Day trips: Once sleepy Ballard has had a wake-up call

It has been several years since we could call Ballard a "sleepy burg" and keep a straight face. And sometime over the past year or two, the neighborhood northwest of downtown has gone beyond standard Seattle gentrification and reached a new level: destination.

The once working-class neighborhood is still a community unto itself. But it's also a bona-fide district of good shopping and great eating, with new and hip businesses opening up regularly on Ballard Avenue and Market Street, where parking places can be tough to find even on a weekday night.

"I do get a lot of people from the Eastside," said Sarah Furstenberg, owner of Clover, an 8-month-old children's boutique featuring classic handcrafted and imported toys and clothing.

Clover's unusual selections eschew commercial characters, plastic parts and electronics; customers instead seek out gifts such as sweet, animal-themed metal alarm clocks; handmade wooden animals from Germany; alder wood pirate swords, and cheery, whimsical, painted hairbrushes and bicycle bells.

Furstenberg, who lives in the neighborhood, debated opening her store in Madison Valley or Queen Anne. But "people kept saying Ballard," she said, and she decided to give it a try. By her customer database, she knows the shop attracts out-of-towners and locals alike.

MERYL SCHENKER / P-I

Clover, which focuses on classic handcrafted and imported toys and clothing, is on Ballard Avenue.

By local, a lot of people still mean "Ballard," not Seattle as a whole. Ballard's relative isolation creates its own sense of community; it is not quickly convenient to Interstate 5 or Highway 99. As one resident said, "You don't go through it to get anywhere else," although a steady stream of cars passes along the eastern edge of Ballard's business district during morning and evening commutes.

In years past, Ballard was known for its lower housing prices, and as a place where visitors might come to watch salmon at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, or to indulge an interest in the area's Scandinavian heritage.

As Seattle's housing prices boomed, though, former drawbacks became selling points. Fixer-uppers became showpieces, and developments boomed. And "working-class neighborhood" became less of a description than a debate.

Part of the neighborhood's advantage lies in its substantial size. It was an independent city until it voted to become annexed to Seattle in the early 1900s. It's still almost a self-supporting city of its own, with a wonderful newly renovated movie theater -- the Majestic Bay -- and basics such as large, well-stocked grocery stores, a furniture store and a large Fred Meyer on the connecting route to Fremont.

"I live in Ballard. Everything I do, pretty much, is in Ballard," said Rebecca Hildebrandt, who owns Epilogue Books with her mother, Sharon Lloyd.

MERYL SCHENKER / P-I

Kathy Gold walks Wilbur through the Ballard Locks, a National Civil Engineering Landmark.

In November, the 4-year-old store moved from a small location near the locks into a prominent storefront on Market Street. It's a big (5,000-square-foot), well-organized space, with a warm feel to it: Dogs are allowed inside if they're on leashes, and beverages are permitted with lids on the cups.

Hildebrandt said she knew there was a market for a larger used bookstore in the neighborhood -- demographic research confirmed it -- and business has been even better than expected.

There's a tipping point where neighborhoods cease being just places for residents to shop, and become attractive enough for outsiders to wander. For Ballard, it may have been when there became more than one excellent solution to fulfill most desires: Should you purchase used books from Epilogue, or new books from the well-chosen selection of the Secret Garden Bookstore across the street a few blocks away?

Salon treatments could be had at Duque, which has a rough, red-brick interior wall and candy-colored, girly retail offerings such as pink-sequined camisoles; or salon treatments at Trine Studios, a kitty-corner operation where you can drink Stash tea while you wait and admire pictures on the walls in preparation for the next community Artwalk (we saw prints by Ezju, the Seattle artist who paints using coffee as his medium).

Would it be better to sample fresh-baked bread from the Great Harvest Bread Co. on Market Street, where even babies in strollers gum free samples, or to head to the Tall Grass Bakery in the mini-gourmet-gulch on 24th Street Northwest? We always succumb to Cafe Besalu, also on 24th, where even the Franco-philic croissants ($2) can't compare to the fruit Danishes (apple, slightly scented with cardamom, on one visit last week), with their shiny, sweet, crackling-crisp outer layer and the flakiest pastry within.

MERYL SCHENKER / P-I

Margaret Jones, hairstylist and co-owner of Trine Studios on Ballard Avenue, washes Brittney Kroon's hair next to a coffe-watercolor by Seattle artist Ezju.

Those with sweeter tooths can even now defer to Cupcake Royale on Market, where $2 purchases a fresh cupcake with thick butter cream frosting in pastel shades of pink or purple or mint green.

The list goes on.

For dinner, are you in the mood for the seasonal menu at Dandelion restaurant on 24th, which opened in April, where the latest appetizers include roasted mejool dates stuffed with Oregon blue cheese, wrapped with pancetta on a bed of arugula? Or should you hold out for the grilled beef entomatadas of La Carta de Oaxaca, the excellent, busy Mexican restaurant that opened a little over a year ago? With all that, there are still plenty of solid old favorites, such as India Bistro.

In the community, old attractions such as the locks still beckon, with its gardens, migrating salmon, and the fascination of watching boats make their way from saltwater to fresh or vice versa. There's enough beach to support sand castles at Golden Gardens Park, as well as gorgeous views, and a newly renovated bathhouse that can be rented for events.

Some graceful brick buildings have been renovated rather than ripped down, including the old Carnegie Library, now home to a French-style restaurant called Carnegie's, and the old Ballard Firehouse, a former pop music club newly opened as the Hi-Life restaurant, the latest in the Chow Foods chain.

MERYL SCHENKER / P-I

Wendi Presley, an employee of Duque, assesses her display of shoes outside the store on Ballard Avenue Northwest. Duque is a salon, spa and boutique.

It's still possible to grab a beer and hear live music in the neighborhood, at places such as the Conor Byrne Pub or the Tractor Tavern, but also to experience a more "Belltown"-like evening out at newer restaurants such as Matador, said Hildebrandt of Epilogue Books.

"It just has a real nice feel to it, I hope it doesn't ever change," she said.

It has already changed too quickly for some. Karla Clark, a human resources worker and independent filmmaker shopping on Market Street last week, said she used to feel much more comfortable wandering around in schlubby "mom clothes," before she started seeing other young mothers who wore stiletto heels for their errands. Friends who recently came from Alaska didn't feel right walking through town in their Carhartts anymore.

Ballard has been "infiltrated by Belltown yuppies who have decided to reproduce ...," she joked. "I'm saying, take it back!"

There are antidotes, of a sort: Ballard's Nordic Heritage Museum, housed in a grand old former schoolhouse in a residential neighborhood, still has old-fashioned mockups of the town's early industries, explaining how Ballard history was altered when the railroad was extended to Salmon Bay. The accented voice of blacksmith Lars Brekke, recorded in the 1950s, brings the neighborhood's Scandinavian past to life in the way that no dusty photographs could.

But even the museum doesn't stay static. Vibrant artwork displays and regular workshops involve the present-day community, including embroidery, Nordic cooking and folk weaving. And, said director Marianne Forssblad, the museum recently purchased a piece of property near the Ballard Locks, closer to the shopping district, where it plans to eventually purchase an adjoining parcel and build its own "visible, beautiful" building that would add to Ballard's other artistic endeavors. Raising the money for such a move could take as many as eight years, she said.

Far before that, the community will welcome a new civic center area, including an artistically designed new branch of the Seattle Public Library and a 1.4-acre park.

Even before those improvements, though, there's conclusive evidence that Ballard has arrived, with the improbably themed "Ballard Sip & Ship," a packaging store/coffee shop/eclectically hip gift and card store. It makes excellent espresso drinks using local beans from True North coffee, and features pastries from Macrina and Essential Bakery.

MERYL SCHENKER / P-I

Northwest Market Street, in the heart of Ballard, is a great place to browse, shop or dine.

Gifts at the 2-year-old store range from ginger-blossom shea butter hand cream ($10) to Cagoule fleece blankets ($65). But what we found the most unique -- and funniest -- of all were the black thong panties the store sells, emblazoned with the word "Ballard" and a single star ($15). A full line of Ballard clothing and hats are available, including baby onesies for $23.

The idea behind Sip & Ship, said co-owner Diana Naramore, was to have a one-stop store where people could buy gifts, ship them and relax all in one.

She also had considered other neighborhoods, such as Madison Park, for the store, she said. But she kept hearing about the resurgence under way in Ballard, and joined in:

"It's a place to plant roots and grow with the community."

If you go

• Ballard Sip & Ship -- 1752 N.W. Market St.; 206-789-4488. Hours: Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Cafe Besalu -- 5909 24th Ave. N.W.; 206-789-1463. Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 7 a.m.- 3 p.m.; closed Monday-Tuesday.
• Clove -- 5335 Ballard Ave. N.W.; 206-782-0715. Hours: Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Cupcake Royale/Verite Coffee -- 2052 N.W. Market St.; 206-782-9557. Hours: Monday-Friday 6 a.m.-midnight; Saturday 7 a.m.-midnight; Sunday 7 a.m.-10 p.m.
• Duque salon, spa and boutique -- 5348 Ballard Ave. N.W.; 206-706-8111, www.duquesalon.com Hours: Tuesday-Friday 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday noon-5 p.m.; closed Monday.
• Epilogue Books -- 2005 N.W. Market St.; 206-297-2665. Hours: Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-6 p.m..

• La Carta de Oaxaca -- 5421 Ballard Ave. N.W.; 206-782-8722. Hours: Monday-Thursday 5-11 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 5 p.m.-midnight; closed Sunday.
• Nordic Heritage Museum -- 3014 N.W. 67th St.; 206-789-5707. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday noon-4 p.m.; closed Monday. Cost: $6, $5 seniors, $4 students, free for under 5.
• Secret Garden Bookshop -- 2214 N.W. Market St.; 206-789-5006, www.secretgardenbooks.com Hours: Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.,; Sunday noon-5 p.m.

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