Brave bicyclist

May 17, 2006 2:16 am

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| Transportation | West Seattle news

Some weeks back, as we walked past the front of Aaron’s Bicycle Repair in Morgan Junction, we saw a hand-lettered sign on the store door that said “Gypsie was hit by a car.” We’ve often stopped to look through the window at the store’s resident cats, so we quickly made the assumption that “Gypsie” was one of them.

How wrong we were. This article says “Gypsie” is one of the shop owners, who’s battling back from quite an ordeal.

(Though my bike’s been in the basement for years, I’ve long felt fondness toward Aaron’s, because even at the height of anti-monorail mania, they were among the few who proudly and prominently displayed pro-monorail posters.)

Trying to save a tree

May 16, 2006 4:17 pm

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| Development | Environment

Maybe you heard the saga of the older lady who spent some time today sitting in a tree near Alki, trying to protect it from further hacking. I don’t know if this particular tree is such a cause worth fighting for, but I certainly sympathize with the escalating loss of our urban forest. Personally, if I had been Cindi Laws, I would have held a sit-in in that splendid garden she had, now a long-forgotten ghost on yet another spot claimed by condos.

(Wed. morning update: here’s a link to the tree lady’s story.)

No need to wait for “The Bite”

May 16, 2006 3:32 am

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| West Seattle restaurants

The Seattle Center’s big food fest is still weeks away. But just one week from tonight, you can check out the Taste of West Seattle — with proceeds going to a great cause. (Tickets on sale now!)
Can’t tell if they’ve had this fundraiser before; I don’t remember anything big under the banner “Taste of West Seattle” since a short-lived mini-“Bite”-style event quite a few years back.

Fizzle, not sizzle

May 15, 2006 7:49 pm

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| WS miscellaneous

So much for the “heat wave” … didn’t hit anywhere near 80 ’round these parts. West Seattle Blog World HQ was comfy throughout the evening, even the parts of the bunker exposed to direct sunshine out of the west. However, it’s definitely time to switch from hot espresso drinks to iced espresso drinks. And if you’re into sugary (er, corn syrupy) soda, don’t miss the “four 12-packs of Pepsi products for $9” coupon in the Fred Meyer insert from last Sunday’s paper. (We alternate trips between the really nice Fred Meyer in Ballard, aka West Seattle North, and Burien, aka West Seattle South.)

If Alki gets too crowded

May 15, 2006 3:24 am

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| Environment | West Seattle beaches

The first impulse, if those record-high temperatures really do materialize late this afternoon, will be to flee for the beach. Alki will likely be a madhouse. So here are a few alternatives you might consider:

–Lowman Beach. Cozy, quiet, beautiful. Not much parking, though, so walk/bike/bus if you can.

-The beach just west of Seacrest Boathouse. Steep and rocky but the boathouse area in general, with the pier and its downtown vista, is a nice place to hang out, and there’s good bubble tea across the street.

-Or drive a bit south to Burien and check out Seahurst. Also a bit parking-challenged, but there’s an overflow lot up the hill a short way.

Remodeling must be tough

May 14, 2006 10:17 am

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| West Seattle restaurants

Scenes from the Junction, on the way to and from the Farmers’ Market:

-Cupcake Royale’s still got a lot of work to do before that grand opening party Thursday … IÃ‚Â suspect they’ll be burning the midnight oil.

-Up the block at the former Neilsen Florist store, the posted liquor license application mentions the business name “Think Tank LLC.” Haven’t been able to trace that one yet. But a glass company has grease-penciled onto the butcher-papered door, “WE WERE HERE AGAIN FRIDAY (AFTERNOON), NOBODY HERE AGAIN.”

4 things to do in West Seattle today

May 14, 2006 8:58 am

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| WS miscellaneous

-Go to the Farmers’ Market (10 am-2 pm).

-Decide whether you want to recruit somebody for the Hi-Yu Pageant (deadline tomorrow) or perhaps protest it as a last remnant of sexism (hey, after all, the Miss America pageant is in its last gasps). BTW you will never catch me trashing the Hi-Yu Parade. Beauty queens or not, I love the parade. Hope you’ll join me on the sidelines (July 22).

-Stake out a spot on Alki for tomorrow’s impending heat wave.

-Practice cooling off by going to public swim at Southwest Pool (4 pm).

Clash of the Cupcakes intensifies

May 13, 2006 7:35 pm

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| West Seattle restaurants

Thanks to tipster Deborah for the news that “Coffee to a Tea with Sugar,” across the street from the about-to-open Cupcake Royale, isn’t just painting “cupcakes” on the window to meet the challenge — it’s rebranding entirely. We drove through the Junction and verified her tip that CtaTwS is rebranding itself “Sugar Rush Baking Company” — that’s painted across the top windows (though the door has the original name, which I have always found so emetic that I haven’t been able to try the place). Gotta wonder if the May 10th review planted here is another form of combat.

The wild, wild outdoors

May 13, 2006 3:11 pm

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| WS miscellaneous

Taking a brief break from all that sunshine … Our neighborhood positively roared with the sound of lawn mowers and weed-whackers, mixed with the chugging of cars en route to the garage sales dotting every block. One member of the WS Blogger Clan managed to purchase that best-of-all garage sale souvenir … a knick-knack whose true purpose in life is entirely mysterious … even the seller had no idea what it was for.

Colonization

May 13, 2006 9:09 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle restaurants | WS miscellaneous

Finally the pattern in all this new restaurant/bar activity has dawned on us … We’re getting colonized by North Seattle.

When we got here more than a decade ago, the persistent perception seemed to be that “no one who’s SOMEONE would want to live THERE — it’s boring, out of the way, rolls up the sidewalks even before the sun goes down.” The population out here was dominated by old folks who’d bought their houses during the real-estate boom around World War II.

But the secret they kept was the true desirability of this side of the bay — water access, fabulous views, proximity to the rest of the city without quite so much urban density, noise, blocked sunshine, and so on. We saw it when we got here, and as the for-sale signs started going up (we had a morbid joke that you could find a new one by following the aid cars around), other “young” (subjective term, we know) people followed us.

What lagged was culture and services for a younger, livelier, better-off population. But now, somebody’s turned on the tap. We started thinking about this after a reputable tipster e-mailed us that he’s heard Queen Anne’s Bricco wine bar is opening an outpost next to Cupcake Royale (could be the space formerly occupied by the used bookstore — we hadn’t even realized that store had left).

The cupcake folks, of course, are from the north side. So are the Matador people whose business is booming just a bit further north on Cali Ave. According to this article, the people behind Talarico’s run successful nightspots in Fremont. Down on Alki, the ex-market is turning into a Cactus Restaurant, previously known only to folks in Madison Park (and Kirkland).

These are just the most recent examples. The colonization of West Seattle REALLY started with a couple of watershed events — Pagliacci opening in the Junction (can we whine again about their delivery-area borders? thanks) and Starbucks expanding beyond the lone Admiral store that for years after we got here remained its only presence in WS. True!

On one hand, we’re happy that WS is finally considered hot ‘n’ happening. On the other, we’re personally feeling a little left out, since we’re not in the snack/sip/hookup demographic many of these places are targeting. But overall, it makes WS a livelier place than the old days dominated by drugstores and diners, no question, and WSB World HQ can at least enjoy the resulting vibes by osmosis!

Quick reminder

May 12, 2006 4:49 pm

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| WS miscellaneous

Back with more later tonight … but first … a reminder … tomorrow’s the Letter Carriers’ Food Drive; do some good without even having to leave your house/apartment/wherever — fill a bag with nonperishable food ‘n’ put it out where you pick up your mail.

Trashing the tunnel

May 12, 2006 3:31 am

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| Transportation | West Seattle news

Sorry I didn’t know about this meeting ahead of time; sounds like a chorus in which I could easily have sung — I’m also in the “tunnel schmunnel” section, although, as I’ve mentioned, I’m more a fan of the “third option” at the moment. Not that I’ve done any scientific studies or anything, it just seems like something we can get done quicker and cheaper.

(Side note with calendar relevance: The only time each year I actually feel warm and fuzzy about the viaduct is when I get to walk on it. The WSB team always signs up for that event — WSB Spouse and I are both “adult orphans” whose moms died of cancer, and it’s become our way of paying tribute to them each summer.)

This is not the site you’re looking for

May 11, 2006 5:41 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle restaurants

A fair amount of folks find this site because they’re searching for more on some of the new local businesses I’ve been tracking in recent months. Glad to “meet” you all — we’re happy to be “stumbled onto” that way. But OTOH I feel bad that everyone can’t find the exact sites they’re looking for — such as, for heaven’s sake, why doesn’t Talarico’s seem to have a site? (If they do, it’s certainly not coded to come up anywhere in the search results.) I did want to mention, however, that Coyotes on Alki has a bare-bones site up, at least.

Wrist slap

May 11, 2006 3:30 am

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

You know, it’s only sports, for God’s sake. Did they really wimp out because of fears somebody would SUE? Fine lesson THAT teaches our next generation of adults.

This just flat-out sucks

May 10, 2006 5:51 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

From the WS Herald: WSHS cancels 9th-grade honors program.

Seattle Public Schools leaders wonder why enrollment keeps dropping. That’s because they offer nothing for the people who have the resources to make a choice. Check out the 12th paragraph here — what in the world could an educator possibly have against spending some time working with bright kids? Practically right across the street from WSHS, the district’s “Spectrum” program manages to hang on, despite outright hostility and neglect from district leaders. You can bet the parents of those kids are trying mightily to save for private school in later years, now that the district has flown the “we’re not even going to try to keep your kids challenged in high school” flag.

In this case, it doesn’t even sound like a case of money trouble for the district. Just flat-out indifference to the very real needs of gifted kids, and other high achievers. Getting off my soapbox now, but my blood’s still a-boil …

Grand opening

May 10, 2006 3:00 am

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| West Seattle restaurants

The Cupcake Royale mailing list just yielded an announcement of the Junction “grand opening” party next week. (Not that I’m any great cupcake fan — cupcakes make me think of childhood birthday parties, no hugely fond memories there — I just got on the mailing list to track our latest local arrival.) Here’s the text, in case this sounds like fun to you:

We’re almost ready to open our doors in West Seattle so we’re going to throw a party to celebrate! Naturally you’re invited, so plan on hanging with us from 6-9 pm on Thursday, May 19th. It’s our treat, so there will be FREE CUPCAKES, FREE COFFEE, AND DJ E.R. spinning the tunes. It happens one night only, so come on by or hear about it from your friends afterward.

We’ll be opening for official business starting May 19th. We’ll be open in West Seattle from 6 am until 10 pm every day.

Non-food “franchise”

May 9, 2006 5:32 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle religion

Looks like one of the mega-churches within the Seattle city limits is branching into West Seattle. Doxa on 35th apparently started as a “church plant” from the trendy Mars Hill Church in Ballard; now we’ve read in a few spots that Doxa will be rechristened Mars Hill-West Seattle (and in fact, when we drove through the area earlier this week, the Doxa logo was gone from the sign). We’re all for spiritual diversity; just wish this side of the bay could get a vibrant New Thought church going gangbusters as well …

End of yet another era

May 9, 2006 3:14 am

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| WS miscellaneous

Totally forgot about Larry’s Markets’ brief, doomed venture into West Seattle till the mention deep inside this story about Larry’s bankruptcy. But the recovered memory reblooms vividly: Summer 1995, venturing over to that space where the Roxbury Safeway now holds court, to check out “LoBucks” — loved the idea of Larry’s treats like brownies being available over here, but the store just stunk. Literally. Couldn’t set foot in it a second time. And soon it was gone.

As for the entirety of the Larry’s demise, it saddens WSB Spouse and I a bit. In our early years here, long before Metropolitan Market and other rivals, we used to drive all the way over to Queen Anne just to enjoy favorite dishes from the Larry’s deli. A couple times in the past two years or so, we went back in hopes of recapturing the magic — and it just wasn’t there — many trademark cold salads and marinated chicken varieties had vanished — even the trademark brownie trays were hard to find. So we stopped going. And apparently we weren’t alone.

And ANOTHER restaurant?

May 8, 2006 7:42 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle restaurants

After a cruise through the Junction tonight, en route to chilly, windy Alki, I went back to the city permit site to look for clues to what’s behind the butcher paper now covering windows at the old Neilsen Florist shop. Lo and behold … all signs point to another restaurant.

Meantime, to the south along Cali Ave, a cupcake war seems to be shaping up. Just as Cupcake Royale starts flashing more gang signs as it gets closer to opening, we’ve spotted the folks at nearby Coffee to a Tea With Sugar throwing down by adding the word “cupcakes” to its window decor.

If you love garage sales …

May 8, 2006 3:06 am

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| WS miscellaneous

… be sure not to leave West Seattle next Saturday; our side of the bay will be in the spotlight that day (May 13) as the Garage Sale Capital of the World. The folks from Megawatt were out at the Farmers’ Market yesterday with reminder leaflets.

The WSB clan is not much for garage-saling; we bought our house from someone who apparently made most of her living having them, and for months afterward, we were rudely awakened many weekend mornings by people asking when we were going to start putting out the stuff. So we won’t be among the sellers, but we might try a little browsing!

Farmers’ Market report

May 7, 2006 4:19 pm

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| West Seattle Farmers' Market

Produce: Too early for lettuce (unless everything got scooped up in the hour and a half before we got there); apples and asparagus abounded.

Baked goods: TONS. WSB’s escorts enjoyed tasty blueberry scones from one booth before we found ourselves passing at least three others where we could have picked up scones, tarts, cookies, muffins, etc. Food purveyors included new mom Toby from Eats Market Cafe, with baby in front-pack. WSB Spouse picked up a $2 carton of cole slaw from EMC for tomorrow’s lunch.

Plants: Our favorite nursery is back, in their double-size booth toward the east side of the market, complete with the spiky nightshades. Not too late to get some for your own yard next week! Three for seven bucks, quite the deal. Lots of other interesting plants too. (The nursery’s name is Langley Fine Gardens, which always confuses me because they are on Vashon Island, not Whidbey — it’s the operators’ surname, not their town’s name.)
Just a few highlights. Oh, and completely unrelated plug, but I want to start hammering it early: Next Saturday, May 13, is the annual mail carriers’ food drive, another rite of spring for us. Put together a big bag of nonperishable food and be sure to put it by your mailbox Saturday morning — set yourself an Outlook reminder or whatever you need to do; it’s a fab way to do a little good in the world.

What better to do …

May 7, 2006 10:06 am

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| WS miscellaneous

… on a breezy, showery Sunday morning, than go outside!?

The Farmers’ Market awaits. We want to see if the Vashon Island nurseryfolk who grow offbeat plants including some spiky nightshade varieties are back. And the lettuce that’s so tasty, it reminds you that supermarket non-organic varieties are barely a cut above green paper.

Not sure yet if we’re going to make it to the Water Taxi party. I have to arm-wrestle other members of the WSB household as to what we’re doing beyond the Farmers’ Market.

Back from the Maritime Festival

May 6, 2006 3:39 pm

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| WS miscellaneous

No doubt the cloudy, coolish weather tamped down the turnout a bit, but it’s still disappointing to see so few people show up for a fun only-in-Seattle tradition. As planned, we water-taxied over — the boat’s added some ad banners this year, including one for “coming soon” Cupcake Royale and another for “Patron Saint of the Water Taxi” Councilguy Dow — and wandered up to Pier 66. The free harbor tour switched this year from an Argosy boat to a Kitsap Ferries boat, the Rachel Marie — lots more space but fewer takers. The Port of Seattle guy who narrated had some outdated facts; he claimed six cruise ships visit every weekend during the season, but this year it’s going to be nine. As for the tugboat races, it’s always hard for us amateurs to tell from the shore exactly what we’re looking at — just looks like a bunch of tugs out there, whether it’s mid-race or not. More interesting were the pierside booths, including one plugging the tunnel option for the Viaduct replacement (an excuse to mention that another round of public meetings is coming up). Anyway, we had a good time, but I would just love to have the pier be elbow-to-elbow some year with huge crowds enjoying the festival, which for me is always the unofficial Start of Seattle Summer.

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