West Seattle, Washington
29 Tuesday
As of this morning, Shoofly Pie Company is open in The Junction, in the ex-Bobby’s Hobbies spot on Cali north of SW Oregon. 
We dropped in and can tell you most of what’s on the menu right now: Pies, whole ($21-$22ish) or by the slice ($3.50 for most) including shoofly, cherry, apple, strawberry-rhubarb, lemon meringue, key lime, chocolate cream, “deep chocolate tart”; quiches (same price range) are tomato goat cheese and ham gruyere; and they’re also selling cute-looking individual chicken pot pies ($5). Espresso drinks too, as well as tea and soft drinks. The decor could best be described as simple, clean, IKEAesque, with wood tables and floor, and a fair amount of stainless steel inside to echo the outer trim. Be sure to bring cash, as a sign on the register says they’re not set up for credit cards just yet (but expect to be “soon”).
8-11 am this morning, as part of the Hi-Yu Festival, the West Seattle Sportsmen’s Club is presiding over a temporary pond outside Seacrest Boathouse, for the annual Kids’ Fishing Derby. The latest WSSC newsletter mentions some changes this year. The group set up the pond last night; we stopped by and snapped some of the fish (200 rainbow trout):
We didn’t return to Summer Fest until most of the booths were preparing to fold up for the night, but there were still sights to be seen, such as this small train display outside the train shop (note the wishing well bowl and a lizard/dinosaur chewing on a car):
North of Oregon, the “car show” near the Rat City Rollergirls‘ booth turned out to be a grand total of three cars by the time we got there. Nonetheless, this classic was a sight to see, especially with its original $2400ish price sticker in the window:
Then it was time to head closer to the water, and we found ourselves at Seacrest, where the pier bustled with crab pots and fishing rods, with cotton-candy thundercloud-wannabes behind the downtown skyline:
Seacrest will also entertain young fisherfolk in the morning at a special pond set up for a Hi-Yu event. We’ll have more on that after dawn’s early light.
OK, our early scouting party’s first report from Summer Fest in The Junction: Metro Market’s kiosk was offering free brownie samples. We’ll be going back later to look for the Rat City Rollergirls, among others.
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We don’t have details but we do know from the city fire site that the big Fire Department response downslope from Admiral was at 31st & City View. Couldn’t get any closer than the view you see below. One WSB reader says smoke could be seen from downtown for a while.
At the western foot of Gatewood Hill, just across from Seattle International Church, the fight over the last phase of a controversial townhouse project is over, after five months. We first told you about it in early February; that’s also when upset neighbors posted about it on their community website. Most of the construction carried on, except for one last slice of land below a community landmark (photo below), which we told you two weeks ago was going to an appeal hearing.
Now, the appeal hearing is off because of a settlement the developer reached with neighbors. Click ahead for full details about what’s in the deal:Read More
-Got $5 million? Get a historic waterfront home — the Colman estate at 9343 Fauntleroy (in Laurentide, south of the ferry dock). Its roots trace all the way back to Fauntleroy’s original development; a bit more history is here.
-If you only have about half that, you can still buy Fauntleroy property — this apartment building just north of Lincoln Park is now on the block.
-In the Admiral District, the city has just accepted the application for a 4-story mixed-use (retail and residential) building @ 2310 Cali, the eyesore-ish plot just south of Yen Wor/Admiral Pub.
Thanks to Jerry from JetCityOrange for sending pix of tree trouble at Admiral/49th/Lander yesterday. Hope nobody got hurt!
Summer Fest is of course the headliner, but this weekend also features the dinner/auction to save the Community School of WS site from going condo, DNDA’s big art auction, Sunday morning classics at Admiral Theater, low tides, and more … Click for the full list, as always:Read More
Tonight’s sunset managed to trump last night’s; here’s the view from Charlestown Hill, after we wandered The Junction checking out Summer Fest setup (lookin’ good, especially the Elliott Bay Brewing Co. outdoor area, which was already in full swing, including live music):
Decided to revisit The House With The Sign, on this day of particularly notable news…
Just so you’re not startled trying to drive through The Junction tonight or tomorrow morning even before the festival begins — the city reminds us that the road closures for Summer Fest kick in at 6 tonight and continue till late Sunday night. (And in an outside-WS note, if you need to travel to the Eastside, remember this is one of those “520 bridge shutdown” weekends, 11 pm Friday till 5 am Monday.)
One side of the marquee atop Java Bean Coffee on Avalon pleads, SAVE OUR CROSSWALK!!!! The crosswalk in question is in the foreground of this photo, near a bus stop and a stretch of Avalon where many patrons of Java Bean and neighboring Luna Park Cafe have to park (and cross) since those businesses have a small lot:
We wrote Java Bean boss Tony Hoyt to find out what’s going on. He pointed us to this city Transportation Department webpage, which says in part:
SDOT has completed a technical analysis of the unsignalized marked crosswalk at SW Avalon Way and SW Orleans Street. This crosswalk no longer meets our recommended guidelines and will be removed.
Which makes no sense to Tony, who summarized the situation this way in a group e-mail he sent out this week:
The city of Seattle wants to remove the crosswalk from in front of the West Seattle Java Bean. A few years ago they removed a flashing, yellow caution light from above the crosswalk and one of my employees was struck by a car and nearly killed. Now they want to remove the crosswalk entirely. This crosswalk is 50 feet from two Bus stops and the city just installed two sidewalk cut away ramps last summer… now they want to remove the crosswalk. I guess this will make it safer for those older folks and citizens in wheel chairs to cross the street.
Tony says it would make more sense to restore the overhead warning light than to remove the crosswalk. We found an even more impassioned account (including more on what happened to the accident victim mentioned by Tony) written up here. Meantime, even though the city webpage makes this sound like a done deal, they’re still asking for comments; click to e-mail them.
A WSB reader is a little leery about a door-to-door security-system salesperson that hit his neighborhood this week; he did some research and wants to share it with you in case you get a similar visit. Read More
For anyone still wondering about the power problems in south West Seattle last weekend — Scott Thomsen from City Light told us what caused the biggest outage Saturday morning: an underground cable failed and had to be replaced. Apparently this happens from time to time; cables’ insulation can go brittle because of “heat and other environmental conditions.”
Now, the real challenge: Sleeping in a house that hasn’t let go of the afternoon heat yet. In case you face a similar challenge, here are three final photos for the day. First, the incredible neon sunset, photographed from the top of Gatewood Hill:
Next, a view of Duwamish Head before the sun went down, photographed by Bill Barna:
And from 35th and Roxbury, a tropical — and appropriate — window decoration.
OK, off now to stuff ice cubes in the pillowcase …
More than two dozen heat-braving souls just wrapped up the first of two meetings led by an earnest Alki couple, Libby and Paul Carr, who are trying to salvage the stalled Alki Statue of Liberty plaza project. Ultimately, the final say on the future of this West Seattle icon rests elsewhere …Read More
The old Neilsen Florist building on the north edge of The Junction is one step closer to transformation into Shadowland: The neon just came off the old sign (photo below), and a knowledgeable source tells us it was offered to the Neilsen family. (This is just down the block from Shoofly Pie Company, which opens this Saturday, if your calendar’s not already marked!)
Are we SURE we really want to whine about the heat (97 at the official gauge at Sea-Tac as of 4 pm, a new record for this date)? Consider what had hit us half a year ago (photo from Upper Fauntleroy, Jan. 11, 2007):
The city is selling some of the old street signs it has been replacing (we’d estimate two-thirds of the signs around WS already have been replaced). The inventory list (with prices) includes some WS signs.
Thanks again to eagle-eyed goat-spotters for letting us know Rent-A-Ruminant (read a recent article about them) is in action along Admiral. Here’s the photographic proof:
Sorry we just woke up to something the rest of blogland has been chattering about for, well, hours … Since it’s 7/11, you can get a free Slurpee at 7-11. In WS, 7-11s are on Harbor Ave, at 35th/Avalon, Admiral south of Cali, Charlestown/Cali, and Cali/Erskine.
… big high temperature coming … It’s 7 degrees hotter than it was this time yesterday (Boeing Field 84 now, 77 24 hours ago). Our refuge suggestion this hour: Indoor swimming @ Southwest Pool & Community Center. (Public swim coming up at 1:30 pm!)
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