Alki Beach : a Short Journey

Reflections

Alki Beach in West Seattle holds a special place in my heart and it is hard to put a finger on one specific thing. I came across the beach when I visited my brother in 2012, and subsequently chose West Seattle as my home in 2018 because of that experience. It is very much a beautiful synthetic beach like none other, located off Elliott Bay, to the west of Seattle. It is the collection of sights, sounds, smell, and feelings that resonated with me, like the collection of neighborhoods that comprise West Seattle. Maybe it's because of the beautiful topography I was exposed to when I first arrived at Alki Beach, or maybe it's the sense of tranquility when you hear the cadence of the waves and ringing of the nearby school bells, or the choking call of the overhead seagulls in courtship. The unique beauty of this beach offers me a respite from the trials and tribulations of modern life, a break from the perpetual chaos of the world. Likewise, my mind as well.

As one sits at the local coffee shop, on Alki Beach, facing Elliott Bay, the majestic snow- capped Olympic mountains fill the background with islands and hills situated a bit closer, static in appearance, but dynamic in becoming, like germinating flora. The Olympic mountains lack symmetry, unstructured, nonrigid, and salient in effect, unlike that of modern architecture. The imperfections of its organic design generates a double take to appreciate its inherent uniqueness. There is beauty in imperfection. A beach with mountains surrounding it is already unique to begin with, like killing two birds with one stone from a visual perspective. They take up most of the horizon, magnifying its dimensions. A deep inhale with your eyes locked into the provisional horizon brings a sense of presence. It is a topography like none other. Peering out a bit closer from the backdrop of the mountains, rolling, vibrant green hills emerge, surrounded by opaque blue water, with lavish houses populating its grounds. It’s located far enough where one can’t pick out its inhabitants and distinct features with a naked eye, but with binoculars. One doesn't have to look at Zillow to know the affluent populate those hills. Meanwhile, a modestly sized local ferry streams across the bay water, sending waves to the shoreline and blowing its horn, a means of transportation for the people living on the rolling green hills and the city of Seattle. Alki Beach is a popular destination spot and brings a diverse set of views and people. A sense of flourishing internally is felt as one takes in a macro perspective.

It is a treat to watch others at Alki Beach. The intellectuals stroll this beach, along the sand and waves with shoes or slippers in hand, in a jocular and inquisitive manner, staring into the distance and reflecting. A romantic couple, holding hands in love, with their young kids following suit, is a common sight. A casual conversation with laughter and joy can be heard here and there from them. Fitness enthusiasts use the beach sand in a hormetic manner, running rapidly to improve their physiology. A quick glance at them reveals heavy breathing, glistening sweat, and a musculature of an athlete. Occasionally, a grunt, a yell, and some chagrin can be heard. It is the sound of volleyballers competing. When the warm sunshine and lack of humidity are felt, joggers come out and stroll by on the three mile stretch of a sidewalk, located alongside the beach, with earbuds plugged in their ears, and phones in hand, looking like cyborgs. However, people are not the only inhabitants.

From a micro perspective, sea gulls scurry in courtship across the beach views, while also scrounging for discarded human food, and seals plop their heads above water, buoyant like a fishing bobber. Occasionally, a jovial dog would jump into the water, dog paddling, to a stick thrown by its master. Upon exit of the water, the dog would twist its body from side-to-side to shake off water, similar in effect to how we ring a towel dry. When walking on the grainy and rocky beach sand, it reveals some side-shuffling crabs, sticks, and lots of seaweed! Kelp flies, concomitant with the seaweed, represent the only unpleasant sight on Alki. Large logs, used by locals as a means to sit and relax, are spread throughout the beach. Many read books here with various campsites spread around, although the campsites aren’t used too frequently. Also, if one wishes to take a dunk in the water, prepare to be shrieked as the water is cold! The water sits between 50 and 60 degrees, even in the summertime. When in the cold water, shivers will encapsulate the spine and a state of hypoxia occurs in an attempt to regulate your body temperature, not pleasant by any means. Although the beach is synthetic, there is a feeling of attunement with nature, a natural ebb and flow like that of a sincere beach. Time seems to slow down at Alki Beach as one walks the sandy beach and observes the many micro sights and sounds, located on the west end of West Seattle, but that’s not all.

Salt water, freshly brewed coffee, and a smell of culturally diverse foods permeate your olfactory organs as you walk. The smell of the ocean water feels pure and relaxing, and just across the street from the beach sits many restaurants. A stomach churning effect takes hold with the smell of the cooked ground beef of the local burger joint and an innervation of the mind with the local coffee shops. A further stroll down reveals a Greek restaurant with gyro meat being its speciality, a Mexican restaurant advertising its five pound burrito challenge for the daring, a Thai restaurant with curry that lights your tongue on fire, and an ice cream shop to satisfy the sweet cravings. What else can one ask of Alki beach?

As you move further north along the beach towards the Seattle skyline, a giant anchor appears on a pier, Anchor Park they call it, as well as a restaurant on the water called Marination. Many tourists and locals stop at Anchor Park to take pictures of Seattle or to do some crab catching. The view of the city of Seattle, although from afar, never gets old, it always seems to evolve quicker than time. Many skyscrapers are in development and giant cranes persist throughout, a signal of its proliferating technological growth. Marination, located near Anchor Park, is the restaurant that locals and tourists love to hang out at. It offers a panoramic view of the Seattle skyline and a delicious assortment of Hawaiian food and seafood. Benches outside encapsulate Marination so one can appreciate the view surrounding it. A conversation with a local will tell you how much they love those Marination tacos! On top of that, they’ll add that the breakfast burritos there are just as good, so don’t sleep in! The early morning scuba divers in the vicinity know all about it.

In sum, Alki beach offers diversity from the synthetic and symmetric, like the restaurants and Seattle skyline, to the natural and asymmetric, like the mountains and water, a rare combination. Because of its dynamic nature, it gives one the feeling of being in tune with the future, the human manipulated world that we now live in, and the sensations of the present, Mother Nature itself. It is hard to put into words how special of a place Alki beach is to me, unexplainable like gut feelings or déjà vu. A place to develop your intuitions. I routinely spend my free time here discovering and reflecting, slowing things down so I can maintain equilibrium with myself and what it feels to be human, and not the materialism and superficiality of modern society. No other place has given me these perceptions in my current life, an interruption of entropy. For these reasons, Alki beach holds a special place in my heart.