Beach Drive Blog

Did You Catch the Moon?

Goodnight, Moon.

The return of the Mosquito Fleet to Seattle

You're invited  on Monday, July 2 from 4:30-8:00 p.m. to celebrate the Elliott Bay Water Taxi with a round-trip voyage to Salty's on Alki Beach in West Seattle for a panel discussion and reception.

King County Councilmembers Dow Constantine and Julia Patterson will lead public, maritime labor and passenger ferry industry representatives in a discussion to highlight:

* King County Ferry District - Impact on Elliott Bay, Vashon Island and Lake Washington
* Puget Sound Regional Council passenger ferry study
* Kitsap Transit and community efforts in West Sound
* South Sound Triangle Route (Tacoma-Gig Harbor-Des Moines/SeaTac shuttle)
* North Puget Sound initiatives from Port Roberts to Whidbey Island
* Olympic Peninsula/Hood Canal passenger ferry opportunities
* Potential for a Sound-wide Interlocal Agreement to expand Passenger Ferry Service to complement the Washington State Ferry System

For more information, click here.

Thanks to WSB for mentioning ABC

Thanks again to WSB for posting about a local business The Alki Boot Camp (ABC).  I've been walking with my neighbor (aka Cat Woman)  in the mornings to Tully's for a double tall non-fat latte...but the pounds aren't coming off how and where I would like them to.   This could be my answer!  Will I have the mental strength to get up a wee bit earlier in the morning for a boot camp on the beach??   

I'll keep you posted...this sounds too interesting to pass up!

All Aboard a National Historic Landmark: The Virginia V

The Steamer Virginia V will set sail from Fauntleroy to Vashon Island on August 19...to read more, click here.

Did anyone go to the WS Emergency Preparedness event?

If you attended the Emergency Preparedness Event yesterday at West Seattle High School...would you mind sharing some of the information with your neighbors at Beach Drive Blog? 

You can either send me an email with the details and I can post it for you...or, if  you're a Beach Drive neighbor and want to post the information on your own, let me know and I'll add you as an author to BDB. 

This would be excellent information to post on this blog so many people can have access to it.

Missing Kitty. Have you seen Dingleberry?

Please help reunite this lost tabby cat with her home.   She is missed very much.    I just received an email late last night from her people asking for BDB readers to keep an eye out.   Here is what the message says:

"I live in the greenbelt between Delridge and the South Community College. Our sweet grey tabby (with a white bib and mittens) went missing Sunday afternoon. She usually always comes when I call and we often garden outside together. She is petite, skittish of children and shy of strangers. Her name is Dingleberry. Can you post this lost message? She is my baby and I am at my wits end over her absence. If seen please contact me at 206.396.3815. I've attached a photo. Please help if you can. I'm offering a reward to anyone who finds her. She is micro-chipped but she has not been reported at the shelters as of yet."

If you find Dingleberry, please contact Becky at the number above and let us know so we can update this post.   We hope Dingleberry is back home with her family soon.

Eeewww...what's that smell?

Why it's the Voodoo Lily (aka Dragon Lily) of course!   We have several in our yard...I noticed that one had bloomed yesterday afternoon when my nose picked up the distinct smell of rotting meat.    

For more information on this pretty (smelly) plant, check out these websites:

http://www.paghat.com/voodoolily.html

http://www.plantdelights.com/Tony/bizarre.html

http://daviswiki.org/Dragon_Lily

If you decide to add this to your garden, I suggest planting it away from your doors and patios!   

West Seattle Emergency Preparedness Event

June 23, 9:00 a.m.  - 1:00 pm,

West Seattle High School Theater, 3000 California Ave. SW

The Hanukkah Eve Windstorm of 2006 was another wake up call for many West Seattle residents and neighborhoods...are we really ready as a peninsula community for the next "big one"?

The Southwest Police Precinct Advisory Council has been concerned about this and working to facilitate emergency preparedness though local community groups. As a result, on Saturday, June 23, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., they will be holding a public meeting on West Seattle Emergency Preparedness. The event will take place at the West Seattle High School Theater and commons area.

To refresh memories on the significance of preparedness, keynote speaker Ken Jones, KING-5 News Senior Photographer, will share his experiences in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. After an overview of the Office of Emergency Management’s new citizen preparedness program Seattle Neighbors Actively Prepare (SNAP), West Seattle specific information will be provided by the West Seattle Police Precinct, the Seattle Fire Department and community sheltering locations.

Communications information will be provided by the West Seattle team of the Seattle Auxiliary Communications Service, which is the HAM radio citizen network organized for emergency support, Jack Mayne of the West Seattle Herald, and internet use suggestions from the West Seattle Blogger.

Several examples of differing levels of community preparedness will also be presented, featuring a speaker from Vashon Be Prepared, one of the best organized community groups in the area.

The final part of the workshop will have people break out into their geographic areas and neighborhood groupings, so they can talk about what might be done to help their neighborhood be prepared for what might come next.

This event is also sponsored by the Southwest and Delridge District councils, which are made up of 17 different community groups. Program details are available at www.morganjunction.org or by calling Cindi Barker at 206-933-6968.

Get your morning cup of Joe at Tully's

Just a neighborly reminder that all day today, Tully's is donating 20% of all store revenue to support the JP Patches statue fund and Children's Hospital.   Drink up!

Timber....

WSB just posted information about a bunch of trees that are slated to come down over Beach Drive, below a house on Atlas...to read more, click here.

Update June 18, 2007...I just came across this article in the Seattle PI about how Seattle is trying to protect trees. 

Some of the damaged West Seattle trees were on private land; others were within the Me-Kwa-Mooks Park southeast of Alki Point.

City leaders are trying to re-green Seattle by saving older trees and planting new ones on public and private property. But it's an uphill battle to grow the city's tree canopy. The amount of tree cover in Seattle has withered from 40 percent in 1972 to about 18 percent today, city officials said.