And now, a word from our Sponsor

February 17, 2023 by 3 Comments

Hello Beach Drive Neighbors!

It’s hard to believe that we have been writing Beach Drive Blog for 16 years now! We’re kind of proud to be one of the sleepier blogs in West Seattle, mainly focusing on our neighborhood along Beach Drive. Our hard-hitting news is typically warning of potential storms or flooding, a garage sale or possibly a lost pet. It’s obvious that this is not my full-time job and my budding art career is not enough to where I can “quit my day job”…honestly, I actually quite enjoy my day job so… I was thinking that I’m probably overdue as the sole sponsor to provide a brief commercial. 🙂

I am a licensed mortgage loan officer and have been helping people with their mortgage needs for 23 years. I am employed at a privately owned, nationwide company, New American Funding and can offer just about any mortgage you can think of. You can learn more about our programs, including our cash-buyer program, on my mortgage blog, The Mortgage Porter.

New American Funding retains servicing on about 95% of the mortgages we originate, and they were recognized as #1 in Customer Satisfaction among Mortgage Services by J.D. Power last year. In other words, your mortgage will not be sold over and over again and you will continue to receive excellent service after the closing of your mortgage.

If you, or anyone you know, are considering buying, refinancing or remodeling your home and are in need of a mortgage, I would be absolutely honored to help you!

That’s it! My commercial break is over! Thank you for reading this post and Beach Drive Blog….and now, back to your regular programing!

Rhonda Porter (aka Hitch’s human) MLO-121324 | New American Funding nmls#6606

 

Filed Under: People, Real Estate Tagged With: , ,

Father looking out for Daughter

June 21, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Today while we were walking our dog along the closed section of Beach Drive, we met Will, his cute daughter and their friendly little dog. Will is trying to drum up support to have the section along Alki Point permanently closed.

As someone who lives on that stretch of Beach Drive and having to deal with racing cars an cruisers, he would like the neighborhood to be safer for all to enjoy.

You can learn more and/or sign the petition at https://bit.ly/StayHealthyAlkiPoint

Happy Father’s Day!

Filed Under: Parks, People

Human of the Week

May 20, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Ok, we all know the real heroes have been on the front lines fighting the virus…but there are individuals deserving some thanks for making our local bubble a bit better.

Anyone that walks up or down Jacobson Road lately knows the hazard of keeping a safe 6’ from other walkers, joggers, and dogs while not getting run over by vehicle coming around a corner. The upper portion of the road only has a sidewalk on the north side. That’s if you want to call the disappearing sliver of walkway a sidewalk at all due to the ever encroaching ivy and weeds. As to the shoulder between the sidewalk and vehicular traffic, a six inch white line!

Well, our Human of the Week has been working to make things better up there.


This humble human’s not looking for recognition so no need to enlarge the pic to zoom in on his identity 😉

I caught our human trimming back the holly and hedges on the south side of the street carving out some room for pedestrians to use both sides of the road near the top. After thanking him for the effort I found out he also weed whacks over a hundred yards of the notoriously bad north side starting at the fire hydrant on the top corner. He says “I just want to give people some room!”.

If you have a person you’d like to nominate for Human of the Week (aka HOW) please contact our Chief Editor, contact info is at the bottom of this blog.

Scupper, reporting for the BDB

Filed Under: Not on Beach Drive, People, Safety Tagged With: ,

Buddhist ritual helps crabbing in Area 10

June 6, 2018 by 1 Comment

Although I’m not quite sure what the karma penalties would be for catching one of the dungy’s, it was a great sight to see this Taiwanese family repatriating 30 large crabs into Puget Sound.

The grandfather and father of the newborn (on left with mother) carefully remove bands from the claws before releasing the 30 crabs purchased from a local market.

This Buddhist ritual is meant to give good health and wellbeing to the newly born child and create harmony with nature. Pretty cool!

 

Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog

Filed Under: Misc., Parks, People, Puget Sound, Scupper, Wildlife Tagged With: ,

FOUND Tomatoes & expertise on Beach Drive

April 30, 2018 by Leave a Comment

With the tease of warmer weather on the way, I imagine many Beach Drive area neighbors have tomatoes on the brain. I’m usually too late to the party and end up choosing from the picked over scrawny or wounded plants at the local nursery. Other years I’ve resorted to picking a few plants up from a big box store and wondering what type of “unfriendly” processes might’ve been used to create this mass produced Early Girl??

With that in mind, I stumbled into tomato paradise during a dog walk to Lincoln Park yesterday.

I figured this sign on the 6500 block of Beach Drive was leading the way down a driveway to a few card tables of plants. Boy was I wrong. Instead I found a couple of people working around a small green house with raised beds and several varieties of toms spread out along the garden. A polite young man greeted me and asked if he could Answer any questions I may have. I’m pretty sure he could sense that I was a tomato novice with the questions I asked… “do you have anything that thrives near water in a, um, medium large like pot about so big?”. Kyle didn’t miss a beat and grabbed a tom labeled Hot Tub. He explained that it accidentally sprouted on the west side of their house near their hot tub by the water and absolutely thrived. “Ok, I’ll take that one and also looking for a good tomato for salads?”. Kyle picked a yellow variety and explained that it retains it’s moisture better than most so it won’t mush out on your greens. He then went on to pick another variety that works perfect on a piece of bruschetta with mozzarella and olive oil… SOLD! Then came the detailed instructions in how deep to plant, prune, and size of planter/hog wire to use for stabilizing each plant for it’s anticipated size.

As was walking home with the plants, a neighbor down the block saw me and said “ah, looks like you’ve been by Kyle’s!”.

                             Kyle working on his many different varieties of tomato starters

Ok, so maybe I’m the last to know about Kyle Winslow’s Nightshade Nursery on Beach Drive. Just in case I’m not, this young man is a great source for answering any questions you may have for what toms to plant this year … and send you off with a few plants to put in the ground!

 

Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog

Filed Under: Garden, In the Garden, People, Scupper Tagged With: ,

Beach Drive Neighbor runs for City Council District 1

November 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment

GeorgeYou may know George Capestany as the person who has the three goats just off Beach Drive.

Did you know he wants to represent West Seattle on the City Council?

Here is his press release:

George Capestany  for West Seattle.  Community leader & coach, launches campaign for Seattle City Council in District 1.

SEATTLE- George Capestany, a long time West Seattle resident, active community volunteer, and US Navy Veteran launched his campaign for Seattle City Council District 1 today – Veterans Day 2014. Capestany is seeking to represent the newly established District ,  which includes the areas of West Seattle, Delridge, South Park and all the neighborhoods in between.

Capestany has pledged to be a strong voice for the citizens of West Seattle. George is focusing his campaign on representing the needs of the district 1 communities on the council, which include public safety, transportation, traffic congestion, parking, and development that affect the residents of West Seattle.  Capestany has vowed to make sure development and planning projects are in the best interest of residents and respect the unique landscape of West Seattle.

“For a long time, West Seattle residents have been left out of virtually everything that goes on at City Hall. Now we have a chance to elect one of us, a true West Seattle resident who knows our area.” Capestany said. “I will work to ensure the unique needs of West Seattle are heard and addressed.”

Capestany has pulled together a team of key business leaders and residents to assess what is important to the community. After considerable deliberation, Capestany determined he has the ability to unite all the unique neighborhoods in district 1.

Campaign Treasurer and long-time West Seattle resident, Ronald Sullivan stated, “West Seattle residents have gone too long without real representation in City politics, and as a result transportation issues are affecting the quality of life for us on the West Side.  West Seattle neighbors need to have their voices heard to ensure there are transportation alternatives, especially during the ongoing tunnel construction.  George is a proven leader who can truly represent the needs of this area on the Seattle City Council”.

Filed Under: People, Politics

Several Police Cars on Beach Drive

February 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment

 Moments ago, we counted six or seven police cars on Beach Drive by Emma Schmitz View Point. 

BD Police
 

From the West Seattle Blog:

If you’ve seen the police response near Me-Kwa-Mooks Park and are wondering what’s going on: Police were looking for someone reported to be possibly in danger of harming himself, and, according to scanner traffic, found him, and were calling in an ambulance to get him some help.

Filed Under: People, Safety

Beach Drive Neighbors Organizing to Control Raccoon Over-Population

May 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

UPDATE MAY 17, 2011: THE TRAPPING FOR THIS WEEK HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

A number of Beach Drive neighbors are interested in dealing with an over-population of raccoons encouraged by intentional and unintentional feeding by some neighbors.  There is a flyer that is being distributed to neighbors that states "if you feed them, you are responsible for their death".   

The flyer states that raccoons "are now getting into homes, destroying our yards and our food gardens, getting into our garbage cans, KILLING our pet cats…even worse, raccoons are spreading disease, including viruses, bacteria, rabies and parasites like roundworms…"   The group is investigating having the raccoons trapped and killed until the population is reduced to "one that nature can support" before it becomes an even larger issue. Apparently trapping and relocating raccoons is not an option per Washington State law.

Here is a link to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's page on Raccoons which includes important tips on what you can do to deter them in order to prevent conflicts.   And from the UW Medicine:  Raccoons: A Public Health Risk.

More information to follow as we learn more.

UPDATE:  PLEASE KEEP YOUR PETS INDOORS SO THAT THEY ARE NOT ACCIDENTALLY TRAPPED.  

NOTE:  Beach Drive Blog is not organizing the raccoon trapping – simply reporting info as we learn about it.

It's very considerate of the neighbors to have given BDB a "heads up" about this so we are all more aware of this issue and know to keep our pets in.  None of the neighbors who are in this position want to be.

Filed Under: People, Safety, Wildlife

Friday’s Beautiful Sunset is Dedicated to my Dad

December 9, 2010 by 1 Comment

I'm sorry I haven't been posting much lately.   My Dad passed away on Friday afternoon.  My sisters and I were on our deck watching the sunset when a dozen red roses tied in a gold bow appeared. 

DSC_0195

 

 

The moment after the sun set, the phone rang and it was a nurse telling us that our Dad had peacefully passed away.   Dad was 64 and had been battling various health issues including progressive lymphoma (skin cancer).

Rest in Peace, Dad.

 

DSC_0191

 

I love this time of year and posting photos of homes that are decorated to celebrate the season, friends and family.   Please email me photos of Beach Drive neighborhood homes decked out for the holidays and I will get them posted.

Filed Under: People, Sunrise & Sunset

Support Your Local Candidate for Miss West Seattle Hi-Yu!

July 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment

 KelseyButtons
Beach Drive has potential Hi-Yu royality, Miss Kelsey Porter!   Kelsey is a 2010 West Seattle Hi-Yu Senior Court Candidate representing the West Seattle Kiwanis Club.

She says:

"Hello, my name is Kelsey Porter and I'm a candidate for Miss West Seattle Hi-Yu 2010/2011 (a women's scholarship program).   One of our responsibilities is to sell buttons to help support the Hi-Yu Summer Festival.  The buttons are $1 each and feature our theme "Dreams Do Come True".

Maybe you would like one for each member of your family?

Thank you for your support, I greatly appreciate it!

I hope to see you at the American Legion West Seattle Grand Parade on July 24th."

Filed Under: Events, People
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