Alki and Genesee Neighborhoods of West Seattle

The fog never burned off this morning as my husband and I walked 4.9 miles in the quiet Alki and Genesee neighborhoods of West Seattle. The streets in this area are almost a grid but we still took a roundabout walk (there may be something about West Seattle that makes me meander) starting in the Alki neighborhood overlooking Me-Kwa-Mooks Park. According to the Seattle Parks Department website: "Me-Kwa-Mooks, meaning "shaped like a bear's head" and pronounced sbuh-KWAH-buks in the Nisqually dialect, is what the Duwamish tribe called the West Seattle peninsula when the first European-American settlers landed at Alki in 1851. Today's Me-Kwa-Mooks Park is land that was the homestead of West Seattle pioneers Ferdinand and Emma Schmitz."

Many homes in this area probably have great views but the fog was so heavy that we missed them.  We did see some lovely streets...

...and homes and one of the nicest monkey tail (araucaria araucana) trees I've ever seen.

Most of the homes in the Genesee neighborhood were more modest but some had lovingly tended gardens.

We encountered a few good hills

and a large lot at the corner of 48th and Charlestown the Charlestown Community Garden. The property belongs to Providence Mt. Saint Vincent who gave the neighbors permission to start a garden on a portion of the field.

We spotted another food garden

on the property of the Genesee Hill School (which appears to be closed but it looks as if the new Schmitz Park Elementary will be built here and is set to open in 2015).

Our route bordered on Madison Middle School (pictured in a prior post) and the current Schmitz Park Elementary.
It seemed appropriate to have schools around because this looks like a family neighborhood and we did see evidence of children being around.

This looks like another great Seattle neighborhood.