Sunny and Relaxing on Beacon Hill

 

8/18/24 Street trees, Beacon Hill neighborhood

According to my blog, the last time USk Seattle sketched in the Beacon Hill neighborhood was in 2016 on a cold summer day, where we could find only one coffee shop for a warm-up. We were pleasantly surprised on Sunday by how much the area around the light rail station had changed since then. Many more venues, several with outdoor seating offering good sketching views, and generally more welcoming to sketchers. We also had much better weather this time – sunshine and temps in the mid-70s, especially considering the wild lightning and rainstorm we had the night before.

Several food venues to choose from,
but only one offered this!

Before I got started with the neighborhood itself, I pursued my ongoing mission. Since I don’t get to Beacon Hill very often, I had looked in Taha Ebrahimi’s book, Street Trees of Seattle, to see if any trees could be found there. Sure enough, two were documented within easy walking distance of our meetup location, so I head off for them (above). Interestingly, one was a holly, which I don’t typically think of as a street tree. The second was one of several beech trees on Beacon Avenue South, the main arterial and business district.

By the time I finished the trees, I was getting hungry, so I considered the many food venues I had heard about from sketchers who lived in the ‘hood. It was a tough choice, but the ice cream at Milk Drunk won out. I had intended to eat my entrée first, then go back for ice cream, but the line was so long and slow that I decided to order everything at once. That explains why all I had time to sketch was the soft-serve swirl, which I had to eat quickly before it melted and also at the same time as my curly fries before they got cold! Ah, the tough life of a food sketcher.

Lunch at Milk Drunk

Despite the mixed meal, it was so pleasant dining under a huge shade tree that I stayed long after I had finished eating, eavesdropping as I sketched.

Almost reluctant to leave that comfy spot, I head out to look for more neighborhood scenes. The light rail station itself, central to the neighborhood (and a likely reason why food venues have proliferated lately), was an easy pick, as was the top of St. Peter Catholic Church. As for the pigeons, usually when I see a flock, they are overhead on wires. These were all pecking or dozing on the ground – a rare opportunity to sketch some.

(Speaking of birds, my Merlin app ID’d a scrub jay’s raucous calls while I was having lunch. I know they are common, but I have never seen any in my neighborhood – only the equally raucous Steller’s jays.)

To round out an excellent, leisurely day of sketching, my 25-minute light rail ride each way gave me plenty of time to catch fellow commuters. Most impressive was the intrepid shopper who was on the train with his bike – and a package of Costco TP! A belt was wrapped around the middle of the package . . . perhaps he straps it to his back while riding, along with his huge backpack?