West Seattle, Washington
26 Saturday
-Is one of our best-known West Seattle day-care centers in danger? Could be, according to the last item in the new fall newsletter from the Fauntleroy Community Association. The nonprofit group that runs the Fauntleroy Children’s Center at the former Fauntleroy School (uphill from the business districtlet) gets a break on rent from Seattle Public Schools, but apparently the new push to get more $ out of closed school properties (as SPS prepares to close more) could bust that deal. (Seems like the district’s being penny-wise and pound-foolish these days.)
-On the other side of the coin(s), belated props to West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician for stashing some anti-graffiti $ in his new budget (near the end of the first list of bullet points in this city news release). If you’ve been dropping by here a while, you know we think graffiti vandalism is evil. So we don’t mind seeing a few of our tax dollars spent to fight it, although we would also like to see some thought given toward creative restitution — perhaps force graffiti vandals to create actual art that could be auctioned, with the $ to fill a paintout fund? Just an idea.
F3 has socked us in pretty good here on the south side of WS, at least the upper reaches. I guess it’s technically the Last Summer Fog since the autumnal equinox doesn’t hit till just after 9 o’clock tonight, but let’s not pick nits over 12 hours.
I know it’ll clear up soon; wish the same could be said about some of the hot local topics in which West Seattle has a stake. Let’s see … according to the papers and the Save Seattle Schools blog, nobody’s happy about the latest school-change proposals, not even the Pathfinder people who were so thrilled to win their “No Boren” fight. And right this very moment as I write, city council members are dropping the gavel on the meeting at which they are likely to sing “Kumbaya” over the tunnel option, despite its wallet-wrenching cost, and proclaim that we voters don’t need to worry our pretty little heads over it. Last but not least, I imagine every caffeinated blogger from coast to coast has thrown in their two cents regarding Starbucks adding five cents. Guess that’s what’ll help pay for the Morgan Junction reno work. Meantime, West Seattle’s original Starbucks (the only one when we got here) hasn’t changed much over time.
Later today, something more fun: The weekend highlights, including the WS debut of our city’s most-publicized megachurch, whose leader cannily takes a dig at bloggers … in a blog entry. WWJB?
-Maybe it was sabotage. Seattle Public Schools leaders choose to announce the next round of shutdown plans one day before the Initiative 88 vote. Concurrently, they scamper around floating insanely expensive projects like this. So certainly no surprise the vote turned out this way.
-Never thought a building permit could make me laugh but this one did. The one-line project description is something many of us can identify with in our workplaces: “FINISH WORK STARTED BY OTHERS.”
-Speaking of building permits, work crews are burning the midnight oil at the Morgan Junction Starbucks. We’ve driven by a couple times very late at night in the past week and they’re always very, very busy in there. But no sign yet of the “sidewalk cafe.”
-And one more thing from the newest West Seattle Herald (besides the school $$ link above) — here’s a letter-writer who is right up my alley (er, my switchbacks).
-All this kvetching makes me hungry. Hey! The impending Junction location finally made the Garlic Jim’s “coming soon” page!
A tiny bit of West Seattle history lives on in San Francisco — one of those trivia tidbits we bump into sometimes while Web-wandering. An SF facility called the Zeum is home to a merry-go-round (carousel, if you prefer) that once graced the long-ago WS fantasyland called Luna Park (which was nowhere near the bridge-vicinity area now carrying that name). Here’s the merry-go-round’s history, including a link to historic photos.
The Mars Hill-West Seattle blog reveals that the mega-evangelical mega-church will make its WS debut on the campus of Chief Sealth High School, since its new digs at the ex-Doxa on 35th won’t be ready in time for the planned fall debut. Wonder if this will draw any controversy a la Antioch Bible Church’s activities on an Eastside public-school campus. (P.S. If you haven’t read much about Mars Hill, let alone been there, it just got another national writeup, this time on Salon.)
The Festival of India that has set up on Alki this long holiday weekend (and has been there before) is apparently simply the 21st-century successor to the dancing/chanting Hare Krishna displays I saw on street corners around the West when I was a kid.
As they continue preaching vegetarianism (among other things) on the beach, we will likely be taking our omnivorous selves to nearby Cactus for lunch tomorrow, now that it’s had a week to shake things out.
… let’s shout it together so it can be heard all the way across the water, from Vashon to Bainbridge to Magnolia … WHERE DID THE SUMMER GO? (Did you notice how early it’s getting dark? Sigh …)
Here are three things you might want to add to your to-do list, since within a few weeks you won’t be able to do them again till sometime next spring:
-Ride the Elliott Bay Water Taxi. It goes on hiatus at the end of this month.
-Go swimming (or sunbathing) at Colman Pool. A week from Sunday is its last day of operation this year. There are few sights sadder for us Lincoln Park walkers than the fall/winter plywood up over the CP plexiglass.
-Enjoy a demonstration at the West Seattle Farmers Market. The market itself is supposed to stay open every Sunday through mid-December, but the demos on its calendar only run through September (this Sunday, fresh tomatoes! yum!).
Got out and about for the first time in a few days … First, a couple notes from the Junction: Though the space posted as the future “Divina Cantina” does not appear open yet, a new store in front of it called “Divina” appears to be almost set to go. Its doors are posted with an artsy flyer trumpeting simply “Divina/Objects Of Beauty.” Looks like said objects include clothes, dishes, and wall hangings, among other things we didn’t quite have time to catalog while peering through the window … Also, just noticed that the former “In-Out Espresso” south of Pagliacci has changed its name to “Red Cup Espresso.” Sorry if that’s old news — gotta wonder, though, did those California burger people come after them, or did they just get tired of saying “No relation”?
Now, from Beach Drive … the “For Sale” sign at the historic Satterlee House sprouted a “PRICE REDUCED” signlet sometime in the past week or so, so we checked the listing again … wow, down to $2.5 million, from the original $3,000,000. Gosh, maybe I should try the mortgage calculator again.
Last but not least, we returned home to find out in a roundabout way that one of our favorite non-amateur blogs has poked fun at us, sort of. Wow … when the venerable Dan Savage is aware of your existence, you know you’ve really arrived.
Somewhere.
It’s been one of those weeks where offline life interfered with online life. Now, back to our regularly scheduled blogging …
-Just got a note from one of the owners of Cactus Restaurants — he confirms that the new Alki location is opening this Monday, and says they’ve deliberately held back on trumpeting a definite date, but now they’re ready to go:
It is very important to us that we do a great job with the first customer who walks in the door. Our goal is to make available the same quality food and service to the West Seattle community that we have been providing in Madison Park and Kirkland for over 15 years. At our core, we are a neighborhood restaurant and look forward to serving locals like yourself and those that read your blog. I suppose the truth is that after weeks of telling people I don’t know when we are going to open, I’m excited and ready to spread the news.
-More food news: One of our most intrepid tipsters got to the latest liquor-application filings before we did, and discovered that Garlic Jim’s Pizza is apparently on its way to The Junction, in a near head-to-head with Pagliacci — the address on the app is for the former First Mutual Bank space on the east side of Cali Ave, near Quidnunc. (But will THEY deliver to my side of WS? Pagliacci still snubs us down here, grrrr …) Incidentally, this will be a return to WS, in a way, for the company’s prez, who according to this article from earlier this year was a founder of Jet City Pizza, which used to have an outlet in Morgan Junction.
-And speaking of tipsters, thanks again to everyone who’s been writing us with what they’re hearing and seeing around WS. It makes this little endeavor not only more informative, but also a lot more fun. (The e-mail link is on our “About WSB” page.)
Regarding the display of grill equipment in front of the Delridge store behind an imposing fence: “Oh look, it’s a petting zoo for barbecues.”
The Blue Angels have arrived and all’s right with the world … Oh wait, there’s a little something wrong. A tipster sent us a link to the Whole Foods Market webpage mentioning the upcoming West Seattle store … just one little problem … the address isn’t quite right, unless Fauntleroy Place is moving way far away from Fauntleroy!
The banners on the Fauntleroy walkover are getting livelier. Spotted one the other night that simply read TOGA, TOGA, TOGA. On the other side, somebody declared his love for his wife on the occasion of “30 HOT YEARS OF MARRIAGE.” One of these days, we’re going to get somebody in the WSB Posse to sneak up in the dead of night and hang something like WESTSEATTLEBLOG.COM LOVES YOU. (Because of course we do.)
The arrival of August is bittersweet because it’s both the best part of summer (the nicest weather) and the worst part of summer (most of the big festivals and celebrations are over). However, the fine folks of Morgan Junction are going to stretch out the season with a community festival in mid-September. If you live on the other side of WS, come down this way sometime and check it out — the “big” Junction gets more attention, but things are hopping on the south end too. Have a Caffe Ladro latte and try their espresso cheesecake; check out the fiery-sweet General Tso’s Chicken at New Teriyaki & Wok; then head west to our “south West Seattle” beaches (Lincoln Park & Lowman) or take a ferry ride to Vashon and Southworth. Lots of teardowns-to-townhomes on this end too, so things won’t be quiet for long.
If your neighborhood doesn’t already have something planned, it might not be too late … tomorrow night is the annual “National Night Out” show of citizen anti-crime solidarity. Here’s the Seattle PD page about it.
for the rest of the day & night, just a reminder about some of what’s up around West Seattle:
—Alki Art Fair today & tomorrow.
–“Jumanji” tonight at Sidewalk Cinema next to Hotwire Coffee, north of The Junction.
–May be too late by now, but I just found a notice about outrigger-canoe racing that was happening relatively early today off Alki. I haven’t seen outriggers since Hawaii.
–Tangentially WS-related: If you’re going to tonight’s Seafair Torchlight Parade downtown (wouldn’t miss it; fun to applaud the runners before the parade, too), remember the brand-new Miss Seafair is from West Seattle! So you can cheer her on the Seafair float as well as the delegation on the Hi-Yu float.
After tonight, it’s on to wondering exactly when the Blue Angels will arrive at the Museum of Flight in advance of next week’s excitement … Monday? Tuesday? The MOF site only lists the public Thurs-Sun activities, but I believe at least a few of them arrive earlier in the week. Might just have to wander over tomorrow in person to inquire.
–Some construction work seems to be under way at the old Mail & Dispatch building just east of Slices. When we passed last night, the signage area across its front and side bore the odd scrawls “Act Like It’s a Cigarette/He’s a Narc.” (Graffiti, or a past life as a head shop?) Speaking of Slices, the Alki noise/booze flap has now made The Stranger, one week after the writeup in The Herald.
–Also on the Alki restaurant beat, the Cactus Restaurants website finally has been updated to reflect the impending Alki location. New info includes its hours.
–And back in the non-virtual world, business appears to be booming on the relatively new Alki Crab & Fish beer/wine patio. Big crowd when we went by last night, and the adjacent Seacrest pier was jammed with fisherfolk. (By the way, it was a bit of a thrill to browse the counter in AFC and happen onto a copy of the Alki News Beacon, left open to the page with their kind little writeup about us.)
-Not only is West Seattle home to the mayor, we’re also now home to Miss Seafair! (Official coverage and photo on the Seafair home page, here.) So now if you’re joining us at the Torchlight Parade downtown on Saturday night, you can cheer crazily for her as well as for the fine folks on the Hi-Yu float.
-Haven’t heard a lot of noise on the school-closure issue lately, but the final School Board vote is set for tonight. There’s been a lot of excellent, thought-provoking discussion for the past few months — including issues beyond the closures/consolidations — on the “Saving Seattle Public Schools” blog, whose main contributor will be a Pathfinder parent next year.
-Lost/found dog/cat notices are sadly common on poles and windows — but last night while out and about, we spotted a “found rabbit” notice. It’s in the window of Pet Elements on the south end of Morgan Junction, and pretty vague, mentioning only that a “small domestic rabbit” was found “on California Avenue” and suggesting a call to the Seattle Animal Shelter if it might be yours.
The ruling’s in, according to a short post on the Seattle Times’ home page, which says regulators have pulled the school’s two titles because of the girls-recruiting scandal.
Most of today has been spent in pursuit of ways not to roast. We’ve guzzled gallons of ice water. We’ve run up our SPU bill by running the hose on the car, the plants, each other. We oohed and aahed over the air conditioning at Target, while in search of summer-specific merchandise that of course is no longer available, since that type of store has now turned its marketing attention to “BACK-TO-SCHOOL SEASON!” (despite the fact we’re not even midway through the miserably short summer break). Now it’s time to make a nice cool salad with lettuce procured at the Farmers’ Market earlier today, and think warmly (?) about the lower temperatures allegedly on the way.
Also time to look ahead to next weekend … looks like one of the marquee events on our side of the bay will be the Alki Art Fair, Saturday & Sunday.
Wandered around for a while tonight just south of Admiral Junction — spotted three things to share, including one sighted as we passed through The (Alaska) Junction en route home:
-Yet another thing to do this weekend: Free outdoor movie in the Junction! “Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” which won the Oscar this year for Best Animated Feature. Good thing we bought new chairs-in-a-bag for the parade — they should work for this too!
-Another good cause to lend your $ to this weekend, besides “Stuff the Bus” on Sunday (we bought our diaper donations at PCC tonight): I didn’t even know the West Seattle Thunder girls’ fastpitch softball team existed till I saw the posters on numerous south-of-Admiral businesses, touting a fundraising car wash this weekend (they’re trying to get to a big game out of state). Sorry to say I didn’t note the exact location and time, and it’s not on the Thunder website, but take a peek at windows including Spiro’s and Megawatt, and you’ll see the poster.
-New (or at least, we just noticed it) business on the south edge of the Junction, on the southeast corner of the multi-points intersection that also features Ovio, Uptown, and 7-11: a criminal-defense law firm. Or at least, a banner for it (its website claims it’s located downtown; then again, we seem to be awash in sites that lag). Seems to be one of those “we specialize in DUI” types. I know everyone is entitled to representation and all that, but still … permit me my soapbox … it’s a senseless crime that should be punished vastly more harshly than it is now.
OK, that’s it for tonight … tomorrow morning, the #1 reason to love the parade (and to join us on the sidelines!) …
How about Shakespeare in the park … Lincoln Park!
And we’ll mention Sunday’s Farmers Market side event once more — Westside Baby’s “Stuff the Bus (with diapers)” drive (even though they’ve got big bright banners on both sides of the Fauntleroy walkover so they probably don’t need the plug)!
Whatever you do, keep cool …
For all the times you’ve driven over The Bridge, have you ever taken a good look at the waterway it spans?
Over the weekend, we did. On a whim, after leaving the house with the intention of walking straight to Summer Fest, we redirected ourselves all the way to what’s most commonly called the “Low Bridge,” which has a well-protected sidewalk/bike path along its south side. Walking that path provides a fine view of the waterway and everything on it, including the Harbor Island Marina, where I would love to be able to keep a boat someday … From the Low Bridge, you also get a better appreciation of the sleek structure of the “high bridge” (which, according to this HistoryLink.org page, just passed its 22nd anniversary, a day before our walk!).
If you want to try this adventure, you don’t have to do what we did (trudge all the way from home) — there are places to park not too far from the access path.
If you, like me, are “just a spectator” at street festivals, here’s an interesting perspective … a blog entry by a soapmaker who apparently has a booth somewhere at Summer Fest.
Meantime, one last observation, and then I’ll get on to wishing the Garden Tour folks (today!) good luck, and looking ahead to next weekend (THE PARADE! THE PARADE! plus on Sunday 7/23, it’s “Stuff the Bus” time for Westside Baby — you can get slightly more environmentally sound disposables at PCC, btw): Among the more interesting sights on the southern block of WSSF are side-by-side outdoor areas for Talarico’s and Elliott Bay Brewery. The former is behind a tall chain-link fence; the latter, behind a cheery-looking short white picket fence. Maybe just something to do with the whole “no kids” thing? All the same, the Talarico’s visitors look like they’re in jail.
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