Georgetown

The story

Georgetown is an old industrial neighborhood south of downtown, and Airport Way S mixes its shops with brick taverns. The main strip is Airport Way S from the 5500 block, where Fogue Studios is, to the 6000 block at the Trailer Park Mall and Fran's. A second cluster sits on S Vale St, and a few stops are on 12th Ave S and on Carleton Ave S near Oxbow Park. Park on Airport Way S or its side streets and check the posted signs.

Comics, Records and Galleries

Start at 1201 S Vale St, at Airport Way S. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, the shop of the Seattle comics publisher, carries everything it has in print plus alternative comics from other presses, hangs monthly art shows and keeps a Damaged Room of cheap, often out-of-print books. Georgetown Records shares the space, with used vinyl across genres. All City Coffee next door is an art-filled cafe with espresso, pastries and breakfast sandwiches; the Seattle Times singles out its pistachio mocha.

Fogue Studios & Gallery shows work by artists over 50 across two floors, with monthly exhibitions. Royal Mansion Gallery, in a restored 1950 Spartan Royal Mansion trailer at the Trailer Park Mall, hangs changing shows by Seattle artists and sells prints, stickers, ceramics and stained glass.

Vintage and Makers

Susan Wheeler Home, next to Fogue on Airport Way S, is packed with furniture, art, jewelry, clothing and old signs. Hardmill makes leather bags, belts and wallets and waxed-canvas aprons and knife rolls, and also sells restored cast-iron cookware. Off the main strip, Barn Owl Vintage Goods (6012 12th Ave S) is known for old workwear, faded T-shirts and one of the widest selections of Filson goods.

The Georgetown Trailer Park Mall is a weekend market in restored vintage trailers on its own lot, with vendors such as BOSS Clothing & Goods and Pomme Pomme Bakery, plus a wedding chapel in a shipping container. The vendor lineup changes, so check ahead if you are going for one in particular. A Dog's Dream Natural Pet Supply sells US-made pet food, beds and toys and has a self-serve dog wash.

Food and Drink

Fran's Chocolates Georgetown is the factory store: watch the chocolates being hand-made through a viewing window, book a tasting tour, and buy the salted caramels. Tinte Cellars Georgetown, the tasting room of a family-owned Woodinville winery, pours Washington wines by the flight and holds Vinyl Thursdays. Bloom Bistro & Grocery, in a former corner store near Oxbow Park, makes bagels with housemade schmears and sells local produce. Cakes of Paradise (6322 6th Ave S), a Hawaiian bakery, is known for its rainbow cake with strawberry-guava, lime and orange-passionfruit layers. For a meal, Ciudad (6118 12th Ave S), on the same street as Barn Owl, grills meats and vegetables over charcoal and sells grilled meats by the pound.

When to Go

Saturday covers the most. The Trailer Park Mall is open Saturday and Sunday 11am–4pm, February through December, and several shops open only from Wednesday or Thursday through the weekend. On the second Saturday of the month, the Art Attack art walk keeps galleries and studios open into the evening, and Fogue runs noon to 9pm. Each March, Bites & Sites sells $5 tickets redeemable at dozens of Georgetown shops, bars and bakeries.

Fantagraphics and Georgetown Records are open Mon–Sat 11:30am–8pm and Sun 11:30am–5pm, All City Coffee daily 7am–6pm, and Fogue Thursday to Sunday noon–5pm. Susan Wheeler Home, Barn Owl, Fran's, Hardmill, A Dog's Dream, Tinte Cellars, Bloom and Cakes of Paradise don't post hours, so call ahead.