Where Bicycles Go To Become Vintage
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Tag Archives: Bellingham
Tweet of the Day: Of Flowers and Donuts
When I saw this tweet, I felt my heart sink.
Locals mourn demise of old A Lot Of Flowers shop in Fairhaven bit.ly/KhjP0z #bellingham—
Bellingham Herald (@BhamPolitics) May 03, 2012
After all, until November of last year, the Fairhaven Historic District here in Bellingham was my neighborhood, and A Lot Of Flowers an iconic presence in the heart of this beloved village only a few blocks walk from my old house. (Photo source: Flickr user brewbooks)
It is hard to imagine that street corner without the charming, mostly open-air, flower shop, and impossible to imagine what’s going to be there in its place: a donut shop.
Mind you, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Rocket Donuts, our locally-owned donut masters, it’s important to keep in mind that they will be providing a space in the new building for A Lot Of Flowers, and this, especially, is a relief:
[A Lot Of Flowers Owner] Ferguson said she’s excited to work with the new owners. She said weather presents a lot of challenges to her nursery and retail business in its current open-air operation, which has a small building on the property. She plans to talk to the new owners about what she would like for the new space, as well as discuss ways to incorporate some of the outdoor aspects to her business that have made it popular over the years.
Ferguson also is happy to potentially have some stability with her tenant lease. In recent years other property owners have proposed ideas to build structures that could force A Lot of Flowers to leave.
“This is good news for us,” Ferguson said.
But change, even needed and well-planned change, can be challenging, painful even, and it is certainly true that the northwest corner of Harris Avenue and 11th Street will never be the same again.
Like this:
Comedy From The Craigslist Musicians Section
Since I’m always on the lookout for my ideal music collaborator, I’m a regular reader of the Craigslist musicians section.
The ads in this section, very regularly, are cringe-inducing, either for just how far they are from my ideal, how far they are from reality, or both.
An example of something that meets both of these criteria might read something like this (fictionalization by me):
Are you ready to rock?!
40-something metal heads looking for bandmates to write songs and kick ass! Influences include: Slayer, Megadeath, Anthrax, and Pantera.
We’ve been playing guitar for two years and are ready to bang our heads all the way to fame and fortune.
Need bass player, drummer, road manager, and groupies.
Then, occasionally, someone else who reads these things regularly posts a parody ad and just nails it.
This morning, I read one of those, and just had to share:
bellingham musicians
i am looking to become a rich and famous musician, but i don’t really want to ever practice, but i have a plan on how i can accomplish my goal with your help.
step one: if you play an instrument meet at cornwall park at noon on saturday with your instrument
step two: start a band with the other people who show up with their instruments
step three: get a record deal or something
step four: receive awards, make millions, and give me 10% for being the founding member.thank you for your time and money
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What A Difference A Year Makes
Last year, I wrote about this:
Via The Bellingham Herald, May. 26, 2011:
Bellingham on track for temperature record – but not the good kind
If temperatures don’t warm up in the next two weeks, Bellingham may beat its record for the longest stretch of days below 70 degrees.
As of Wednesday, May 25, Bellingham had gone 240 consecutive days without reaching 70 degrees, as recorded at Bellingham International Airport.
The record is 254 set in 1955, according to the National Weather Service, which keeps records for Bellingham as far back as 1949. In 1955, it didn’t hit 70 until June 6, said National Weather Service meteorologist Carl Cerniglia.
Sunday tied daily heat record in Bellingham
If Sunday, April 22, felt like a record day of warm weather, that’s because it was.
The thermometer topped out at 71 degrees at the official National Weather Service station at Bellingham International Airport, tying the record for April 22, set in 1982.
That’s a lot warmer than last year, when it hit 57 degrees on that date. Later that week the temperatures dropped enough to threaten snow in the lowlands.
Like this:
Warts And All
Like this:
Welcome, Kulshan Brewing Company!
It’s starting to be the case that I can measure how long I’ve lived here in Bellingham, Washington by how many breweries have started up, and, in one case, have shut down.
Back in November 2009, I wrote about the two breweries we had at the time — Boundary Bay Brewery & Chuckanut Brewery — both are still going strong, winning numerous awards for their craft beers and ales, and, according to Wikipedia, Boundary Bay has become the largest brewpub in the country based on the number of barrels sold per year.
And when I mentioned in that 2009 post that Boundary Bay better watch their backs, because Chuckanut had significantly stepped up their game, having won the 2009 Best Small Brewpub award at the Great American Beer Festival (they won the Best Small Brewing Company award in 2011), I deemed this welcome and healthy local competition.
But when I heard rumblings some months ago that another new brewery was opening up in Bellingham, I really had doubts that our small city could support three breweries, especially considering that there were also several bar/restaurants in town that served good selections of craft beer.
Enter Kulshan Brewing Company, which just opened a few weeks ago, and already all doubts have been put to rest.
I went there last night for the first time, the place was packed, everyone was raving about how good the beer is, myself included, and so it seems they will really have to screw up big time in order to fail.
The ambiance is casual and comfortable, the crowd was a nice Bellingham cross-section, and they have a novel approach to food that I was initially skeptical about: food trucks.
They currently have three different trucks that rotate throughout the week, offering sandwiches, BBQ, and pizza depending on the day, and they plan to eventually widen the selection. Early criticism of the idea suggested that people won’t want to eat out of to-go boxes when they are out drinking $4+/pint beer, but the folks I talked to LOVED the idea, reported that the food was great, and, best of all, considering how pricey the beer is, the food was cheap! (My friends had the Cuban Dog from StrEAT Food last night, which was huge, delicious, and only $4.50!)
Finally, the beer.
I sampled all of the brews that they had flowing and was VERY impressed with how consistently good they were. Not all of them were unique or stood out, but they seemed solid, delicious examples of the styles they represented.
American Wheat Ale: Let’s just get this out of the way: I don’t like wheat beers. I tasted it, didn’t care for it, but folks who I talked to who were drinking it said that they liked it.
Bastard Kat IPA: I was doubtful when it was poured, because it was so light in color. Other light-colored IPAs I’ve had were WAY out of balance, insane hops and not enough malt, resulting in a beer that is too bitter for me. Bastard Kat, on the other hand, was a good example of a standard Pacific Northwest IPA, with great, citrusy hops and plenty of them, but balanced nicely with just enough malty goodness to make it HIGHLY drinkable. Yum!
Midnight CDA (Cascadian Dark Ale): Basically a dark IPA, this was my favorite of the bunch. Pours almost black, and has a really nice, full viscosity without being syrupy. The hops weren’t as dominant as the IPA, but nor were the malts overbearing. It was surprising how drinkable it was. I’m not sure what the ABV is, but the alcohol was not overpowering (nor was it for any of the beers, for that matter).
Porter: Probably the most unremarkable of the bunch, but not in a bad way. It’s simply a good example of a Porter, with very tasty roasted malts, a light, drinkable body, and a dark, rich color. Porters aren’t my favorites, but I think that a Porter fan would enjoy it very much.
Russian Imperial Stout: This, to me, was nearly an exact copy of my favorite imperial stout, Lost Coast Brewing’s Old Rasputin, but that’s not a bad thing at all. Kulshan’s is undeniably delicious, with a high alcohol content nestled in heavily roasted malts. Not a beer for sunny weather, in my opinion, so I’d be surprised if they kept it on tap for much longer.
Sadly, they had just run out of their other beer — Good Ol’ Boy Pale Ale — so I wasn’t able to try it, but people were talking about it and saying it was a great session beer.
I’ll be returning to Kulshan for sure, and I recommend it heartily!
