It was true we needed to get away for a bit…see some new sights, regain perspective on our creative endeavors, visit some friends and family, connect. Well it worked sooo well that I came home and forgot about all the stuff I normally do, like blogs…oops. So here is the long and laborious journey…mostly sights, not too much art, lots of fun…
We left after a nice day with Sidney…
and headed north up along the Hood Canal on a sunny and hot (85 in April?) day…
We arrived at Linnea’s for a good dinner, lots of talk about Whitman College (Linnea and R both graduated from Whitman 50 years ago!) our families and activities…catching up. Linnea (retired library director) was a fantastic tour guide and our days in Port Townsend were sunny and bright and interesting.
Port Townsend, for those who haven’t been there, is a place apart. And I have come to love such places…long drives off freeways, no nearby metropolitan areas, no big box strips…what I guess I think America was like before freeways and strip malls were invented. Many such places have become meccas for 70’s hippies (we are those, I guess), trust fund kids avoiding the corporate world, artists…often there is nearby water for sports and daring-do. Port Townsend sits on a point of land surrounded by bays and straits and sounds….its founders felt it would become the New York of the west…hurray it didn’t. Kayaks and canoes are here. Wooden boat-building is key, sailboats big enough to go on the sound and the ocean…We went to see the sights and have some great meals (good restaurants and coffee abound…thankfully) in restaurants and made by loved ones. Here’s how it went…
First the post office to get Linnea’s mail…
then the Jefferson County Courthouse…visible from everywhere in town with an almost Richardsonian facade…
Flowers are everywhere…
lunch at the Hudson Point Cafe…
…a town of wooden buildings…
good food…
coffee…
views…
lots of public foot paths…
…friends. We had a great fish stew and lively conversation with Christine and Ole. Christine Hemp is a poet and we visited their “compound” of writing cottage…
and bow-making studio…Ole Kanestrom is a bow maker…
here’s the bow stock…
and the inlaid and gorgeous finished bows…(as I write this they are off to a week in Amsterdam delivering some bows to musicians…)
Inside awaited our fish stew and some Blue Hour conversation…
seeing a few favorite pieces of art…like these two Dan Schmidt paintings (Dan now of NYC)
messing around with Ole’s pen and talking of a Spencerian hand…
and then a fond farewell.
One more day which included a picnic at Fort Flagler…one of three forts guarding the entrance to Puget Sound…Fort Worden is in Port Townsend, Fort Flagler is on the tip of Marrowstone Island, and Fort Casey is on Whidbey Island, our Friday destination….
(This photo cracks me up…with my polarized sun glasses I couldn’t see the shadow of my hands and the phone…I LIKE it!)
Back to PT for coffee at Sweet Laurette’s
the movies at the Rose Theater…
and we LOVED this one…
out for dinner and more chat…and luckily there’s a good restaurant right next door…
one last Blue Hour view…where we’ll catch the ferry Friday…
Up early for a quick breakfast at Sweet Laurette’s…WHAT? Karen from Salem sitting outside with her NYTimes…small world…
down to the Ferry…
Look…there’s the post office on the hill…
Goodbye Port Townsend…
Hello Coupeville…
…a drive down Whidbey Island to catch the ferry to Mukilteo and then heading on to Bru and LeeAnn’s in Ballard for dinner…
where we caught up with our much loved but rarely seen nephew Sam…AND LOOK WHAT HE’S UP TO…whittling spoons… Beautiful…
Saturday quilt day for me, with show and tell at Sally’s…this group of women is talented, loving and kind…nothing better…
Mary, LeeAnn, Sally, Sujata and Tina…
Breakfast Sunday and off we go…goodbye Seattle! Heading home.
Stop in Portland for a coffee…
…a Sidney sleepover…here’s what I saw while doing my stretches on the floor…
and then finally home…ahhhh. News from the Snail Blog…
Happy to go, happy to come home.
