stupendous shot – airshow-practice season! – and the next two wonderful water scenes:
The riders crowding the top deck of the Water Taxi no doubt had a view of Mount Rainier today, but nothing like this one sent by Scott (who lives in West Seattle but happened to be “above Enumclaw” at the time he took this:
Those are the “beauty shots” – more photos coming up in a bit from some of the events/activities around our area today. (Thanks to Christopher and Scott, and to everyone who sends pix, video, and info … editor@westseattleblog.com, any time.)
Thanks to JayDee for sending that view of a state ferry and cruise ship on Elliott Bay, photographed from the 4:40 pm Water Taxi run. A few hours later, we captured this view from High Point Pond:
Good birdwatching at the pond – besides the two Canada geese on the pond in the photo, down by the water’s edge we saw two baby ducks and their mom (photo didn’t come out, unfortunately) and abundant barn swallows.
Per this TV story, West Seattleite Tom Milne kayaks to work – 13 miles each way. Sounds like he saw the same humpback JoB reported in the WSB Forums the other day. P.S. Kayakers and would-be kayakers may want to check out the annual Eddyline Demo Day this Saturday at Alki Kayak Tours at Seacrest (9 am-3 pm)
Thanks to Dan E for that view of tonight’s sunset – color breaking through the gray in the northwest sky. And thanks to Pam from Nerd’s Eye View for this Saturday shot from Solstice Park:
Thanks to Kevin McClintic of Arbor Heights for sending us that photo taken from downtown (with West Seattle in the background), which he captioned “When the Water Taxi Grows Up.” Yes, that’s the Elliott Bay Water Taxi dwarfed by the cruise ship Golden Princess as it headed off for another weeklong Alaska cruise late yesterday afternoon. Back on land, thanks to Jim Edwards for this shot:
That’s the long-shuttered 76 station on Roxbury, which has been cleaned up in recent months, and this would seem to be potential confirmation it’s gearing up to reopen. Might soon be another stop on our weekly West Seattle Gas Price Watch surveys (archived here) – next one coming up late tonight. ADDED 12:12 PM: Another photo just in – came in on our phone so we’re not sure who sent, nor do we have the kids’ names, but this appears to be another lemonade stand (with baked goods AND “saxophone entertainment” per the sign and the instrument at left!) on Alki – raising money for the Obama campaign:
Can’t recall ever seeing a campaign bake sale. (Glad to see kids getting excited about politics so young; your editor was 12 when she discovered her mom wasn’t registered to vote, and made a deal – “you register, Mom, I’ll do the research to help you figure out who to vote for.” About seven years later, Mom belatedly completed college … as valedictorian … with a degree in political science.) 12:41 PM UPDATE: Thanks to JanS for enlightening us to the fact this is a nationwide event (as were yesterday’s nonpolitical charity lemonade stands); they’re listed online here – the Alki one doesn’t appear to be registered, though the one at The Junction is.
| 1 COMMENT