My Ballard

We received an email tip from My Ballard reader Gooner who had heard that Olivine on Ballard Ave. is closing. Sure enough, a phone call to the popular shop confirmed that it’s going out of business soon.

The clerk who answered the phone couldn’t give us any details, but did say she didn’t know the exact closing date. She asked us to call back and speak with the manager on Monday. Once we get details we’ll post them here.

When we went to bed at 11:30 p.m. or so, we were beginning to think our expanded neighborhood would escape any Fourth of July house fires, but sirens headed to Phinney Ridge woke us up at 3:15 a.m.

I could smell the smoke several blocks away. When firefighters arrived at 52nd and 2nd Ave., flames and heavy smoke were pouring from the roof. The resident was able to escape without injury.

Crews climbed up the backside of the house and sawed through the roof.

About 20 minutes later, the fire was “tapped,” or extinguished. From the outside, damage on the second floor appeared to be rather extensive. No word on whether it was fireworks-related — we’ll find out more in the morning.

Update: The fire department says it was an accidental electrical fire — not sparked by fireworks. Damage is estimated at $200,000.

Asks Gooner in the forum, “With a young one at home, we can’t go downtown or even camp out anywhere near Lake Union. So is there anywhere in Ballard that has a decent view (albeit far away) of the fireworks?”

My Ballard reader Ivy noticed that DiVino on Ballard Ave. has closed…

and this sign is in the window…

Looks like we’re getting a sushi restaurant and cocktail lounge called Shiku, which matches up with Ballard Gossip Girl’s recent rumors about a new sushi place opening by September.

They’re already getting to work on the inside. We have to admit, we are big sushi fans, so we’ll be anxiously waiting to see how Shiku stacks up to some of our favorites. (Thanks Ivy for the tip!)

Last month we wrote about the incredibly low tides (picture below), well this weekend is another great weekend for beach combing.

The lowest tide is today with the water bottoming out at -3.4 feet. Seattle Aquarium beach naturalists will be out at Golden Gardens and Carkeek Park today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. The naturalists can tell you what seastars eat, why barnacles stand on their heads and how moon snails lay their eggs. Because haven’t we all wondered these things?

- Today (Friday), the Seattle Civic Band will be playing marching music at the Summer Concerts at the Locks at 2 p.m.
- Not quite in the neighborhood, but the Seafair Milk Carton Derby takes over Green Lake at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
- Saturday night is Hale’s Ales 25th anniversary party.
- Sunday is the Golden Gardens Beach Clean Up at 7:30 a.m. The Seattle chapter of the Surfrider Foundation needs volunteers to help clean up Golden Gardens after the busy and pollutant-heavy Fourth of July.
- For live music, check out the concert calendars for the Tractor Tavern, Sunset Tavern, The Bit Saloon, High Dive, Conor Byrne and Nectar.

As always, check out our events calendar. And if you have an event to add, just email us at tips@myballard.com and we’ll post it in the calendar.

Ballardite Blog has the news that Hale’s Ales is celebrating their 25th anniversary this Saturday night with live music, happy hour treats and the introduction of a brand new beer. The first band takes the stage at 4:30 p.m.

Back in March we wrote about Nau, a socially-conscious boutique going into the old Sonic Boom location in Fremont. Well, Nau has ceased operations due to a lack of funding and sold to another clothing retailer.

Instead, Mooberry will go into the south half of the old Sonic Boom space — to the right of the photo above — and the north half is still available. (Thanks Patricia for letting us know about Nau!)

Three months ago, Ballard resident David Sylvester took off on his bike with his dog Chiva in tow on a 15-month trek. His goal is to bike across the country, climbing the tallest mountain of every state along the way. His blog describes it best: “Exploring the world with dog and bicycle to promote canine companionship, environmental awareness and living it up!” David and Chiva are currently in Dubois, Wyoming. You can follow their trek via his blog, where he’s snapping photos along the way.

Updated: Thunder and lightning put on quite a show all night long, and My Ballard readers (below) reported hail, flickering lights, power outages and an accident at 85th and 15th. It sounded and felt like Orlando: muggy with thunderstorms moving through. The National Weather Service recorded more 2500 recorded lightning bolts in the past 24 hours. Dusty G. snapped this terrific shot from Lake Union looking toward Capitol Hill…

You can see more lightning photos here.

Last night, we posted a story about Gordo’s closing, and My Ballard reader Schrewzard wrote in comments that the owners said they’ve sold the burger shack to Paseo in Fremont. So we called Paseo and they confirmed it: the popular Cuban sandwich shop is planning to open a new location at Gordo’s by the end of the month. As we wrote before, it will be sad to see Gordo’s go — they’ve been a Ballard institution along Seaview since the 70’s — but I think a lot of folks will be happy to have Paseo in our neighborhood.

There’s a new shoe store on the Greenwood/Phinney line.

Strut just celebrated its one-month-anniversary, and it’s not your trendy, high-fashion, puttin’ on the ritz kind of boutique. This one focuses on comfort and style. That’s right - comfort and style. Two words that generally don’t go in the same sentence. When we were there, we saw sandals, flats and pumps for women, shoes for men and even kiddo shoes. The owner said that she was slowly building up the men’s selection and should have more in soon.

A note in the forum asks about military jets that flew over Ballard around 6:45 p.m. “There were a couple of them, flying about 400 mph right over my building in Crown Hill at about 1,000 feet,” The Quiet One writes. We heard them, too, but didn’t see them. We’re trying to find out more information, but if you have any ideas, please post them in comments.

Update: As boywil says in comments, they were part of a fly-over at the Mariners vs. Blue Jays game celebrating Canada Day. Two Canadian CF-18 fighter jets and two U.S. F-15s flew in low formation over Safeco Field.

My Ballard reader Karen walked down to Gordo’s on Seaview to get a milkshake, but she discovered the burger shack was closed. She saw a sign in the window that said, “Thanks Ballard 27 years.”

We checked it out a couple days later and found these signs:

They’re closed through July, but the “Farewell” sign in the background makes it sound like it could be the end. Gordo’s is one of Ballard’s oldest restaurants, and it would certainly be sad to see them go.

Update: Gordo’s is indeed closing for good, and the very popular Paseo in Fremont is opening a new sandwich shop there.