This weekend: Wallingford Kiddies Parade and Street Fair

Snapshot from 2006 Wallingford Kiddies Parade, originally uploaded by jwalsh.

This is it, folks—tomorrow brings what could well be the signature public event of our little 'hood. At 11am, the Wallingford Kiddies Parade begins, bringing assorted drill teams, packs of local schoolchildren, and sundry parade floats to N 45th Street. There will also be a street fair running from 10am to 5pm on Wallingford Avenue N along the west side of Wallingford Center.

As the only kid-focused event of the Seafair summer cycle, it's a nicely low-key event in comparison to speedboats and fighter jets. Plus, there'll be high-stepping drill teams galore and lots of candy-flinging marchers. Join the fun tomorrow at 11!

For more info: Wallingford Kiddies Parade and Street Fair

A recession-proof business?

Not a Number Expansion, originally uploaded by jlrose70.

Fuel prices and related hard costs have put the squeeze on many a retailer, but Not a Number, Wallingford's emporium of lefty tchotchkes (political left, not items for the left-handed), is actually expanding their empire. Whether they've stumbled upon the ultimate blue-state business model or are simply riding high on an anti-Bush bubble remains to be seen. For now, at least, Wallingford's freak flag flies high.

Dessert tidbits

Two bits of dessert-related news:

• Trophy Cupcakes has a new Wednesday flavor, no doubt inspired by the weekly farmer's market: Farmer's Market Blueberry, described as "Sidhu Farm organic blueberry cake with blueberry-infused buttercream."
• According to our spies, Molly Moon's was closed Tuesday night for a special all-hands meeting to discuss the attack plan for how to handle the hordes of people who will be descending upon Wallingford this Friday for the 4th of July fireworks. This writer shudders to think what the lines might be like for ice cream this Friday when they already stream out the door on normal weekends...
  

Swash Press

You’ve probably noticed by now that the old Apex dry cleaners’ building looks a bit different. The space has been split in two and things are changing. One new business appears to be in the building out process, but on the left half Swash Press has settled in and really spruced up the place. With a fresh coat of sunny yellow paint and a sweet window display, plus that beautiful antique letterpress in the front of the studio, owner and designer Julie Cook is making her mark on the neighborhood. I recently got in touch with Julie to find out the scoop about this new Wallingford business.

Swash Press specializes in letterpress wedding invitations and announcements for all occasions. Julie prints on one of four antique letterpresses including two table-top presses, a Chandler + Price treadle press and a Heidelberg Windmill. She designs and prints her own work but will also print files provided by other graphic designers. If you’re looking to order for a special occasion, be sure to plan ahead: letterpress printing is a labor-intensive art, and custom invitations can take up to four weeks to print. Commercial orders are processed in two weeks. If you’re interested in speaking with Julie about a custom order, give her a ring at 206.696.0685 to schedule an appointment.

Julie also gives classes where students learn the basics of letterpress printing and complete their own project, such as a greeting card or small print. The session consists of 3 three-hour classes plus a separate printing day and costs $200.00.

If you peek in the windows at Swash, you’ll notice a few shelves of wrapping paper and other goods; this is the start of what will become a larger retail section. Based on what’s in stock now, I hope it expands soon. If you're unable to stop by the studio to see for yourself, you can find out more by visiting www.swashpress.com.

Finally, because we Wallingford bloggers do love to eat, I had to ask if Julie has a favorite neighborhood restaurant. Her picks? Bizzarro, Tutta Bella, and the recently departed Chinoise. You heard it here first.

Swash Press
4515 Meridian Ave N
Seattle, WA 98103
206.696.0685

Were you aware of the Wallingford Word of the Week?

Many residents of our neighborhood have probably never realized that there is an Upper Wallingford Word of the Week. It's posted on a quiet residential block, NE 47th St between Latona and Thackeray.

For the meaning of this week's word "yomp", see the Wikipedia page.

The Upper Wallingford Word of the Week should not be confused with the more prominent Wallingford Word of the Week, at the corner of Thackeray and 44th.

I really like it when residents provide entertainment and enlightenment for their neighbors. Even though the interaction is indirect and anonymous, it still makes me feel like I'm part of a community.

Dancing with Matt video released

The new Dancing with Matt video, which includes a grand finale scene filmed at Gas Works Park on June 9, has just been released. It can be viewed at the "Where the Hell is Matt" web site.

Crosswalk art

Last autumn, I was pretty surprised when the new crosswalks went in at 45th and Wallingford, after the repaving of 45th was completed. The reason I was surprised is that the three crosswalks looked like this:

Was this some kind of new ultra-visible safety crosswalk? Or was it purely decorative?

Perhaps you have asked yourself these same questions. Well, I decided to find the answers.

It turns out that these crosswalks are made with a new product called Duratherm by a company named Streetprint. According to their website, the crosswalks are made with "inlaid thermoplastic" that can be applied in different patterns and colors. Cities across North America have been installing the decorative crosswalks. You can see in this photo gallery that most of the patterns around the country seem to be brick-inspired.

Actually, Wallingford's new crosswalks are not the first Duratherm crosswalks in the city. In August 2007, the West Seattle Herald unveiled the design for a new crosswalk at the intersection of California Avenue and Southwest Lander Street in West Seattle.

The very cool and informative Smarter Neighbors blog, which deals with Seattle land use issues in our neighborhoods, has also blogged on these crosswalks.

So are they safer? Not necessarily. The Seattle Department of Transportation explicitly states here that "textured and colored concrete is an aesthetic treatment, not a safety improvement".

I suspect we'll be seeing more of these crosswalks around the city as time goes by.

Celebrate the last day of school with Molly Moon's

Molly Moon's is celebrating the last day of school for Seattle students (today!) with a "beach" party and a new summer flavor - Creamsicle. They're also offering a today-only special of a hand-packed quart plus a dozen organic cones for $12. See details below:

molly moon ice cream: Celebrate the Last Day of School with Molly Moon's!

Joule UrbanBBQ week #3: Korean BBQ grill

Urban BBQ at Joule, originally uploaded by jlrose70.

Perhaps it was because of the first sunny Sunday in recent memory. Perhaps it was because of Father's Day. For whatever reason, this week's installment of Joule's Urban BBQ was such a success that they ran out of food between lunch and dinner. For those of you who missed out, here's a quick recap.

Urban BBQ at Joule, originally uploaded by jlrose70.

The menu:

• Korean BBQ platter (shown upper left) - kalbi (Korean short ribs), spicy BBQ pork, rice, and lettuce (for wrapping up meat, rice, and hot sauce)
• Tofu soup (off camera to the left) - tofu, potatoes, and squash in a miso-like broth
• Calamari/scallion pancakes (shown upper right) - also known as pa jeon in Korean - fried "pancakes" with chunks of calamari and onion
• Shiitake/soy vermicelli (shown bottom) - also known as chap chae in Korean - clear noodles with slices of mushrooms, carrots, and scallions and seasoned with soy sauce
• Hot dogs and potato salad (not shown) for the kids or Korean food–phobic.
  

There were also assorted sauces for dipping pancakes or seasoning your lettuce/meat wraps, plus some kimchi and whole cloves of garlic for the hardcore eaters. Also the usual array of canned, bottled, and self-serve beverages* including a corn tea, a grape "shrub," and some sort of herb-infused beverage we didn't try.

All the food was delish, apart from some slightly underdone pancakes at our table. The snow cone flavors sounded interesting, particularly the one Korean-inspired concoction, but the crowd was getting thick, so we high-tailed it out of there with only a bag of root beer–flavored cotton candy for dessert.

The lesson from today? As we swing into a genuine summer, consider sampling the Joule BBQ earlier rather than later in the day if you're at all worried about getting your fill before it's all gone...

(P.S. Molly Moon's also had a line out the door this afternoon. Things are heating up in Wallingford!)

* Note about the beverages: This was our first go at the self-serve beverages as opposed to the canned/bottled drinks. As it turns out, most of their drinks are served in concentrated form—you're supposed to pour a nearly full glass of ice water and then splash a little of your chosen flavoring in. You were not supposed to fill up a whole glass of the grape "shrub" (which turned out to be equal parts grape flavoring and vinegar) and take a swig. Remember that.

Open a business on this block, if you dare

Interest in Wallingford tends to focus on the more upscaly part of the 45th Street corridor, to the west (and out of sight) of the Erotic Bakery and the payday loans place. But there's also plenty of interesting stuff in the NE quadrant part of Wallingford, between 1st Ave NE and I-5. Pictured below is the north side of the 250 block of NE 45th Street, not far from where I live. (Click through for a clearer view.) The city of Seattle's Department of Neighborhoods has designated this building as a historical site.

This block has been sort of a black hole for businesses. True, the well-regarded Comics Dungeon (250 NE 45th) on the corner has been there for a long time and is in no danger of going out of business. (I'm a patron.) And the Hawaii General Store (258 NE 45th), which opened in 1998, seems to have staying power. But the three storefronts between these two "anchors" have been bad luck for retail, at least since Gypsy Trader moved from here to Stone Way.

252 NE 45th is currently Fast Girl Skates, a store catering to roller-derby-playing women. Pretty cool store, in a very small niche market. Before Fast Girl opened, the site was occupied by a blur of short-lived business, including Mehndi Madness (a body design spa) and Electric Heavyland (a specialized record and toy store that probably hoped to capitalize on its location next to the comics store).

The restaurant at 254 NE 45th, Istanbul Café, closed a few months ago, and the space is now for rent. If you are hoping to open a money-losing small restaurant or café, this could be the location for you. I barely remember the Safariland Café, specializing in Kenyan coffee, which came and went in the proverbial blink of an eye. Before that was the Ethereal Café, which I don't remember at all.

Of course, if you've got the right business plan, perhaps you can overcome the inexorable laws of particle physics and escape the black hole. It worked for Djan's, the fine Thai restaurant at 264 NE 45th, just beyond the Hawaii General Store.

Before Djan's arrived, this lovely craftsman bungalow was a revolving door. There was a short-lived restaurant called Hunsa House and another called Café Indonesia (I ate there once in 2000). Not sure what was there before that.

Two questions:
1) For those of you with longer or better memories, what other businesses have thrived and/or failed on this block?
2) What kind of business do you think would do well in this location?

Send in your comments!