Madison Park has it all (or at least some of it)

Madison Park has just been singled out by Seattle Weekly as having both the Best Beach for Babe Viewing and the Best Pizza in Town. These twin honors have been given to our .9 sq. miles of the City as part of the paper's 25th Annual Best of Seattle awards.

First, about that beach award. It seems that we are outstanding only because the people at our beach are imported from elsewhere. To quote the paper, "Owing to its proximity to Capitol Hill and the U District, Madison's shores become crowded with the toned, tanned bodies of gay men and college students." I guess the college students must be the babes then. At any rate, at least according to the Weekly, once the lifeguards leave the beach in the evening, the skinny-dipping babes appear and things get lively. I apparently am in bed by then.

The best-pizza honor is probably a bit more momentous for most of us here in the Park. The Weekly recognizes Madison Park's recently opened and "unprepossessing" The Independent Pizzeria as being a cozy place with great pizza, even though it's located in an "unlikely" neighborhood.

I'm just not sure that we're getting the appropriate level of respect from this paper, but perhaps we can be content in the knowledge that we've got the pizza--and, however fleetingly, the babes.

[Photo of Madison Park Beach courtesy of the Weekly. For all of the Best of Seattle awards, click here. The Independent Pizzeria is located at 4235 E. Madison Street. As a related aside, I note that CitySearch picks Madison Park Beach as the No. 5 Best Outdoor Venue to Meet Singles in Seattle.]