DAY 9- La Conner and Camano Island

I decided to get an earlier start for the day.  I drove north along WA-20 to the north end of Whigby Island and then went through a bit of the Fidalgo Island.  The east on to through the Swinomish Reservation to a road called Best Road.  I drove south to a town area on the “mainland” area of Washington State.

Photos- The very picturesque La Conner.

 

La Conner is a township area that overlooks the water between the “mainland” and Whigby Island.  The Swinomish Channel runs past it and there’s a pink steel colored bridge that runs over the channel area.  La Conner is a very picturesque area with a great deal of art galleries, shops of all sorts, Inns, Bed & Breakfasts, and restaurants. 

Photo- Boats parked at a dock along the Swanomish Channel.

I arrived about 10am and 80% of the shops and stores didn’t open until 11am-ish.  In fact, I kind of had to laugh because there were three different businesses that listed their hours as 11am-ish to 6pm-ish.  I guess business hours are not set in stone or it’s a very laid back quality of life in the area for the business owners.  It was a bit of a culture shock for one set to certain hours and time tables; which I’m trying to break myself of.

I walked along and took photos.  I found a cute corner bookstore called “The Next Chapter” where I enjoyed a fresh piece of sour cream coffee cake and a mocha latte and perused through books while I waited for 11am-ish to arrive.  I, then, visited several of the shops and galleries.  I especially enjoyed a shop called “Caravan Gallery” where they had jewelry from all over the world and they were having 20% off everything in the store through to the weekend.  They had some wonderful things and were very reasonably priced and 20% off.  OMG!   I had to limit myself.

Photo- Fun names for some of the shops in La Conner.

Another couple shops that I enjoyed were a Lavender Shop that had lavender items that were made on the San Juan Islands and The Artist’s Remarque which had a wide selection of art items in their galleries.  I slowly went through the shops talking for a bit here and there with shop clerks just enjoying the day.  There were some really cute looking Inns and Bed & Breakfasts on the main area and just off of it too.  They were places with some fun names like Nasty Jack’s Antiques, Go Outside (an outfitters store), and Plum Ugly (a fish tackle shop).  It was rather fun just going along to see what was the name of the next shop. 

Photo- A dog waiting for his owner to have lunch.

Photo- The entrance to the Seeds Bistro & Bar where I had lunch.

 

I worked my way back to where I parked my car and it was about lunch time.  I spotted a place for lunch called Seed Bistro & Bar.  As I walked up to the door I spotted a golden lab tied up and waiting outside for its owner that was, I’m sure, eating inside.  Seed Bistro & Bar had an organic type of fare.  I had a wonderful curry lentil soup with a half a free range rosemary roasted chicken sandwich.  I couldn’t help but have a piece of a blackberry peach pie with homemade vanilla ice cream.  I got there just in time before the lunch “rush” hour.  The place filled up and there was a bit of a wait.

Photo- The Rainbow Bridge from a dock along the Swanomish Channel.

Photo- A quick shot from the car while on the bridge.

After lunch, I drove over the pink colored Rainbow Bridge.  It went over to the other side of the Swinomish Channel which goes onto the Swinomish Reservation.  It was rather striking how the different sides were.  The La Conner side was cute and picturesque but the reservation side had few businesses other than a Chevron Gas station and a lumber yard that was loading trucks.  The houses on the reservation side were run down and quite junky.  It was strange going from one side to the other.

Photo- A Camano Island beach area that I could see from above.

Next, I drove further inland and south over to the highway that led over to the Camano Island.  I was curious about the other Island that’s about a 1/3 of the size of Whigby Island and is nestled between the “mainland” and Whigby Island.  I drove along on Camano Island along several different roads.  There were quite a few private beaches and lanes on the Island.  I was rather disappointed that there really wasn’t that much to see.  I did manage to stop a couple times and take pictures off to the side of the road.

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.