“Blighted”?
Today’s P-I article about the deal for Whole Foods to come to Fauntleroy Place uses that word to describe the project site. Seems a little harsh. Now, just a bit to the west, we *would* say that’s a good word for the empty ex-Burger King and the tattered, shuttered building that I vaguely recall as having been a car-stereo store once upon a time.
As for the project itself, we’ve got mixed emotions on the idea of a Whole Foods store here. The WS Blogger household does enjoy “health food” (brown rice is on the stove even as we type). When the WF in North Seattle was relatively new, we dropped in a few times. Found most of their stuff overpriced, including the extensive deli offerings. Didn’t see any reason to stop patronizing our local PCC, at least in favor of a crosstown drive.
So now they’ll be here, not far from the Jefferson Square Safeway — we loathe Safeways, so if business there is affected, no biggie in our personal view. The Morgan Junction Thriftway might feel some heat, since that’s just a mile down the road, and it’s cultivated a tiny bit of upscaleness. But how will the folks at PCC cope? Brand loyalty might not count for much any more, even for those of us who can count their PCC membership years on into double digits.
Bottom line for me … we would still rather see West Seattle get a Trader Joe’s, so we can stop the frequent trips to Burien!
Blinded by the light
Call it the flip side of the phenomenon that occurs in spring and summer, when the sun temporarily blinds you as you’re driving eastbound to work in the morning on the WS Bridge.
The light that blinded me (figuratively speaking) tonight was … light in the western sky, as I drove home at dusk. LIGHT IN THE SKY, AT 6 PM! HALLELUJAH!
Speaking of driving, one more plug for my new friends at the Alki News Beacon — they’re running an online poll about whether signs on local freeways should point visitors to The Beach.
Sounds like a great idea to me. I didn’t even make it over to West Seattle the first time I came to the city as a tourist in the late ’80s; even though I had a rent-a-car and roamed quite widely around the area, this side of the bay was quite the well-kept secret.
I came back two years later, and found my way here after reading a blurb in a tourist guide. The rest was history … six months after that, WS Blogger Spouse and I were loaded in the car and headed this way, for good (in more ways than one).
Even now, though, West Seattle is way too “off-the-beaten-path.” I know we don’t want to be overrun with people, but still — a little tourism could be encouraged (scenic tours? see where Seattle’s first settlers landed?), without much skin off our backs. Just a little. Daytripping, they used to call it. Sunglasses & sunscreen, here we come!
Going to heck in a handbasket?
Interesting question raised in the “cover story” in the new edition of the Alki News Beacon. We here at WS Blog remember a slightly sleepier time at Alki, back when a drugstore held the space now occupied by the Alki Bakery coffeehouse, among other things. Heck, we’re just happy — when we venture beachward — to see the Homestead hasn’t been chased out yet (though we’ll red-facedly admit to never having actually set foot inside).
Storm? What storm?
Maybe it’s only a partial site update, but our friendly neighborhood paper has posted what looks like the weekly update tonight, and the only thing storm-related I can find so far is a bird picture oddly paired with an article about high school schedules.
Site worth seeing
In our never-ending quest for updated West Seattle info online, we ran across the recently revamped Morgan Community Association site. Very nice. Looking forward to exploring it later (and perhaps discovering why it’s not the Morgan JUNCTION Community Association site, especially considering the word “junction” is part of the URL) …
Blue-green blues
OK, one last word (or a couple dozen, really):
–Sad shred of Super Bowl mania: The blue & green balloons festooning cars at one of the Huling Brothers lots.
–Moment where I wish I’d had a camera: Driving to work on the viaduct this morning, with the sky that pre-dawn deep blue, a truck flying a 12th M*n window flag (which had been beside me since leaving WS) framed against the blue-green lights on the Qwest Field roof.
Peaceful, over, let’s close the book and move on to … SPRING!
It’s not whether ya win or lose …
… it’s how you party during the game.
West Seattle Blog World Headquarters just wrapped up a fun little gathering, never mind that The Home Team fell short. No rioting, no drunken revelry. Our attendees hail from other parts of the metro area, so they all had to behave themselves in order to make it safely home.
But if you hear sirens and wonder how close to you the Sunday night troublemaking is getting … you can check the “live 911” fire dispatch site to get the address, and hide under the bed if necessary!
In the meantime, chant “next year is just seven months away” or even better, “it’s almost spring training”!
One last word before TBG
(The Big Game)
Just back from one last survey of this half of WS before settling in for the game:
–In the Morgan Junction area, things are hopping — the Thriftway is as crazed as you might expect — Abbondanza was opening early for a Super Bowl party & also has window-writing urging drivers to honk if they’re cheering for the Hawks (not to mention, “hawking” the restaurant’s “3 live TVs!”).
–Just south of Morgan Junction, somebody lost a 12th *** (you-know-what; court injunction may prohibit me from actually typing it) flag from their car.
–At Westwood Village, the best pre-game shopping tip I can give you for future reference is: Rite-Aid. Lots of parking, and most of the items you really need. Affordable wine & beer, cheap chips, and paper plates/plastic cups in abundant supply. Sure beat trying to slog through the crowds at Target.
Now, the pre-pre-pre-game show is in full force, time to start rooting for wardrobe malfunctions and for the score to wind up with me winning the office pool. Go team!
Weather-related irony is lurking out there somewhere
Whatever national media might have reporters here in town to cover fans reaction to The Big Game, you know someone will write the story, should Our Team prevail, “As the sun came out after months of rain in soggy Seattle, football glory finally broke through the home team’s clouds of trophyless years.” Or something like that.
In other semi-weather-related news, the Beach Drive water woes merited just one little line in this Times report. Blink and you’ll miss it.
Can anyone tell me why even a small paper like the Herald, equipped with a 24/7 online site like just about everyone else in this day and age, can’t add breaking news like a storm damage report? Even a blog, for heaven’s sake. If they want to be the community’s source for news, it would be so easy to do.
As for that hideous WestSeattle.com — which pompously declares itself “the official site for the West Seattle community” (when did we vote; did I sleep through it?) — storm? what storm? Even tiny Caribbean island towns use their community sites for storm reports.
Rant off … for now …
Waterlogged
Just saw a TV news report (Q-13, if you’re keeping track) about flooding in a waterfront home along Beach Drive. Times like these are the only times I feel OK about not being able to afford such opulence — no chance of flooding here on the hillsides. (No, we’re not in a mudslide-prone position, either.)
As of this writing, the 520 bridge isn’t open yet — DOT has another handy page (separate from the link mentioned in the last post) with an update from just half an hour ago.
But at least here at West Seattle Blog World Headquarters, we’ll be watching The Big Game — no power woes after all.
Windstorm update, early evening
A flicker here, a flicker there, but we haven’t lost power again, here on the south side of WS. The City Light site (see link in post below) says only 50 “customers” are still powerless. Still breezy outside, but nothing too out of the ordinary, according to the National Weather Service’s current-observations page (hint, look for KBFI, which is Boeing Field, and check “sp” for sustained wind speed, “gs” for gusts).
However, the 520 bridge is still closed, one of a variety of Western Washington road closures, according to the state DOT traffic-alerts page.
Windstorm update, early afternoon
We’ve been out, as far north as the Junction, as far south as Burien.
No widespread panic, except for the crowd at the Junction liquor store trying to hoard hooch before, well, you know, that thing tomorrow.
We encountered only one spot of powerlessness, a couple blocks along Ambaum in what I fondly think of as North Burien.
If you’re in the city and you want to know what’s out where, turns out that Seattle City Light is posting updates on its site (scroll down) — fairly frequent updates, apparently; the one up now is from just 10 minutes ago.
Outage update
Westwood Village is out, according to the spouse of West Seattle Blogger, as of his visit around 10:15.
WSB World Headquarters on a hillside on the south end of the West side: not out; we had a blink around 8 am, so far as I can tell from the clocks.
Hope you are OK; more updates as we get ’em.
Junction food tidbits
2 things you might want to know:
-After my earlier snark about the proximity of Ben and Jerry’s possibly creating bad karma for the now-shuttered Urban Fitness, I noted with growing horror that the B&J’s never seemed to be open, no matter when I passed through the Junction. So tonight I finally called. Relief — allegedly they’ll be reopening March 1st. I mean, Husky ice cream is okay, but just okay.
-Pagliacci is starting its delivery service at noon on Super Bowl Sunday. Well, maybe that’s good news for you. Not for those of us who live south of their ridiculously selected delivery border, here on the S end of W-Sea. Not that I wanted pizza on Sunday anyway; we serve homemade yummies at our party.
Except for the Costco Chocolate Cake From Hell that we picked up today. I haven’t peeked in the fridge to see it yet, but I’m told it has a cute little Go Seahawks logo on top.
Which gives me a chance to use this memory, in parting … Remember back when all the local sports teams sucked? The rallying cry always went, “Go Seahawks … … … and take the Mariners with you!”
The great avocado hunt
I was a Super Bowl guacamole-maker before the California Avocado Commission revved up its publicity campaign. Really.
So I’ve spent more than a few day-before-Super-Bowls frantically searching the Markets of West Seattle for the perfect avocadoes.
Gotta be black-skinned, not that weird gelatinous bright green kind. Gotta be soft but not too liquid. Most important of all, the price has to be reasonable … five avocadoes shouldn’t cost more than $10.
Thriftway is usually the most reliable source. You would think the beautiful produce section of Metropolitan Market would yield perfect guacamole fodder; not in my experience. Found them at Jefferson Square Safeway once, after a fruitless (truly) peninsula-wide search. But I’ll even go to Queen Anne Larry’s, if it comes to that. I probably shouldn’t wait till tomorrow; my dream avocadoes might vanish tonight.
Another way to escape the winter blues … um, grays
Even if you don’t swim, pay the three bucks and change, and go hang out at West Seattle’s only city-run pool during one of the public swim periods. The air is tropical. If you choose to go in the water, you can also close your eyes and imagine yourself somewhere much, much warmer. Really, the admission fee probably falls short of what you’d pay to stay home for the same hour or two and keep the thermostat up. (I know I’m not the only one with an outrageous City Light or PSE bill these days.)
Surest way to attract a TV crew
Urban early-morning power outage! Folks from the morning newscast on Q-13 spent at least a couple hours near the Alki Bathhouse this morning, talking about The First of February Windstorm ’06. My favorite part — the horrifying revelation that Tully’s had to open late because of the outage. You know things can get ugly when you just can’t get that quadruple grande you’re counting on. Might I suggest a dip in the bay, as an equivalent wakeup jolt?
Didn’t think so.
Prediction for next Alki TV sighting: The traditional semi-annual orca pod drive-by. Choppers ahoy!
And the nominee is …
… for Best Community Newspaper in West Seattle, I nominate these folks. Kicks the Herald up one side of the block and down the other. Wonder if we can get something like that going on this side of Cali Ave someday.
Mourning the marquee
I was going to chug out a rant here about driving down California Avenue SW and spotting only two “Go Hawks” marquees. Then the thought presented itself: Really, how many potential “Go Hawks” marquees/signboards/whatever-you-want-to-call-them? Darn few. (But on the south end of Cali Ave, really, you’d think at least O’Neill The Plumber and McD’s could join the lonely Thriftway signboard in Super Bowl spirit … I’ll keep watching.)
| 1 COMMENT