Fauntleroy Neighborhood of West Seattle

Beautiful views greeted me and I got to see a few ferries sailing on the beautiful blue waters of Puget Sound today as I walked 7.9 miles in the Fauntleroy neighborhood.

Filling in streets between 39th Avenue and Fauntleroy Way SW, I passed the Fauntleroy Ferry dock (pictured in a prior post), noting that the Barton Street Pump Station Upgrade was in progress, that there is a Rapid Ride stop at the ferry dock and that there are many parking restrictions along this stretch of Fauntleroy.

This walk took me along hilly streets, some with underground utilities.

Lincoln Park, north of the ferry dock, is home to Colman Pool (an olympic-sized, heated, outdoor, saltwater pool with a giant tube slide) and many trails.

The rest of the area is residential (except where it borders on the old Fauntleroy Schoolhouse where I could see the Seattle Civic Dance Theatre School of Dance) with well-kept houses ranging from small cottages to larger, view homes. Along the way, I spotted a Beware of Coyotes sign right above a lost dog sign,

some good looking blackberries,

fish etched in concrete,

a staircase at the dead-end at 39th and Cloverdale,

a railroad signal in a front yard - the base indicated that it had been made by the General Railroad Signal Co. in Rochester, N.Y.

and some idyllic garden art.

With all the hills, this walk was a workout.

Fauntleroy and Arbor Heights

Today's 8.5 mile walk took me to the area around Fauntleroy Park. There are a few marked and a few (almost hidden) entrances to this park which is home to Fauntleroy Creek and a number of trails.

Kilbourne Park is not too far west of Fauntleroy Park. The western edge of today's walk offered peek-a-boo views of the Sound.

The eastern edge was 35th Avenue SW and included streets I had already walked. They were the only commercial streets but, even an auto repair shop had room for a planter.

Just east of 35th, I spotted what looked like a number of small, flat-roofed, adobe houses.

Along the northern edge, I noted the old Fauntleroy Public School (now housing a number of services including Synergy Home Care and Fauntleroy Children's Services),

the Hall at Fauntleroy (available for rental)

and a water tower.





For the most part, homes are modest but some of the gardens are lovely.

This area is home to the West Seattle Church of Christ,

Seattle Gospel Assembly,

Fauntleroy Church,

the Fourteenth Church of Christ Scientist,

Brace Point Pottery,

an interesting tree house,

a long, winding staircase

and a severely pruned tree.

Another quiet, residential neighborhood.

Alki Neighborhood of West Seattle

There was still a haze over the water this morning as my husband and I started our 5.2 mile walk in the Alki neighborhood. This scenic area helped me celebrate being 75% of the way to my Seattle walking goal.

We started walking along Harbor Avenue NW just south of the Don Armeni Boat Ramp and continued onto Alki Avenue SW.

According to the tide charts, it was just about half way between high and low tide when we came to some view and beach access points.

This stretch has quite a few condos/apartments

and a few hold-out single family homes.

We came to a telescope surrounded by tiles relating information about the racing canoes built for the Paddle to Seattle as part of the Native American Canoe Project. One tile quotes from S'Klallam Spirit Canoe by Duane Niatum.

We continued to Alki Beach Park before turning around and walking back to 53rd Avenue SW where we wound our way up to Bonair Drive and Massachusetts Street. We walked a few streets in North Admiral before coming to California Way which took us back down to Seacrest Park.  After purchasing two Pork Katsu sandwiches (so big that we should have shared one but so good that we finished both) at Marination Ma Kai, we went to Jack Block Park where we sat on a bench near the tower and admired the Seattle skyline. (all pictured in prior posts)

On our way out of the park, we chatted with a resident who was new to West Seattle and we all agreed that it is a friendly place.

Mount Baker

After a stop at the Repast Bakery, my pastry-loving pal and I took a walk 6.2 mile walk in the diverse Mount Baker neighborhood south of Franklin High School and east of Rainier Avenue S.



Rainier is a busy commercial street with retail stores in Rainier Square Plaza. Nail salons and ethnic restaurants abound.

The Chief Seattle Boy Scout Council Office is located along a tree-lined stretch viewable from the pedestrian overpass at S Hanford Street.

We stopped in the Mekong Rainier Supermarket to marvel at the variety of fresh foods available, noted the El Asadero food truck

and the Berean Church of God in Christ,






and admired a few murals.

We saw a proposed land use action to construct a five story public storage facility on a lot where a woman named Rose used to see roses. Walking east from Rainier Avenue, we passed homes, the lovely Courtland Place P-Patch,










the Estelle Street P-Patch abutting John Muir Elementary School,

Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church (pictured in a prior post), Gale Place Apartments, Seattle Fire Department Station Number 30,

a few staircases and a small butterfly on a lavender plant.

We saw lots of people along Rainier and quite a few near the apartment housing nearby. The western edges of Mount Baker are very different from the eastern part, not all streets are equally desirable but it all feels like a vital neighborhood.