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My favorite spot of the summer

Tomorrow is September 23rd: the official start of fall.

But just in case we have more beautiful sunny days like today, I wanted to share one of my favorite memories of this summer.

We went there for dinner with my family and out-of-town guests several times.

Why do I love this place? Two reasons: the location and the food!

On Alki Beach, on Harbor Ave, at the end of the Taxi Boat Terminal with a fantastic view of Seattle skyline.

Then the food! Korean and Hawaiian style, fresh and tasty.

Marination Makai1660 Harbor Avenue SW

 

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Around Alki Beach

What to do around Alki Beach?

If you have out of town visitors, there is a great view point above Alki Beach you may not know about. On your way to Alki Beach, take California Way SW just after the Water Taxi Dock on your left and a bit higher you’ll find Hamilton Viewpoint Park. Click on the address below to get the directions.

Hamilton Viewpoint Park 1531 California Way SW

If you are lucky, when wandering along the beach, you can say hi to the seals… but always from a distance.

And for a casual lunch or dinner, stop at Marination Makai. Read my post here: Marination Makai

Marination Makai 1660 Harbor Ave SW, Seattle

And if like me, you have a thing for ferries, sit on the beach, you will be in the front row.

If you look for a more quiet Beach, pass Alki Point and the Lighthouse to go to Beach Drive SW.

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Couple’s last wish, a city pocket park

Couple’s last wish: to turn their West Seattle home into a city pocket park

When I read this story in the Seattle Times I immediately liked it.

A West Seattle Couple wished that after their deaths, their land in West Seattle would be donated to the city to make a “pocket park”. It is a nice lot with a great view on the Puget Sound and Olympics. Their daughters agreed. The house has already been demolished and the pocket park will be ready soon to welcome people who would like to rest on benches and enjoy the view of the Olympics.

But why donate their piece of land to the city?

As read in the Seattle times, the husband “considered himself a lucky man that the King County commissioners had unanimously decided that property auctioned because of unpaid taxes would be sold only to veterans.” So he bought it for $100 in 1946 and decades later decided to “do what he thought was right”: give it back.

This notion of giving back may not be at first understandable.

Recently I read an article on line telling the story of anotherWest Seattle couple giving all their inheritance to the government of the United Seattle. People commented that they were crazy, that they should have made a donation to a charity, and so on and so forth… But when I read the story, it really made sense. Coming from Czechoslovakia, this man had survived forced concentration camps as a teenager during World War II.

After his family died there, he immigrated to the United States, where he acquired citizenship and began a great life. He was thankful for his freedom and wanted to give back to the United States of America!

At the corner of SW Willow street and 39th ave SW