Seattle | Pike Place | Alki Crab & Fish Co.

I round another point toward Alki Beach Lighthouse, and the commercial center of Alki Avenue becomes subdued, residential Beach Drive; sailboats and stand-up paddleboarders dot the horizon. The sunbathers are sitting or leaning on driftwood trunks, and a family is unloading an inflatable raft from their SUV. The strict warnings to leave the local seals alone pick up the eco theme: “Give them space or they may not return. If you find a seal or other marine mammal on the beach, keep people away and call [the] Seal Sitter Hotline.”

As I continue to hug the coast, the proudly unconventional quality of the neighborhood truly reveals itself. A cottage with a full diorama complete with pirate mannequins is plainly visible behind a bay window. Another artist’s home carries a motif of blue-glass bottles — they’re arranged among the geraniums in blue ceramic pots on the sidewalk. There’s a sculpture of a tree composed of bottles, and little pirate flags are strung across an ivy arch entrance. Another inscription: “A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, nor a garden without love.”

The salty, fecund air hints of autumn, but there’s something about Seattle that puts me in mind of Thanksgiving throughout the year. The locals are irrepressibly reverent and celebratory about the gifts and sustenance of nature’s bounty and beauty. The sense of urban harvest — with attitude — is ongoing. The fresh food cum artistic vibe that characterizes Seattle certainly comes from love and sincerity, undeniable commitment … and more than a dash of bracingly rebellious — dare we say pioneer — spirit.

---

If You Go...