Ever have one of those moments that seems to define something about your life? Or to reinforce some label you’ve given to your world?
I’ll give you an example. In 1992, a small travel agency paid me to fly to Atlanta for an event where I would represent the company as one of their writers. As I sipped a cocktail waiting for the plane to taxi down the runway, I thought, “Now I’m a real writer. Paid to travel.”
The first time I saw the Space Needle in person, I knew I’d arrived in coffee city. I’ve had some of those definitive moments in Wallingford as well. Like the night I was walking in the neighborhood with a friend and she pointed out where Dave Matthews lives. Ah yes, now I know I live in Wallingford. Cuz I know where Dave Matthews lives.
Here are a few other examples, then I’m going to ask you for yours!
You know you live in Wallingford when:
- You learn where Dave Matthews lives
- A co-worker tells you where Dave Matthews works out
- You hear that Dave Matthews gives out good Halloween candy
- You know who Caspar Babypants is, and you don’t even have kids
- You can list every business that’s ever operated out of the Fainting Goat location on 45th
- You keep reminding newcomers of the Food Giant days
- You drag a couch into the middle of Wallingford Ave on July 4th (see pic)
- You’ve seen the Lorax
- You know who the Mayor of Wallingford really is
Okay, your turn. Add your Wallingford moments to the Comments section. Play along with me now: You know you live in Wallingford when…
….when you remember what was (wasn’t) on the lot occupied by Hollywood Video/now the Wa St Liquor Store.
When you realize that Latona School and JSIS are the same school.
When you learn where the “old” Durn Good was.
…when your car is a Subaru with a roof pod and a “Wag More..” sticker, and your second car is a bicycle.
You know you live in Wallingford when you don’t think the streets are narrow, just intimate…
. . . going somewhere like Ballard feels like a big excursion
. . . you’ve memorized all the N-S street names (Stone Way to 5th Ave. N.E.)
. . . you have strong opinions on, and frequently discuss: – the festering pit on Stone Way, – exactly where the boundaries of Wallingford are, – the pros and cons of where they might put the Farmers Market
When you complain about a giant vacant hole, and then also complain about the plans to fill in the vacant hole with a building, you know you’re a Wallingfordian.
Could some of you also post the answers to these things for those of us who have lived here for fifteen years or less (like me)? I would love to know some of these things which I really just don’t know.
. . . if you remember seeing Detlef Schrempf walk his Doberman; Big Foods was Food Giant’s nickname; sledding on Big Bend; English author street names for many Wallingford streets (one is Thackeray after William Makepeace Thackeray); Sandy Bradley’s Potluck at Murphy’s; The Garden Spot; Simpatico; The Peace Heathens; the old Taco Time building; the Bagley Ave street dance; the community garden at the south end of Wallingford Playfield.
your neighbor’s bumper sticker reads “MORE KALE”
When Dave Matthews knows where I live.
@Barry — touche! @elizabeth LOL
When you remember that Gorlines and Lamont’s were the two (yes 2) corner grocery stores on N 56th, before the newbies started calling it “Tangletown” and Bill Briggs had the pharmacy across the street. Lamont’s was where Honeybear was, and where the Elysian is now. Gorlines was where the Bandolaro is now. That area was just “Wallingford” then.
Wow — thanks, Lorax!
How about if you can remember when Gasworks wasn’t a park, just kind of a toxic mess?
Or, if you can remember when there were two independent pharmacies on 45th? Lincoln Pharmacy was in the store currently occupied by the Guadalajara. The other (whose name I’ve forgotten) was where Bartell’s is now.
And how about the Fuji 10-cent store? I’m not sure I can even remember which building it was in, but it was a treasure. Ahead of the Dollar Store concept by about 50 years!
Fuji 10-Cent store was cool. That was a big adventure, looking for the special finds in their aisles. There was also a Crescent(sp) pharmacy on 45th & Latona. They wouldn’t take checks!
We really miss the lounge at the University Inn. Another Lincoln grad used to play piano there on occasion.
And, other long-timers may remember the Royal Fork, which was then Pay&Save, then Rite Aid, then razed and the Bagley Condos went up.
Lots of changes, but still the best place in the world to live!
When your kids remember playing on the old wooden structure in Wallingford park.
Who ever is Dave Mathews? and why or how is he important to the neighborhood?
When you selectively craft the boundaries of Wallingford to contain things that you feel reflect positively on you and exclude those that don’t. (e.g. Tutta Bella is totally in Wallingford, but Blue Video, no way! Wine World which has tastings with charcuterie? Definitely in the neighborhood! Puffin’ Glass and Slave to the Needle* which are actually further in from I-5? No, no. You are talking about the U District my friend…)
*Except when considering tattoos that have positive meaning with mother-earthy undertones in other cultures which I don’t fully understand, but my friends have them. Then it’s totally in the neighborhood!
Oh Chris you’ve just reminded me that my next tattoo with positive meaning and mother-earthy understones should be inked right here in Wallingford!
Sweet! Wear $165 jeans to the playground with $6 flip flops to show it off!
You know you live in Wallingford when you have a strong opinion about paintings in street intersections.
OK, lemmie see . . .
Remember the Radio Shack on Meridian? Now Murphys. And where was Murphys before that? Can you say Starbucks?
Up at “Tangletown” (yeah, right) there was a gas station (later a VW car repair) on the corner of Meridian & 56th where the Beehive is now. New York Fashion Academy was a little bit to the east, maybe where Kisaku’s is now (I think it actually started out across the street). Later on, Brie and Bodeaux was next door to where M&R Produce was. I really liked M&R. Also, some kind of wierd “artsy” place near where Zoka is. Around the corner on Meridian, next to where Diggity Dog is was a TV repair place that had a 1966 Beatles at Shea Stadium poster in the window. A real one. I keep looking for it on Antiques Roadshow.
Somebody mentioned Durn Good Grocery. They were down on 40th, just a few blocks east of Wallingford, I think.
Speaking of Fuji, wasn’t that the name of the cheap, greasy Chinese take-out (where the Library / Fremont Assn. is now)? BTW, what the heck is Fremont doing in our ‘hood?
SeattleAlan — I too miss the lounge at the University Inn! I also miss the lounge further east on 45th, in the U-District. On the north side, medieval-themed, but I can’t remember the name. Late 70s, early 80s.
Lastly, I’m sure you’ve all seen those neat photos in the Blue Star — where’d they come from? And before the Blue Star, what was there? I think it was empty for a number of years before Blue Star came in. Damn — sure wished I’d walked around with a camera some 25+ years ago!
With all the changes, I still think Wallingford is one of the neatest neighborhoods in Seattle! Homey, comfortable, unpretentious and still fairly safe. I love it here! But I still think the Babalu doesn’t fit. Sorry. And all those young people in the QFC at 5:00pm! Where’d they come from? (Ha! I was young once!)
Whoa! Sorry for the long post!
How can Babalu not fit when we also have the old Rat Hole, the Monster Sea Dragon, the Iron Bull which was a topless dance bar, Murphys which stinks and Al’s which is scary!??
Iron Bull was a topless dance bar? I knew I liked that place…
Chris @17, ironically enough, my boundaries would be gerrymandered to mirror yours. No to Tutta Bella, yes to Blue Video! Puffin Glass and Slave to the Needle I’d have to split down the middle.
Wasn’t the Bagel Spot…Bagel something in Wallingford Center about 20 years back? Am I close?
I can’t believe no one has mentioned the plastic sheets that filled the windows in the Joule/Not A Number block for years… at least it seemed like years. We referred to it as the “meth lab” block of Wallingford.
Also, there was a drug store on 45th (Rite Aid, I believe?) where the condo/mixed use building is now across from Goldie’s – I mean, The Iron Bull.
When Guadalajara’s was across the street from where it is now….
@Chuck — no apologies needed! I love all the detail you provided! Thanks for your comments!
Spot Bagel where Pharmaca is now in the Wallingford Center. I worked there in 1992 after graduating from Swarthmore, moving back here and not being able to find a job in a horrible recession.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned”
…the lack of condos on 45th as recently as 5 years ago
…the McDonald’s where Appassionato/Verity are.
…2-3 coffee shops that were independent walk-/drive-ups
…Boston Market
…when Joule was an ice cream shop, one of the few in the city (before the uber-trendy ice cream/cupcake fad)
I miss the Spot Bagel. I also liked when Tweety and Pop were on 45th, not where the indian restaurant used to be. We also had Taco Del Mar way back when. We also had a condom shop! Don’t forget that! What other neighborhood had their own condom shop?
How about the great things we do have now. The bakery with great daily specials, still have Tweety and Pop, Kates place for a real local pub, and the ever-there way expensive lamp store – Harrolds. We also have a liquor store the size of a Blockbuster across from our very own Dick’s!!!! Also, there a long time and not changed. We lost the donut shop, Winchell;s, but the taco truck is amazing!
1- GRANDMA’S COOKIES sign that was over Gasworks Park, looking south.
2- Happy that Hawaii General Store is still there. Everyone should go in there at least once. It’s a wonderful place.
ZPG! I forgot about the condom store!!! Jen, I think you must have worked with my friend Julie. I loved Spot.
The ice cream shop closed in 2003. I cannot believe I’ve lived here for eight years…
Don’t forget, too, we had a Wingdome before it turned into the Asteroid Cafe, which is now Sutra. And, I kinda miss Seattle’s Best Coffee which is now Babalu. It was a great spot for people watching. And the head shop which was either next to Kozue or is now Kozue.
Remember Macheesemo Mouse? A Portland-based “Mexican” fast food joint in Wallingford Center. 1990’s?
I like the new Muddy Cup cafe we now have, and the cafe in the church. Nice to have a couple independent shops come into the neighborhood rather than another chain, not that we don’t get them as well.
We need bagels, a bicycle shop again, and more cafes with outside seating in summer. Some widening of sidewalks. Slowing of cars.
you know you live in wallingford when you are prazctically run over while crossing in the crosswalk with the light on the way to QFC – then on the way back you are flipped off by a stressed out soccer mom in an SUV who finds your presence in a crosswalk inconvenient. (pretty sure that is not how she would hope her spawn is treated while crossing the street…)
Ok, eM — your entry has just reminded me of the thing that drives me most crazy about this neighborhood! You know you’re in Wallingford when you go to the QFC and the parking lot is lined up with cars waiting for a parking place in front of the store, and they’re all 35 and have just come from the gym. Go to the parking lot across the street, for god’s sake!
yes, and they are in giant gas-guzzling SUV’s just idling away so they don’t hav eto walk 40 feet.
Right on! Wallingford at it’s best- privilege!
Rob, I remember Macheesemo Mouse! I think I ate there once. ONCE. Somehow it occasionally becomes the butt of a joke between my husband and me (i.e. “It could be worse…it could be Macheesemo Mouse!”) We do that with The Rooster, too…long live the Rooster! Not!
Does anyone remember the Royal Fork???
Royal Fork? Yep, I was a pot scrubber there for a couple of months in Junior High days. That was a while back!
Remember when the Clark family bought the Guild 45th Theater (when there was only one). Just checking to see if anyone is as old as I am. The Clark’s lived around the corner from us in Montlake.
The reason I checked out this site is that I was cleaning out a closet and found a brown plastic bottle that contained denatured alcohol (long ago evaporated) and it was from Lincoln Pharmacy. The label has a phone number, ME 1266 (if you know what the ME stands for, you’ve lived here a long time) and no zip code. the price was 33¢ and it is written in grease pen. There is some retail history… Anyone interested in the bottle before I toss it?
there was a lovely garden store in wallingford center for years
Fuji was very fun, it was followed by a variety toy store
the Durn Good , original was where Irwins is and was very community interactive
I think the name of the condom store was “The Rubber Tree.”
I really miss Spot Bagel – I liked having a quick (as opposed to fast) food place there and they made great use of the plaza. There was a French restaurant in that spot briefly years ago that I thought was pretty good but maybe an odd fit for the space.