Alki draws on its past, builds for the future

Heidi Fish bends down and takes a yellow bikini out of a container at her feet. The turquoise one-piece bathing suit and matching visor she wears glisten.

She weaves a hanger through the bikini and hooks it to one of the metal fixtures she has just finished setting up on the sidewalk across the street from the beach. "I specialize in large-busted women," Fish says of her swimsuit line, which she sells on sunny days from this makeshift booth. "They all find me. I think it's 'cause I do custom."

Welcome to Alki Beach.

Down the road just a bit, on the bike path that follows the beach, a young woman pedals a rented blue buggy, which looks something like a human-powered go-kart. She breathes hard, pushing two small girls who sit up front, their hair whipping in the cool sea gusts as they laugh and yell and duck the swooping gulls above.

Across the street, Gary Cobb sits outside a small white trailer, surrounded by buggies, two-seaters and four-seaters, lined up at Randy's Rentals. Cobb, wearing a tanktop, a stud sparkling in his earlobe, looks out over the beach and grins. "This is a single man's paradise down here, I'm telling you," he says, rubbing his goatee. Besides the paycheck, he says, this extra job at the rental business gives him a great view of the women who visit the beach.

Many people know Alki this way, as the West Seattle hotspot for neon sport bikes, for sunbathing teens and bare-chested volleyball players. It's the strip that required an ordinance to quell the parade of cars cruising Alki Avenue Southwest. It's the beach where radios are banned. It's the stretch where Officer Mark Spadoni constantly writes tickets for booming car stereos.

But this is only Alki's most recent incarnation and, considering the trends, possibly its past.

Alki is also known as the city's birthplace. As a monument at the beach proclaims, Alki is where the first settlers landed and, with the help of the Duwamish Indians, formed "the little colony which developed into the city of Seattle."

That was 1851. Today Alki has become the center of a frenzied gentrification. Developers have demolished many of the cheerful cottages that once defined the beach, replacing them with massive condominiums and fancy single-family homes.

And somehow, within the simultaneous existence of the neighborhood's past and future, Alki has forged an identity drawing upon both: a museum, an art house, fish-and-chips joints, sandy beaches, sidewalk vendors, trendy new restaurants, quirky old restaurants, coffee shops, smoothie shops, volleyball courts, bicycle and rollerblade paths.

That's a lot to do in a relatively small area. The bulk of Alki Beach's activities fall within a stretch of about 10 blocks, making it the perfect place to park the car and spend the day. There's lots of free parking along Alki Avenue Southwest, the main drag, and plenty more on 63rd Avenue Southwest.

People come for different reasons. For Matt Manzano, who lives in West Seattle, it's the bench on which he's sitting, surrounded by a grassy plot of picnic tables and grills. Actually, it's what he can see from the bench on which he's sitting, Alki's greatest attraction of all, the one that has not changed from Chief Seattle's time to our own: The splendor of Puget Sound. "I just come here sometimes in the morning to catch the beautiful weather and watch the ferries," Manzano says.

A few yards to his right, a miniature Statue of Liberty glows in the sun. Her torch held high, she's stood before the Sound since a group of Boy Scouts presented the seven-foot replica to the city in 1952. After Sept. 11, Seattleites brought her their flowers and their grief.

A wealth of activities

Running past Manzano and the statue are separate travel lanes, one for walkers and joggers, the other for bikers and skaters (and even the occasional buggy renter). The pleasant view and cool breezes attract plenty of exercisers.

If you'd like to join them, consider the Elliott Bay Water Taxi as an alternative transportation route to Alki. The water taxi travels between Pier 54 on the downtown Seattle waterfront and the Seacrest dock in West Seattle, which is just a couple of miles from the heart of Alki Beach. The water taxi, cutting briskly across the bay at about 15 knots, makes the trip in about 10 minutes. The views of the Seattle skyline are fantastic from the bay, but you should only consider the taxi if you're bringing rollerblades or a bike, which are welcome; it's a long walk to Alki from Seacrest and locals say the bus service is spotty — Metro no longer operates a shuttle that once connected the two points.

Alki has a lively volleyball scene, but get there early on weekends, when courts fill up fast. And along with a ball, bring a net. The beach provides several sets of metal poles and sandy courts, but that's it. If you arrive late, you may also be able to hook on with a pick-up game. Note that the skill level at Alki is quite high and the games get competitive. "There's a couple of guys who are pros," says Stein Willanger, his blonde hair rubber-banded straight up from the top of his head like a mushroom cloud.

For those whose recreation runs to the more mellow, Alki has plenty of sandy beaches for sunbathing, reading and picnicking. Some visitors swim, but average water temperature tops out at only 56 degrees. A good, though somewhat distant, swimming alternative is the combination salt- and fresh-water Colman Pool at Lincoln Park, a 10- to 15-minute drive away. The pool is heated to a comfortable 84 degrees and, surrounded by a see-through plastic fence, offers incredible views of the Sound.

Plenty to eat

Located directly across Alki Avenue Southwest from the Statue of Liberty is the Liberty Deli, where it's obvious that proprietors Tom and Bob Ansart miss their home. From the print of the skyline on the wall to the Boar's Head meat in the cooler, the Ansart brothers' store is a testament to New York City. It's not Broadway, but the deli even includes a tiny stage in the corner and offers dinner and a show every Friday and Saturday night for $29. Dinner, usually corned beef and cabbage, is served at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts an hour later. Reservations are recommended. Tickets for the show alone are $15.

Up around 60th Avenue Southwest you can find the local delicacy at Spud Fish & Chips. Place your order at the stainless-steel counter then shuffle to your left and pick up your food. Head upstairs and claim a spot in front of the windows that overlook the water. Three pieces of halibut and fries plus a regular soda came to $11.08 with tax. Another good option is Sunfish Seafood, at 62nd Avenue Southwest.

Plenty of good restaurants in the neighborhood offer more upscale options. Try La Rustica for gourmet Italian.

Yes, the beach has the requisite Starbucks and Tully's. But there's also Homefront Smoothies & Espresso, which offers 11 different types of smoothies. Try the Berry Beach Bash with yogurt. A delicious, not-too-sweet treat for about $3.

No matter what restaurant you choose, consider taking your food over to the beach, where the many logs make perfect seats. Unless you're having a meal at the Alki Homestead Restaurant, which serves only dinner.

Outside, the restaurant still resembles the log cabin that was built in 1904. Inside it resembles, well, the spirit of Doris Nelson, who has owned the Homestead for 42 years. Nelson describes the décor as "old world," with the pink tablecloths, the shaded lamps and the giant hearth. "It's kind of European," she says. "Always cozy."

And how would she describe the food? "Soul food." Well, sort of. The Homestead specializes in fried chicken and everything is served "family style," which means in serving bowls. All the entrees include salad and sides such as mashed potatoes, green beans and gravy. And if you can eat it all, you get free seconds.

A trip through history

Back when the Homestead really was a home, it had a carriage house. Today that building houses the Log House Museum on 61st Avenue Southwest. The museum features an exhibit through Labor Day that focuses on the first white settlers who landed in 1851.

"The Spirit Returns" exhibit also looks at the lives of the Duwamish tribe before the arrival of the landing party. Among other artifacts, the exhibit includes a replica of the Exact — the settlers' boat — a quilt, a family bible and also Native American baskets and tools found during an archaeological dig.

Another piece of the beach's history still in use today is the Alki Point Lighthouse, located at 3210 Alki Ave. S.W. The lighthouse was originally constructed in 1887 and was rebuilt in 1910. Now automated, it can be seen for 15 miles. Tours were offered in former days, but no more.

Back near the statue stands the Alki Bathhouse Art Studio. Looking out on the Sound inspires. No wonder, then, that 30 years ago the old bathhouse was transformed into a center for painting and pottery. Stop in and view the art, much of it for sale, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Some things change

Don Wahl has owned Alki Mail & Dispatch for 13 years. Looking out from his green-shingled coffee bar/office-services/post-office-box store, he has watched the neighborhood change in that time, watched the new houses go up, then the corporate-looking eateries serving focaccia sandwiches.

"That's my demographic, those are the people shipping and faxing and sending out résumés," Wahl says of the newest Alki residents. Sure it's different, he says, but "there's still very much a community feeling. It's changed, but it's still a community."

The new growth doesn't seem so bad to Scott Ekvall, either.

He knows that many people worry about rising housing costs and loss of character, but to the construction supervisor it's a living. "We maybe take a different stand than some," he says quietly, arms folded in front of a half-built, three-story, glass-front condominium. "If we could afford to live here, maybe we'd feel different about it."

Ekvall works for Constructive Energy, a local construction company he says builds three to five houses per year in West Seattle. He figures the work won't dry up around Alki any time soon. "There's valuable property here with old homes on it," he says, his crew hammering and sawing around him. "They're tearing them down and putting up new."

Cheral Good lives in just such a home. She pays about $1,200 a month for a tidy one-bedroom apartment directly across from the water. Below her is another apartment that rents for a bit less. Behind her building stands a similar cottage-style structure that also houses two apartments. All the tenants will have to move soon. Good's landlord is selling, and why not? The combined asking price for the two 6,000-square-foot lots is $1.15 million. Of course, you can buy them separately, but that's unlikely to happen, says Kathy Pritchard, the real estate agent selling the property. Together, the two lots are zoned to accommodate a condo or apartment building with up to 10 units.

Some things remain the same

So Alki Beach is changing. That's of no concern to Remus and T.J. Swain. The father and son have never much liked all the flash and noise anyway.

They prefer a spot farther up Alki Avenue Southwest, away from most of the people. They sit there on a park bench talking quietly, T.J., 19, up on top of the backrest, his feet on the seat, his father sitting down below him. They look out over the Sound, the sailboats bobbing, the tiny whitecaps breaking gently in Elliott Bay and, off in the distance, the snow-tipped Olympic Mountains in the grip of hazy clouds that cling like dew.

"Nice doesn't express it," Remus says suddenly. "There's no words for this." His son simply nods.

All this has yet to change.

John Wolfson: 206-464-2061 or jwolfson@seattletimes.com.