Salty’s, Ma Kai and Seacrest Park

7/24/15 fishing pier at Seacrest Park

Salty’s on Alki Beach was today’s destination for the Friday ad hoc sketchers. Not so much the seafood restaurant itself, although some sketchers did end up eating there, but more for its décor – a few large, rusty remains of the Kalakala, the iconic Art Deco ferry that is unfortunately long gone, and another Astronaut on the Town.

7/24/15 "Aquarius," by Xavier Lopez Jr.

I started the morning at Seacrest Park, a five-minute walk from Salty’s, where dozens of fishermen were trying their luck for salmon at the pier. I tried to be discreet, but the bored fishermen weren’t seeing much action on their lines, so eventually I attracted a lot of attention. They seemed to get a kick out of seeing themselves or each other in my sketch. (I hear about sketchers whose subjects are offended when they realize they are being sketched, but I have yet to encounter a “victim” who wasn’t delighted!)

Reveling in the downtown Seattle skyline and gloomy, overcast sky coloring Elliott Bay a steely gray (do you think maybe I’m a native?), I walked through the park back to Salty’s. On the restaurant’s porch was “Aquarius,” an Astronaut on the Town painted by Xavier Lopez Jr. Since the restaurant wasn’t open to the public yet, I thought I’d be safe sitting with my back against the front door, but it turned out that a wedding was about to take place. A bride nervously teetered down the stairway on spike heels with her entourage, while others frantically kept the groom inside until she was safely out of sight. I finished that sketch quickly to get out of the way before the wedding guests started appearing.

My plan was to sketch the Kalakala remains in the parking lot next, but as I was looking for a good angle, it started spitting, and then the spitting turned to full-on rain. By then I was already walking through Seacrest Park again, so I dashed into Marination Ma Kai, a Hawaiian café, near the fishing pier. I would have preferred sketching outdoors, but on the other hand, a musubi snack and a table with a view of their deck wasn’t so bad, either.

By the way, today’s sketch outing was good-naturedly dubbed the “Singapore Symposium Pity Party”! Although I am sad to be missing out on all the fun and sketching that I’ve been seeing on social media (#USkSingapore2015) this week, I have to say I much preferred wearing two hoodies this morning to sweating in the Singapore humidity! (Yes, I’m definitely a Seattle native.)

7/24/15 view from Marination Ma Kai cafe

7/24/15 view from Marination Ma Kai cafe

A few sketchers within the rusty remains of the Kalakala.