DAY 8- Anacortes, Mushrooms, & Bee Stings

It’s hard to believe that it has been 7 days since I’ve driven out of Salt Lake City in the wee hours of the morning.    I kind of dragged my feet and didn’t start out until about 10AM when the skies finally looked like they were starting to clear up.  Then I jumped in the car and headed north to an island that is directly north of Whigby that goes by the name of Fidalgo.  The large town area on it is called Anacortes.

Photos- Colorful cut outs of people on buildings in Anacortes.

Anacortes’s Main Street area is very picturesque.  There are cut outs of people painted on the sides of corner buildings and different large unwindowed store front areas.  I think a great deal of these people were historical figures.  There was a great deal of flower pots hanging and sitting along the side walk areas along Main Street.  All of these things combined with architecture and colorful paint colors made it a lively and fun area for me to walk through visiting shops and galleries. 

Photos- Flowers hanging and potted along the Main Street area of Anacortes.

 

I stopped for lunch at a cute little restaurant called the Calico Cupboard. I ordered a Harvest Butternut Bisque Soup and ½ sandwich.  I managed to get about 3 spoonfuls into the soup when I discovered that it had mushrooms in it.  I’m allergic to mushrooms.  But I couldn’t help but think why they would put mushrooms in a Butternut Bisque soup.  So I grabbed the server told her and she offered to bring me another soup.  I had her bring a mushroom-free clam chowder, and a glass of water.  I thought I would see if I can wash what I may have ingested out of my system.  I never did get the bad headache or lost my cookies; so either, I didn’t ingest enough or I did manage to wash it out of my system.

Next I went for a drive around Anacortes.  I looked first for the Arts on the Ave.  There are larger sculptures that are placed throughout the city.  They have a map of where to find them.  It was a little bit like going on a treasure hunt and locating the different pieces.  There’s a website that they put on the map I found… www.anacortesartscommission.com It was rather fun.

Then, I drove around looking at the coastline and found a Washington Park.  I’m unsure if it was a city, county, or state park, but it had a day use area, a boat dock, and camping sites.  While going through the park, I discovered a Loop Drive at the park.  I drove the Loop that had a black top road that was just barely wide enough for my car.  It was a wonderful scenic route that went along the coast area but had you nested in among a forested area. 

Photo- The view I was enjoying before the bee stung me.

It was amazing and then it turned and wound around to an overlook area where you could see for miles.  There was a parking area and I got out.  I took a couple of pictures and then walked over to read some signs that talked of preserving local natural flora.  My hands were behind my back while I was reading.  Before I knew it I felt like I had something pinching the back of my left hand.   I quickly brought my hand in front of me to see a honey bee in the process of stinging my hand.  I slapped at it and quickly moved to my car to get away from it.  My hand was swelling up, getting red, and starting to throb. 

I quickly finished the rest of the Loop drive.  I went back to a 7-11 store that I had seen earlier.  I grabbed a couple of ice cubes and then grabbed a cold drink.  I then decided that the sightseeing was at an end for the day.  I headed back to my friend Jean’s house; where I iced the sting and took it easy for the rest of the night.