Walking Seattle Again

This crisp morning found us back in the Maple Leaf neighborhood where we walked streets between 94th and 100th from Roosevelt to 15th. We spotted a street mural, a cake decorating supply shop, a bead shop, multiple alleys, and two church buildings ( Emmaus Road and Lakeview Free Methodist  which now shares space with Iglesia Cristiana Las Americas ). We also passed some creative vegetation, ... ... the Maple Leaf Music Space which sports a colorful Henry mural and is the home of Swing By, Ev Stern's Jazz Workshop  and piano lessons, ... ... a modest house which is being knocked down and replaced by a new, larger home (asking price $1,950,000), an empty Little Free Bakery and three new Little Free Libraries (containing a mix of fiction, nonfiction, children's and tween's books). Walking east along 98th, I came to a staircase at 20th which took me down into a ravine and Thornton Creek . Continuing east to Lake City Way, I noted that the Italian Spaghetti House is now a liquo...

No city streets today, just a four mile hike in Carkeek Park . A friend who lives near this lovely park in Northwest Seattle guided me along the south trail ... ... where we enjoyed the scenery on our way up ... ... to the bluff ... ... where it is possible to sit on a bench and enjoy the view. After coming back down we obserserved salmon returning to spawn. Some appeared to be making it ... ... others didn't. We continued on to the Imprint Pond ... ... where we read a sign thanking the Suquamish Tribe for the Chum Salmon fry and eggs that are used in the Salmon in the Schools Program. At the Imprint Pond, I noticed a salmon themed manhole cover. We walked along Venema Creek, observing more salmon and the Carkeek Pump Station and Combined Overflow Facility. There are more trials in the park and I hope to return to hike them all.

After a delicious brunch at Terra Plata today, my husband and I decided to take a walk downtown. We walked between Lenora and Pine meandering between Minor and Western. The Christmas tree and star were in place at Westlake Park, ready for lighting later this week. The Starbucks in the plaza has closed but a Southeast Asian food hall has opened in Westlake Center. A Uni Glo store has opened in the old Bon Marche/Macys/Amazon office space building. Pacific Place Mall still has a few stores and restaurants but feels empty. We joined the groups of people walking down to the Pike Place Market, passing an H Mart on the way. Then we walked along Western to Victor Steinbrueck Park , marveling at the lines of people queued up to buy pastries, perogies or coffee. We admired the trees that have matured in front of the Federal Courthouse.  We noted that the Rebar has closed but the Corned Beef store is still on Howell. A Hyatt hotel has replaced the Greyhound Bus Terminal but the Moore Theater...

Either Lake City has been changing for the better or it looks better on foot than out a car window. That was my reaction today as my husband and I walked in the Cedar Park section of Lake City between 125th and 137th from 35th to Lake City Way. We were at the Fred Meyer store so decided to walk the nearby streets which have recently seen a lot of development. Maybe it was the removal of fences and equipment due to the completion of some of the projects but we now have a feel for what this busy area will look like when the rest of the projects are completed. Even Erickson Place was neat looking today; the camper vans that had been parked there on and off for the past year were nowhere in sight. Lake City Way still has a collection of auto-related businesses and a school bus parking lot. Some tidy tudor-esque buildings looked out of place and housed a driving school, a learning center and insurance and real estate companies. There were a few vacant properties and one with this new Henry ...

We were back in Victory Heights this morning, walking streets from 115th to 120th between 20th and 25th. Once again, we admired the neat street edges. Sometimes there were sidewalks and curbs on one side of the street.  Sometimes there were landscaped drainage ditches behind the neat street edge. We viewed the fir trees for which this neighborhood is noted. Its nickname is "The Place of Towering Firs." Other trees were equally impressive.   We admired November blooming roses in a traffic revision roundabout. We looked downhill towards Lake City Way. We spied a mask on a fence. Our walk was a little shy of two miles but we passed seven Little Free Libraries. The one created by St. Matthew's 7th Grade Class of 2015 had books and muffins. These libraries contained a mix of fiction, nonfiction, adults, young adults and children's books and a few of the old classics that were once required reading in high school literature classes.

An appointment brought me to Fremont today so I took a short walk through this still somewhat funky neighborhood. There were lots of new murals, residential buildings, brew pubs, upscale restaurants, and shops as well as a few distilleries. Theo's Chocolate is still there as is Dave Page Cobblers. Roxy's Diner has replaced the bagel shop on 36th. I passed what looked like a memorial, ... ... at least three sculptures made from large gears, a dance studio, the West of Lenin Theatre , a comic book store, a hot yoga studio, a guitar store, lots of outdoor restaurant seating, the "Center of the Universe" directional sign, Fremont Studios, a new UW Clinic, PCC, too much graffiti, cross walk signs that talked to me, ... ... the Lenin statue and ... ... the rocket ship. Walking along the Ship Canal, I was treated to a lovely fall scene. Taking a short staircase down to the water's edge, I came upon a mural and three benches (one with a yellow rose resting upon it) and gr...