Chris Witwer

224 Articles

Chris S. Witwer likes to call herself Wallyhood’s “Lower Wallingford Correspondent.” Chris is a former Texan (is there any such thing?) who came to Seattle in 2005 for three reasons: weather, scenery, and coffee culture. It has taken her four years to begin to understand Seattle humor, but she’s getting there. Chris is a bureaucrat by day, and caffeine-fueled blogger when she’s not reading novels or pretending to write one. She lives with her partner, Laura, and two cats — Dolce and Molly, and uses the internet to make fun of stuff on her personal blog, http://felsputzer.wordpress.com.

Lower Wallingford Retail Burglaries

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Todd Olsen, co-owner of Solsticio cafe at Stone Way & 35th in lower Wallingford, is serving up some bitter news this weekend.  Solsticio & another nearby retail business were broken into & burglarized early Friday morning.

One of Solsticio’s floor-to-ceiling windows was smashed out & a robber entered the building, rifling through the till before absconding with the shop’s digital music player.  Solsticio doesn’t keep cash in the building overnight, so the music device & the window were the only real losses, but that’s gotta suck if they’re yours.  

SPD K-9 units traced the burglar’s scent to another lower Wallingford …

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Bomb squad in lower Wallingford

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Seattle police are currently stationed on N. 34th street at the transfer station. Rumor is that someone has placed a live artillery shell (reportedly 150mm) into the metal recycling collection. The bomb squad has been sent in to recover the shell.

Neighbors are not believed to be in any real danger from this event.

If/when we learn more, we’ll keep you posted.

Update 12:43pm:  According to SeattleCrime.com and the Seattle 911 blog and eyewitness reports, N. 34th street is open to traffic again but the shell is still onsite awaiting removal by a team from Ft. Lewis.  We don’t know …

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Last Night for Christmas Ships

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Public Service Announcement:  tonight is the last night to see the Argosy Christmas Ship™ before the ship docks for the season.  See our initial post here, or detals about tonight’s final Christmas sailing below.  See you at Gasworks tonight, everyone!

The Argosy Christmas Ship™ will stop just offshore at Gasworks Park for its final concert, sung by the Seattle Girls’ Choir – Prime Voci.  The performance is scheduled for 9:45pm-10:05pm.  Afterwards, don’t forget to swing by 39th and Woodlawn to see Wallingford’s own live Santa one last time for 2009.  Santa and elves will be spreading the holiday cheer, weather …

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Santa Comes to Woodlawn Ave.

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For about fifteen years now, Sharon and Fred Ehrig @ 3916 Woodlawn have put together one of the most spectacular yard displays of Christmas lights in Wallingford.  With 15,000 lights, reindeer (with personlized saddles), snowmen, candy canes, a rubber ducky gate, teddy bears and elves — you just gotta see this house.

And the best part — Santa.  Santa visits the porch every night from 5-9pm through December 23rd.  He hopes to stay until 11pm on the 23rd so everyone who enjoys the Christmas Ships can swing by and say hello.  Don’t be shy, though.  Many people stay in their …

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Solsticio

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The past week or so, Wallyhood readers have been treated to posts about Gypsy Cafe and (sort of) Essential Baking.  So, in the spirit of covering all the coffee shops in a single 2 block radius, we’d like to tell you about Solsticio at 34th & Stone Way.  They’re not strictly Wallingford — but they’re only a few feet on the wrong side of the boundary, so we’ll think of them as Fremont-on-the-cusp-of-Wallingford.

Solsticio opened October 1st in the old Speedy Reedy bike shop space, which is a former train station at 1100 N. Northlake Way.  They serve up organic …

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Gypsy Cafe and Pub: New Menu

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In June, I reported that the ol’ Gypsy Trader/Gypsy Java had new owners, and that in the future there would be a new menu.  And now there is.  Plus, another new name:  The Gypsy Cafe and Pub.

Co-owner Ben Steele contacted Wallyhood last week to tell us about some of the changes:

“We bulked up the menu by adding Boar’s Head meats, some new sandwiches and other items and designed a new handout menu. We are now open until midnight on Friday and Saturday nights and are trying to create a relaxed atmosphere where people can enjoy adult beverages (and …

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2009 Christmas Ships at Gasworks

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It was a dark and foggy night at Matthews Beach a few years ago, and there was a boat heading toward the shore where I stood. From the shadows of many tall, dark pine trees came scores of people wrapped in winter attire – slowly and silently walking toward the water, eyes blinking from the cold. 

Did I inadvertently come upon the filming of a “4400” episode?  I did not.  It was the Christmas Ships!  And after 60 years, this Northwest tradition is still going strong.

Every night from November 28 -December 23rd the Argosy Christmas Ship™ sails to different …

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