Uptown Vashon

I’ve told you that Vashon looks shabby to me. Some people who live here agree. Some think it’s unfortunate that so many Vashon residents want no changes in their town. They don’t want any updating, any repainting, even any repairs. They want it to look shabby.

Let me show you what I mean with some shots I took along the three or four blocks of “Main Street”. They don’t call it that here. It’s just “uptown”. See what you think.

The Red Bicycle restaurant where you can get sushi.

A row of shops just off “Main Street”.

Now this is kind of cute. It’s actually a shop named WisEnergy. I don’t know what products or services are offered here. There are lots of VERY small businesses.

In the following shot you can see a pedestrian crosswalk. Drivers actually stop for people who start walking across the street. The corner shop is where I took my laptop. When Caleb said he wanted to look at it, the owner charged me only half his minimum charge because he hadn’t completed his diagnostics.

The big red building is a pet supplies and grooming business. There are several establishments that cater for pets. Across the street is the Fair Isle Animal Clinic. Pets apparently are big business in Vashon. Everywhere I go (but not at Geoff’s house) there are dogs. Here’s the Vashon source for all things pets.

Across the street is the gifts, arts, crafts, office, and school supplies store, as well as a pizza pub with the high sign.

Coffee is very big on Vashon. There are roasteries here and many, many places selling coffee in all its forms. Local is very big. Organic is very big. Below is one of the drive-through espresso shops. Photographed with the flowers, it looks nice, but up close, it’s not. The sign above is in front of it, near the street.

I think this shop is either consignment or thrift. There are several thrift shops, including Wendy’s Weather’d Wear across the street.

Also, there are numerous shops selling decorative objects. I think of them as tourist shops, but it seems that islanders buy a lot of crafty things, as well as second-hand stuff.

In a relatively attractive strip just off “Main Street” is  Cafe Luna, a popular coffee house, sometimes featuring live music. It’s also a wi-fi cafe and a place where you can just sit and chat. Here you can see inside. It’s kind of quaint.

Hand-lettered signs like this one are placed on sidewalks or next to the street.

What do you think of this sign for Parker Plaza?

Here they tell me where to cross the street.

The Indian restaurant.

Latin store:

The most expensive, highly rated restaurant in Vashon, La Boucherie. The owners have a farm and butcher their animals. They sell their produce and meat and use it in the restaurant.

Now, do you think uptown Vashon is pretty?

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