See You Later Ballard!

In case you noticed, we haven't published much lately. It's because Ballard Gossip Girl left Ballard. In fact, she moved out of the state. While her heart is still firmly rooted in Ballard, her pocketbook and career took her away. We attempted to get some of the other contributors to step up but that didn't work. So we ditched our domain, packed our bags and closed up shop in the middle of the night.  We'll miss you dearly and thank you all for reading our silly little blog. We hope it entertained you, because we certainly thought it was a kick in the pants.  Skål!

Hazlewood Rhymes with Nantucket

Has it really been six years? Yes, it has! So go celebrate at Hazlewood on Tuesday, October 18th.

And enjoy another of their delightful videos. Featuring the salty Keith Bartoloni.

Has Anyone Stayed at the Hotel Ballard?

This Ballard Gossip Girl has a friend coming into town in September and is looking for a room. I know the restored Hotel Ballard is now open but has anyone stayed there yet?

I would love to hear your comments or recommendations. I am so excited that we have a hotel in our hometown now.

Have a great weekend readers!

Syttende Mai 2011

Our favorite day at BGG is almost here. We are in the final countdown to Syttende Mai and we hope to see you out on the streets of Ballard tomorrow.

The committee this year has events lined up all day long! The parade starts at 6 so there is plenty of time for you to get off work (leave early, we will be) get to Ballard and grab your first shot of aquavit.

Hip Hip Hurrah!

Derby, Drinks and Donations!

I can't think of a better way to watch the Kentucky Derby than with my fellow Balardites while raising money for a very dear cause. Read more below

Kentucky Derby Party, Drink for baby Georgia!

Bring your big hats and best attire! Harlow's, along with Woodford Reserve Bourbon, is hosting a Kentucky Derby party. Prizes for best hat, biggest hat, and of course, the pony race!

All proceeds will go to the Handsaker family to help little Georgia firght her battle against a rare form of leukemia called JMML. Come out and drink for Georgia!

Harlow's Is Open For Business

It's open folks!  Come and get it.

Harlow's opened late last week and is ready to meet your drinking needs.  We dropped in (twice in fact) and love it.  Congratulations to Kevin and Tracy.  It's on the corner of Ballard Ave and 20th Ave NW.  Go get some tots and some beer!  

Dude. Art.

Blowing Sands Glass Studio is showing some fantastic sculpture by Dan Klennert.  You can see a number of his works outside the studio like this one above.   We think they appeal to the mechanic in all of us, not only inspiring us to see the animal and human forms but to identify the individual parts.  Well done, dudes!

The studio is located on 14th Ave NW and NW 58th St a little north of Ballard Market near St. Alphonsus.  Go check it out art fans!

This Horse is Awesome.

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner!

After an 11th hour campaign on Facebook push by Hazlewood the contest was decided! Hazlewood is the clear winner sweeping their competition with a respectable margin.

So join me in congratulating them. We are already are hard at work on their Major Award!

The Captain has Left the Building

A faithful reader sent us this sad picture. Caps's Keys has closed up shop. Now where will you go to get keys made?!

We at BGG have a very strong opinion about this subject. Caps was great. But we highly recommend Pacific Key in the parking lot of the Greenwood Fred Meyer. Their keys are perfect and always work! We have been faithful customers for years after a number of horrid key debacles. Namely, we had keys made twice and then twice repaired at the Ballard Fred Meyer. Imagine the horror of leaving the keys to your petsitter only to find they don't work!

We wish you all the best Clay!

One Day Left to Vote in the Best Happy Hour Poll!

Get your votes in folks!  Polling closes on October 1st at 5 p.m. in our second fight-to-the-death Ballard Happy Hour showdown.  Tell your mom, get your dog to vote, tweet about it and remind your friends! 

The winning bar will receive a swimmingly fantastic award by yours truly.  An award of epic proportions.  The suspense is nearly unbearable.

What is up with the Old Sunset Bowl and Denny's Sites?

First there was some cardboard art all over the fences.  Now there are huge white tents.  Who knows what is up?

Ballard Ave's Newest Bar - EXCLUSIVE!

The dynamic folks behind Moshi Moshi, Kevin and Tracy Erickson, are opening a new bar on Ballard Ave.  It's going to be called Harlow's and will be a self-described dive bar.  They're catering to folks who like to get their drink on - just an old fashioned love song if you ask me!

Harlow's will open up in the corner spot at 5200 Ballard Ave.  Down by the Tractor, the space used to be a guitar shop.  You know, this place:

Tracy hopes to have it open by the end of October.  Well, we know where we're going for Halloween!  Hooray and more Hooray.  Congrats, you two.

Happy Hour Show Down Continues!

It's a dead heat right now in our poll with Hazlewood and La Isla.  Vote now in the first round and send your suggestions for the second round of voting.  Remember, if you don't vote, you can't complain.

UPDATE:  Here are the results of our first round of voting.

As you can see, it's a dead heat between Hazlewood and La Isla.  Round Two kicks off today.  Don't forget to vote!

The Wood Pulls A-head

In our exciting Happy Hour poll, see the poll to the right, Ballard Darling Hazlewood has pulled ahead in the votes.  Where do you like to go?  Get your votes in now! 

And send us your nominations for other great Happy Hour bars in Ballard.  We'll have a second round of Polling next week!

Ballard's Happiest Hour

Let's have a poll!  Where is the best Happy Hour in Ballard?  Something about 3 p.m. on a Thursday has made us wonder.

Vote at right!

We voted for Hazlewood, mostly due to our undying love of the darling Jessica who is there today.

Vote, my pretties, vote!

High Ballard!

Next stop, Market and 15th!

We noticed an interesting trend in Ballard this summer and fall. While we were out walking around on Market Street we encountered a strange smell pouring out of cars.  It was an unmistakable smell, one that is instantly recognizable.  No, it wasn't cigarette smoke and it wasn't air freshener.  It was the Reefer!

And it wasn't just once that this happened.  It was multiple times, about half a dozen, that these mellow cars rolled by us or stopped at a light.

Which is why we wanted to pose this question.  Is this a new trend or is it just random?  We'd like to know if you, gentle reader, have also noticed an increase in the number of herbally enhanced drivers in the hood.  Because last we checked, there still isn't a medical marijuana store in Ballard.

Help The City and Help Yourself!

Booze - Let it Free

Fill out the Seattle Nightlife Initiative Survey
We enthusiastically brought you the news that our Mayor is pushing to extend liquor serving hours to allow bars to set their own staggered closing times if any at all.  We're in favor of this proposal, as you may know, because it's a proven method to prevent a lot of the mayhem that occurs with a singular bar closing time.

The City and the Police are in favor, but they will still have to get it passed by the Washington State Liquor Board.  According to our pals at the Stranger, the proposal is at risk because WSLB thinks it would encourage more drunk driving.  How?  Oh, they surmise that all the drunk people who don't live in Seattle will take to their cars to grab those last few hours of drinking.  We think that's a pretty fringe case scenario.  It's far better to have  some rogue drivers dispersed throughout the night instead of streets filled with them all at the same time.

So here's how you can help!  Please fill out the Seattle Nightlife Initiative Survey.  It's located right here.  Please let the city and the WSLB know that you want to extend bar hours.  Mayor McBeardy actually has an 8-point plan which is open for public comment.  That means you!

Thanks so much fellow nightlife friends.

OMFG What a Stupid Idea

We were reading in the Ballard News Tribune that city council member Sally Clark is considering regularly shutting down Ballard Ave to cars to promote commerce.  I'm sorry, but when was the last time you strolled leisurely to a restaurant in pouring rain, through the snow, in omnipresent drizzle or rode your bike down a windy wet street to get to a restaurant?  Are you crazy?   Did you notice the nice weather we had this summer?  No, we didn't either.

We at BGG have been stuck in traffic back ups that extended miles due to such cutsey fun-time street festivals as The Greenwood Car Show or The Ballard Seafood Fest.  Sure, those festivals are fun and you get to feel very EUROPEAN whilst strolling around in the road with your street food and your overpriced tchotchkes in reusable shopping bags.  Yeah, that's just awesome!  But pity the poor asshole who is trying to get home who can't get across town because some neighborhood decided they wanted to party in the streets.

Give us a flippin' break!  Ballard and the City of Seattle can't get their transportation issues together enough to synchronize street lights (something which would save us millions of dollars in wasted commute time/jam time) so you really think this would make people who live here happy?  We don't.

Sunset gets Squirrels

PIZZA....YUMMMMM

And this is better news than you think!  We heard that Flying Squirrel pizza will start serving pies at the Sunset on October 10th.  We had heard they were coming to Ballard (secrets) but didn't know where exactly until today.   Hooray for Max!  Can't wait to get our face in some delicious pizza and rock.

Old Scam - New Twist

The old scam of magazine and books sellers going door-to-door is back and this time they are posing as University of Washington college students "raising money" for study abroad trips. We have from an inside source at the University of Washington Study Abroad Office that several people in the community have called to verify if this in fact is legit. It is NOT. According to our source, the Study Abroad Office and other Departments on campus are not sponsoring any fund raising of this kind. Reports of these tricky door-to-door salesmen have come in from across the Puget Sound region, including Edmonds and Mercer Island.

What to do if someone knocks your door? Well, after you have slammed the door in their faces, it is suggested that you call the police....