The Ferry on a "Soft" Day
Pelindaba Lavender FarmSunday morning we awoke to rain. Disappointing, but not surprising. We just counted ourselves fortunate to have had two warm, sunny days - two out of three, in mid September, we figured wasn’t bad. Again we had breakfast at the B&B including the wonderful granola. Our hostess, discovering John wasn’t fond of granola, had substituted a fruit plate for him – very thoughtful. Our tablemates were a younger couple from Malibu, California. Both composers, the woman is a native of County Galway, Ireland. We had a nice conversation about Ireland with them, and it brought back found memories of my trip there several years ago. I loved her description of the light drizzle we were having. She said it was a “soft day”. Charming.
During breakfast I asked our hostess about the lovely birdbaths in her front yard. We had admired them when we had arrived and on closer inspection saw they were made of old plates, platters, vases, glasses, and candy dishes. The next day we saw some in town at an artists’ cooperative. Discovering Debbie had made some of those in her yard, I asked if she ever sold any. She then said she hadn’t but she would. I am thrilled to be the owner of the lovely pink and crystal birdbath we had admired on our arrival. I may even try to make some of these myself.
So what to do on a drizzly day? We decided to abandon plans to go to Lopez Island due to both the weather and ferry schedule not allowing us as much time as we knew we’d need to get back to Anacortes by 6:30 to catch the last ferry off Whidbey Island and get home without driving around (ah the trials of being at the mercy of the ferry schedules). We hadn’t been to little Mitchell Bay so decided to drive back to the West side of the island and explore that area further. It was charming and the cabins were right on the beach. We decided to put this area on our list for a future visit. Then it was on to Pelindaba Lavender Farm as it was still raining lightly the majority of our time was spent in the gift shop where we bought a few items before heading back to Friday Harbor to get into the ferry line as it was recommended that we get there by 1:30 for the 5:00 ferry. One can then walk around town, have lunch and shop, just be back by 4:30 or so.
I had one more bookstore to hit, Boardwalk Bookstore. It’s a sweet little store and had changed location since the last time I had visited. I ended up with two books The Place You Love Is Gone: Progress Hits Home by Melissa Holbrook Pierson and in my quest to get off my non-fiction and memoir kick,The Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot. John, who although is a big reader, isn't as big a book buyer as I am actually found two books at this store as well, Dungeness Crabbing by Scott Haugen a book all about how to catch and cook crab including some great recipes and a lovely book called Diving the World, a Guide to the World's Coral Seas by Beth and Shaun Tierney (perhaps ideas for future vacations?). I also ended up buying a nice canvas bookbag to carry my purchases in.
If there is anything good about getting into the ferry line so early, it means we have a decent parking place for downtown Friday Harbor (which otherwise suffers from a lack of parking). By this time it was time for lunch and both John and I were anxious to go to an old favorite, The Front Street Ale House. Perhaps we were spoiled by the truly wonderful meals we’d had the last few days, because it couldn’t be because they were too busy. They were out of the lager I had ordered, the fish and chips were absolutely abysmally horrible including the worst tartar sauce I had in a long time, and John’s burger was horrible was well. Neither of us were able to finish our meal. Everything was so greasy and tasteless. The service was terrible. There was absolutely no excuse for this. We won’t be returning.
This experience and the weather both served to dampen our spirits, so we spent the rest of the time reading in the car. I ended up sleeping from San Juan Island to Lopez Island and was barely awake when we got to Anacortes. We were hungry again by this time, pulled into the Taco Bell drive thru and their computer broke down so we sat in line (again!). When we got to the ferry dock in Keystone, we found that the 7:30 ferry hadn’t arrived yet, so it would be a two-hour wait until our ferry arrived! Not only that, but they added an extra ferry due to the fact that they are on a one-ferry schedule between Whidbey Island and Port Townsend (one of the 1930s era ferries is broken down) so we could have, after all, spent more time in the San Juans. Oh well. We ended up spending over five hours in ferry lines. Next time we may fly up and rent a car.
All in all though, it was a nice little trip, although a bit disappointing to see how the millionaires and billionaires have taken over the island – the shoreline dotted with dozens – no probably hundreds of multi-million dollar mansions. The islands I have dreamed of living in since I first stayed there when I was 15 years old (first visited when I was seven) are now out of reach. And it makes me sad.
During breakfast I asked our hostess about the lovely birdbaths in her front yard. We had admired them when we had arrived and on closer inspection saw they were made of old plates, platters, vases, glasses, and candy dishes. The next day we saw some in town at an artists’ cooperative. Discovering Debbie had made some of those in her yard, I asked if she ever sold any. She then said she hadn’t but she would. I am thrilled to be the owner of the lovely pink and crystal birdbath we had admired on our arrival. I may even try to make some of these myself.
So what to do on a drizzly day? We decided to abandon plans to go to Lopez Island due to both the weather and ferry schedule not allowing us as much time as we knew we’d need to get back to Anacortes by 6:30 to catch the last ferry off Whidbey Island and get home without driving around (ah the trials of being at the mercy of the ferry schedules). We hadn’t been to little Mitchell Bay so decided to drive back to the West side of the island and explore that area further. It was charming and the cabins were right on the beach. We decided to put this area on our list for a future visit. Then it was on to Pelindaba Lavender Farm as it was still raining lightly the majority of our time was spent in the gift shop where we bought a few items before heading back to Friday Harbor to get into the ferry line as it was recommended that we get there by 1:30 for the 5:00 ferry. One can then walk around town, have lunch and shop, just be back by 4:30 or so.
I had one more bookstore to hit, Boardwalk Bookstore. It’s a sweet little store and had changed location since the last time I had visited. I ended up with two books The Place You Love Is Gone: Progress Hits Home by Melissa Holbrook Pierson and in my quest to get off my non-fiction and memoir kick,The Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot. John, who although is a big reader, isn't as big a book buyer as I am actually found two books at this store as well, Dungeness Crabbing by Scott Haugen a book all about how to catch and cook crab including some great recipes and a lovely book called Diving the World, a Guide to the World's Coral Seas by Beth and Shaun Tierney (perhaps ideas for future vacations?). I also ended up buying a nice canvas bookbag to carry my purchases in.
If there is anything good about getting into the ferry line so early, it means we have a decent parking place for downtown Friday Harbor (which otherwise suffers from a lack of parking). By this time it was time for lunch and both John and I were anxious to go to an old favorite, The Front Street Ale House. Perhaps we were spoiled by the truly wonderful meals we’d had the last few days, because it couldn’t be because they were too busy. They were out of the lager I had ordered, the fish and chips were absolutely abysmally horrible including the worst tartar sauce I had in a long time, and John’s burger was horrible was well. Neither of us were able to finish our meal. Everything was so greasy and tasteless. The service was terrible. There was absolutely no excuse for this. We won’t be returning.
This experience and the weather both served to dampen our spirits, so we spent the rest of the time reading in the car. I ended up sleeping from San Juan Island to Lopez Island and was barely awake when we got to Anacortes. We were hungry again by this time, pulled into the Taco Bell drive thru and their computer broke down so we sat in line (again!). When we got to the ferry dock in Keystone, we found that the 7:30 ferry hadn’t arrived yet, so it would be a two-hour wait until our ferry arrived! Not only that, but they added an extra ferry due to the fact that they are on a one-ferry schedule between Whidbey Island and Port Townsend (one of the 1930s era ferries is broken down) so we could have, after all, spent more time in the San Juans. Oh well. We ended up spending over five hours in ferry lines. Next time we may fly up and rent a car.
All in all though, it was a nice little trip, although a bit disappointing to see how the millionaires and billionaires have taken over the island – the shoreline dotted with dozens – no probably hundreds of multi-million dollar mansions. The islands I have dreamed of living in since I first stayed there when I was 15 years old (first visited when I was seven) are now out of reach. And it makes me sad.
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1 comment:
What a nice trip! It seems like all land along the water is being snapped up by those rich folks, even lakes in little areas like mine. It makes it hard for the average person to even dream of that sort of life anymore.
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