West Seattle, Washington
15 Wednesday
Sorry for the subpar drive-by photography but in this case, it’s the spirit that counts – we were stopped at walk-all-ways in The Junction, headed back home from the latest Christmas-light photography (tonight’s update is minutes away), when we saw and heard this group doing a raucous rendition of “Feliz Navidad” right outside the professional offices south of JaK’s Grill. Much whooping and clapping ensued, from the spectators as well as the performers. Fun times.
Last month we received a couple e-mails from people asking if we’d heard a rumor that the popular NORAD Tracks Santa website wasn’t going to be running this year. We couldn’t find the site at the time and wondered if those rumors might be true. Glad to report that we checked back and … they were false … you can find the preview site for NORAD Tracks Santa here.We always love following the web tracking every year … reminds us of the pre-pre-Internet days of our childhood, when radio announcers would check in with NORAD to see where Santa had turned up on radar.
Today and next Monday are great days to get holiday-dinner food donations to the West Seattle Food Bank (here’s the list we originally published). On Thursday, WSFB got a big boost from Nucor, which showed up with more than $9,000 in cash and gift cards along with thousands of pounds of food – here’s one of the truckloads they unloaded:
We also talked to the Nucor managers who were there to help with the delivery; Nucor’s been doing this at holiday time since 1996!
Again tonight, two pix – have to double up to get everything in before The Big Day:
The first one is a beautiful tree, one color of lights for each branch, pointed out to us by The Velvet Bulldog; it’s on Hinds at 62nd. The second one is a photo from CA Joyce, described as a treehouse dressed up for the holidays, 53rd & Dakota. Both are now added to our clickable/printable West Seattle Christmas lights map, which you can find any time on the WSB Holidays page; all previously featured lights are archived here. And thanks to everyone for continuing to send in all the tips and pix!
One last reminder that it’s late-night shopping night at a variety of West Seattle shops — 
from Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor; read more about their event here) and Shanti in the Admiral District, throughout The Junction for the “Wrap It Up” event (flyer with participants here; plus, it’s also West Seattle Art Walk night), and over to Avalon (where Murphy’s has a special fundraiser/shopping event tonight). Some stores will be open as late as 10. (And if your shopping tonight will include Christmas tree-hunting, you can check the price survey we posted earlier this month; we hope to update it this weekend in case things have changed.)
Got holiday shopping left to do? Tonight you can shop throughout The Junction, and even get your presents wrapped, as part of “Wrap It Up” — More than a dozen businesses are open late (including the participants listed on the official flyer, which you can see here (linked from the Clementine blog). While you’re in The Junction, the monthly West Seattle Art Walk 
will deck the halls — be sure not to miss Divina, Ginomai, and Hotwire on the north end. (Participating artists and venues are listed here.) And in the heart of The Junction, Twilight Art Collective is welcoming visitors into its new space (ex-Bikes and Brew, west of Easy Street; here’s our original report on them from last month). And this isn’t even all that’s happening in WS tonight – more on that as the day goes by.
Two pix again tonight – this first one hit the WSB inbox just as we were getting ready to publish this item:
First one is from Greg, and it’s at 4117 38th SW, east of The Junction; second one is on Gatewood Hill, on 37th SW north of Kenyon. Both are on our updated-nightly clickable West Seattle Christmas lights map, viewable any time on the WSB Holidays page, but getting to be so lively, we also wanted to show it off here:
Two photos from the WSB inbox tonight (thank you!):
First photo, an electric menorah — sent by Lyn and Les — fully lit for the final night of Hanukkah. Second, just part of what looks like another truly spectacular Christmas-lights display, photographed at 10th & Barton by “a neighbor.” It’s now on our clickable, updated-nightly Christmas lights map, viewable any time on the WSB Holidays page.
Tonight, two featured homes, one theme:
On the fence in front of the first home, along Thistle east of 42nd (Upper Fauntleroy), are big white snowflake lights. Dangling from the eaves of the second home, along 106th near 31st (edge of Arbor Heights; thanks to Vickie for the tip), are blue-and-white snowflake lights. Both homes are now added to our clickable West Seattle Christmas lights map, viewable any time on our Holidays page; plus, you can find all previously featured homes on this archive page. And we’re still thrilled to get your tips about the best of the brightest, homes and/or entire neighborhoods!
Or maybe even your mom’s. Back when we moved here in the early ’90s, really not THAT long ago, we lamented that we would have liked to do more shopping in The Junction, but everything seemed to close so early — “rolling up the sidewalks,” as the small-town saying goes. Not these days, and here’s the latest proof: Coinciding with this Thursday night’s West Seattle Art Walk in The Junction is “Wrap It Up,” with participating stores open well into the night for holiday-shopping fun. And it’s not just The Junction that will be jumping — on the north side of West Seattle, we’ve heard from more shops planning to be open late on Thursday, including WSB sponsor Click! Design That Fits and Shanti in the Admiral District, and along Avalon, Murphy’s Furniture Studio has an event planned Thursday night for late-night shopping while raising money for GambiaHELP. All in all, Thursday’s a good night to spend your $ where you live. Here’s the “Wrap It Up” flyer listing Junction participants, by the way:Read More
Thanks to Katie for e-mailing to tell us about this house in North Admiral (west side of 45th SW, south of SW Seattle). This is a camphone photo; the real thing is exponentially more festive. It’s the latest addition to our clickable, photo-embedded West Seattle Christmas lights map, viewable any time on our WSB Holidays page.
The picture doesn’t do it justice but this is one of our favorite simple-yet-striking Christmas light displays every year – it’s directly east of the Metropolitan Market parking lot, across 41st. The lights alternate red/white, and trace the home’s features quite beautifully. This house is now added to our clickable West Seattle Christmas lights map, which you can find any time on the WSB Holidays page.
Three West Seattle stops down, one to go (Don Armeni, tomorrow night @ 7:10) for the Christmas Ship. We are just back from the Alki visit, quite a party with live music, free treats, and even Santa Claus — on a motorcycle:
We’re still testing out the various video-uploading options; tell us how that one worked for you. Meanwhile, two more clips:Read More
(photo from Shannon, taken this morning in Fauntleroy — thank you!)
It’s one of those rare times when Saturday and sunshine synchronize. We’ll be out decorating (after braving the basement, who knows what moved in down there during the bad weather); after night falls, please let us know what spectacular new holiday displays you see, for the ongoing WSB Christmas lights features (photos archived here, clickable map on the Holidays page). We’ll also be covering some of the numerous events happening today and tonight (check the West Seattle Weekend Lineup for the most detailed list) and are especially looking forward to the Christmas Ship’s three WS stops tonight (Seacrest at 5:15, Lowman at 8:50, Alki at 9:40). So enjoy all this because we just checked the forecast and tomorrow says “chance of rain or snow”!
OK, so it’s not the splashiest outdoor Christmas tree in West Seattle, but the spirit was certainly there as the Our Lady of Guadalupe tree was lit tonight, as our video in the post below proves. So it’s our official nightly Christmas-lights photo. Its location (34th/Myrtle) has been added to the WSB West Seattle Christmas lights map, which you can access any time from our Holidays page – click any location in the map and you’ll get its title plus a thumbnail photo. We’re also making the rounds of the suggestions e-mailed to us by folks in WSB-land, too. (In addition to clicking the aforementioned map, you can also check out all the West Seattle Christmas lights we’ve featured by going through their category archive here.)
Along 35th, across the street from the highest point in the city, Our Lady of Guadalupe celebrated its annual Christmas tree lighting tonight. Here’s Father Jack Walmesley with the countdown:
And here’s the crowd singing “Jingle Bells,” jingling car keys in lieu of bells:
In case you missed it last weekend, here’s our video from the lighting of the West Seattle Community Christmas Tree in The Junction. (And we’ll be posting a wider photo of the OLG tree shortly as our Christmas lights pic of the night.)
The Christmas Ship makes 4 West Seattle stops this weekend; Our Lady of Guadalupe lights its tree at the summit of Seattle’s highest hill; and West Seattle High School‘s Travel Club raises $ to cross the Atlantic — all part of the 51 West Seattle weekend events ahead:Read More
This balcony display is on the building between Short Stop and the ex-Chuck and Sally’s on California, north of Morgan Junction. We remember seeing it last year too; the lights manage to diminish the dinginess of that block like a glittering multi-layer necklace. It’s on our West Seattle Christmas lights map now, of course (you’ll find that on our Holidays page; click each marker on the map to see the photo from that location). Now, the side note – The famous red bows are up on the north side of the Admiral Way bridge.
Two nights till the Christmas Ship sails to West Seattle — and the good news is that the weather looks great! The Christmas Ship and its floating entourage will make three West Seattle stops on Saturday night: Seacrest 5:15 pm, Lowman Beach 8:50 pm, Alki 9:40 pm) and one on Sunday night (Don Armeni, 7:10 pm – you can find the schedule linked from our Holidays page, where we just added another nightly highlight for tonight: Pathfinder K-8 has its holiday Craft Fair & Culture Night, 6-8 pm tonight. (We love hearing about, and sharing news of, school activities – so if you’ve got one or more kids in West Seattle schools, please make sure the school office and PTSA have WSB on their mailing lists — all the info, from e-mail to postal mail to phone # to even where to find us on Facebook, is on the Contact WSB page.)
We featured the famous Beach Drive Christmas house with a photo on 11/28 … then this week, the Menashe family graciously allowed us to stop by and get a narrated tour, including answers to some of the questions everybody asks (such as, “how many lights?” — the big tree alone has 100,000!). The display’s on 4:30-11:30 pm every night through New Year’s, and its location is one of many on our special West Seattle Christmas lights map (you’ll find it on our new WSB Holidays page). First clip: Josh Menashe shows us what’s new, and talks about what it takes to put this together:
Here are 3 more clips, starting with a longer walk-through:Read More
Tonight, we found ourselves wandering the streets of Highland Park, where we came across this house at 7925 9th Ave. SW (map; also, we have added it to our clickable map of all the displays featured on WSB this season, which you can access any time from our new Holidays page). Rolled the window down to get the picture and even heard Christmas music. By the way, tomorrow evening, we’ll bring you a narrated video tour of West Seattle’s most famous display, the Menashes’ lights on Beach Drive.
This morning, we launched a new WSB page to help you enjoy the holiday season — our Holidays page (it has its own tab in the navigation under the header throughout the site, or you can bookmark it here). Right now, it features West Seattle holiday events through New Year’s, plus our ongoing West Seattle Christmas lights map and a link to our West Seattle Christmas tree price check; at the top of the page each day, you will also see highlighted holiday events for that day/night. 
This page is presented by a brand-new WSB sponsor, West Seattle Christian Church (on the north side of The Junction, at the SE corner of 42nd/Genesee). West Seattle Christian Church is a growing church offering a lot more than worship services — it also is parent to the Ginomai artists’ studio facility right across the street at the SW corner of 42nd/Genesee — which among other things is a must-visit stop during the monthly West Seattle Art Walk; the next one is coming up Thursday 12/13 — we stopped at Ginomai during last month’s Art Walk and met several artists, then browsed the merchandise others were selling in the Ginomai community room. In addition, WSCC is home to West Seattle Christian Preschool, which is currently enrolling (find out more here). We thank WSCC for supporting WSB, along with our other sponsors, who are listed on this page along with info on how prospective advertisers can join them. (And if you have suggestions for additional features to add to the Holidays page, please let us know – we’ll be tweaking it at least once daily as the season rolls on!)
As former apartment-dwellers, we particularly appreciate balcony brightness – and you can find a lot of it around West Seattle, especially along Harbor and Alki – but this trio of balconies is from California Avenue just south of Morgan Junction. We’re still scouting for lights and happy to get your suggestions; besides the new archive of featured lights, we also have created a map locating every place we’ve shown – click on each marker and you’ll see its location as well as a thumbnail photo. We’ll continue to update the map as each night goes by. (One more holiday note – it got a bit lost in the weather coverage but we posted our annual West Seattle Christmas tree price check yesterday afternoon.)
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