West Seattle, Washington
10 Sunday
Late-afternoon outdoor wedding just west of the Alki Bathhouse:
Mid-afternoon, still low-enough tide to see this inscription on the water side of the Alki bulkhead/staircases … we know what 1851 refers to; was 1925 when these were put in? (have to go dig out our West Side Story)
Early afternoon, ample free parking behind Junction businesses on the east side of Cali, even as the lots on the west side overflowed (with drivers circling in frustration):
How exciting was the “lowest tide of the summer” (11:39 am today)? So exciting, field trips even came to West Seattle from Mercer Island; saw the MI bus parked by Lowman Beach, as we headed to our chosen tide-wandering spot at Cove Park by the Fauntleroy ferry dock.
You’re not supposed to walk under the dock … but during mega-low tides, you can … a few more photos, one click ahead: Read More
One final reminder for our fellow low-tide fans – if you can manage to get to the shoreline just before lunchtime today, you get to see a low tide that won’t be equaled until the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
Over the next four days (Wednesday through Saturday), we’ll see the lowest tides of the summer (yes, we’re aware summer technically is still about a week away) — all -3 feet or lower, with the absolute lowest a -3.8 on Friday morning (check the full tide chart here). Seattle Aquarium beach naturalists will be out on Friday (and over the weekend) at Lincoln Park and south of Alki Point; one of our favorite low-tide spots is Lowman Beach, one of the areas where submerged structures start to emerge, as seen this morning:
Next Monday, if you’re out for a walk on Alki around 9-something am, watch for a woman heading out into the water. No, not a polar-bear swimmer … a County Public Health employee. We’ve seen her the last two Mondays – today, wading quite some distance from shore – taking water samples, then returning to her official county government car. Trying to find out where we can see the test results!
Hard to tell if we’ll get many semi-clear sunsets this week, so here’s a view from tonight:
All along Alki Ave, banners are now up (photo below) for the Seafair Pirates Landing coming up July 7. As we wrote last year (when all of about half a dozen people knew this site existed, so here’s the link again), this event is so much bigger and better than it used to be.
Lots more summer fun to come too; a reader just forwarded us e-mail about the neighborhood kids’ 4th of July parade in north WS (full text after the click):Read More
Just 3 weeks ago, we mentioned it looked like Seattle Music Fest at Alki would return this year; its website indicated dates were set. Now (thanks to reader e-mail for the tip), it’s suddenly off again (though the SMF website insists dates are set for 2008). However, fans of live outdoor music should still get a treat during Summer Fest in The Junction in mid-July (in fact, tomorrow is when they’re supposed to start notifying acts accepted for the festival).
Might have been; the forecast doesn’t look too promising. (Photo taken @ Lowman.)
-2 low tide bottoming out at Alki right about now, and it’ll be replicated just after 1 tomorrow afternoon. Caught this group & their reflection as the tide was on its way out.
Thanks again to beach blogger Cathy Woo for the tip about artist Thom Ross working for a while on Alki today; by the time we got down for photos at midafternoon, he was about to pack it up — reader Tim’s comment on our original post has more details on why. The figures are made from plywood, which Ross has used for other memorable displays.
First word of an amazing art project in progress on Alki comes from Cathy Woo’s Beach Walks. Cathy says the artist is Thom Ross and the creations are eventually destined for showing in San Francisco. She has pix up; we hope to be able to get some a bit later.
Assuming we GET some sun — Monday afternoon looks the most promising — in case you hadn’t noticed, recreational rentals are booming along our best-known beach. We got nice sun-splashed photos recently of Wheel Fun Rentals (first photo), which popped up this season next to Coastal, and Alki Rental Shack with kayaks (second photo) and more, at Seacrest.
Just saw this on tv and couldn’t resist sharing the link – provided you see this in the early afternoon (and provided the cam stays pointed toward Alki): This afternoon’s mega-low tide, from a webcam across the bay.
Our fellow low-tide fans will want to know that a 3.6-foot “minus tide” is on the way just after noon tomorrow, and the afternoon low tide on Saturday is almost that low too. (Check the tide chart here.) If you’d like to explore Saturday’s low tide with an expert guide, West Seattle-based naturalist Stewart Wechsler is promoting an all-ages “Beach Safari” across from Me-Kwa-Mooks, 12:30-2:30 pm — it’s a Seattle Parks program so you need to preregister through Camp Long (by phone @ 206-684-7434).
You don’t have to drive 22 miles — like these Issaquah elementary-school kids spotted on a field trip this morning — for a low-tide walk at Constellation Park (p.s. looks like it’ll be even lower about this time tomorrow morning):
As Earth Day meanders toward evening … two photo posts from WS-based bloggers:
-At Beach Drive Blog, Rhonda captured the graceful great blue herons often seen at water’s edge (especially at low tide).
-At Alki Beach Walks, Cathy captured some of Alki’s Sunday morning beauty.
Thanks to Shane Marr for sending this photo of the harbor-seal pup who’s been the center of attention on Alki (larger images on his site). We haven’t been able to make it to the beach; any updates on its status, please add a comment or e-mail us — thanks!
Got a note from someone concerned about a baby seal that turned up out of the water on Alki, and wondering what to do in a situation like that. Authorities’ advice: Leave it alone, until and unless at least 36 hours have gone by; seal moms sometimes leave their babies on a beach so they can go look for food, and they’ll be back. If you think that much time has gone by, or you think it’s injured or otherwise in imminent danger, there’s a hotline at 206-526-6733. (And lots more information here.)
This isn’t happening till Saturday, but you need to pre-register, and organizers say space is limited, so here’s an early alert: People for Puget Sound is kicking off a kids’ art contest with a “beach treasure hunt” and low-tide walk at Lincoln Park this Saturday afternoon. Go here to find out more (including contact info for signing up).
Just back from two of the Christmas Ship‘s three WS stops tonight (its WS finale for ’06 is tomorrow, Don Armeni, 7:10 pm, music by the Dickens Carolers, seen and heard in WS just last weekend for the Junction Tree Lighting). Missed the early stop @ Seacrest; intended just to enjoy the Lowman stop, but a member of the WSB entourage suggested we check out its Alki stop too, so off we went. At Lowman, the bonfire was the centerpiece, neatly held in a cordoned-off fire ring (obviously brought in by the parks crew, as fires otherwise aren’t allowed there), unlike a few years ago, when we remember a pile of pallets set ablaze with great abandon. At Alki, the non-cordoned bonfire was almost an afterthought at one heck of a party, with a live band on shore, a huge city-provided tent, and free cookies and cocoa/cider in Tully’s cups (amusing since the smaller tent next door belonged to Starbucks, offering tiny free samples of gingerbread lattes). We wondered between stops if the Vashon Island Chorale would sing the same half-dozen or so songs at both stops; answer: no. Just one overlap, the appropriate finale “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” Big crowds at both stops, thanks to the cleared-up-in-time weather, and the Alki event had quite the afterparty going long after the Christmas Ship vanished into the downtown glow.
| Comments Off on Last sunset of spring ’07