DAY 13- Music Festival & Birthday BBQ Parties...

I may be adjusting too much to the Island life.  I was still in my pj’s until about noon today.  I finally got my act together and got shower/changed.  Then, I was off to run a couple errands for misc. camping supplies.  I mainly went for water and batteries.  You can never have enough of those items when you are camping.  I have reservations for a KOA just outside Port Angeles, WA for the following night.

Photo: Plenty of things going on at the Oak Harbor Jazz and Music Festival.

Then, after the errands I ran by the Oak Harbor Jazz & Musical Festival.  There were quite a few people done there and amazingly, I wasn’t the only character there!  The Festival had been running all Labor Day weekend and I finally managed to get there.  There were two stages and live music at both of the stages.  They had Pioneer Street closed off which is like the Old Towne area of Oak Harbor. 

Photo- See I wasn't the only character1 Unqiue clothes for the unique person --a booth at the festival.

There seemed to be plenty of areas for parking.  I grabbed a spot nearby and walked into the free festival.  There were tons of food booths with any type of food you could ever want and plenty of booths for shopping too.  Most of the stores along the street were also opened.  When I was there, they had a jazz band playing on one stage at one end of the street and the other end of the street had an old time rock-n-roll band playing.  People were sitting on haystacks that they had for seating.  It was rather fun.

Photo- People listening to live music as they sat on haystacks.

Later on, I had been invited by my hosts to attend a birthday BBQ party.  The husband of the host for the BBQ was turning 60.  It was a very fun group and he took all of the guests on a little tour of the nearby wetlands.  It was amazing and fun to because you kind of felt like you were walking through a wetland maze.

Next, the tour of their cute house that faced on to Admiral’s Cove Lake next to the wetlands on Whigby Island. Then, it was the opening of the presents.  It was a fun night and I got to meet some very fun and welcoming local people.

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.

DAY 4- Exploring Whigby Island...

Photo- My faithful morning walk companion Otis.  A resident at Wildwood Farm B&B.

I woke about 6am again and had a nice little walk with my morning walk companion, Otis.  He took led me along a different area of the horse pastures.  I came back to the B&B and had another wonderful breakfast of sweet bread, fresh bananas with strawberries, sausage, breakfast potatoes, and an everything veggie omelet.  Again, I couldn’t finish all of what I was served but I found out that my friend Otis gets to enjoy the leftovers, so I didn’t feel as bad.

I decided to do a bit of exploring in my car.  I drove over to the south end of the Island to where the ferry leaves for Seattle.  I did a typical Utahan illegal U turn; anyone from Utah will know what I mean.  I really think U turns are the only way to get around in Utah.  I found a little bike shop in Bayview town on the way south and stopped to get a new mirror for my glasses.  I had misplaced the one I had.

Photos- of Langley town's Main Street area.

Next I took the turn for Langley town.  I parked just off of the Main Street area near a beach area.  It’s a cute little scenic community and I went through some shops.  I also went down to the public access beach area and walked around for a bit.  Langley had a great deal going on and was in the process of clearing the parking stalls along the Main Street for an event.  I could see parking becoming an issue later on in the day.  I found this cute little Swiss Bakery tucked back in from the Main street area.  Everything looked SO good but I finally decided on a strawberry square and a black coffee.  The strawberry square had cut strawberries on top, a thin layer of chocolate, a layer of cake with an almond cream layer in the middle of the cake and a crushed almond baked crust.  I took it over by the beach found a bench and enjoyed it and the view.  Yummy!

Photo- Langley's public beach area.

Then I drove more north and took a left on Fish Road.  Well, Fish Road led to Mutiny Bay.  Go figure! Mutiny Bay was very pretty but I was surprised to see tsunami warnings in the area.  It was lower and it was on the Ocean side of the Island.  I was also surprised to see a great deal of building going on.

Next, I turned off at Greenbank Farm.  There, I visited a few art galleries and a cheese store.  AND of course, the wine store.  It was late enough in the day that I did a bit of wine tasting.  I have to laugh because when I told the gal behind the counter I was from Utah.  She took each wine that she had poured out and poured a little more into each glass.  “Here you go sweetie.  You poor thing, you need a bit more then.”  I had to laugh.

I drove further north and turned off at Ebey Landing Overlook.  It’s a ridge that you can see for miles. At the overlook you can see farms, houses, fields of trees, and off to the right the sea.  Just an amazing view! I had a bit of a laugh because on the way out I see a house where there’s a combine tractor pulled up in a stall right next to the house.  I could see it by a barn or out in the yard but right next to a house.  It just struck me as quirky.  On that same ridge is one of the oldest cemeteries in the area.  The first gravestone is from 1863 and the cemetery has a great deal of history to it.  The cemetery is called Sunnyside.  It seems like a cheerful name for such a morbid place.  I found it interesting how there was cement curbing or white picket fences around the family plots.

The other highlight of the day was dinner.  I stopped to have dinner at the BBQ Joint.  It’s a couple from the south that moved to Whigby Island and there was no REAL BBQ in the area.  Well, they brought it here. They brought the REAL Southern BBQ to the area.  The brisket I especially enjoyed.  The atmosphere is very laid back and help yourself.  The counter where you order is at the back and then you take your food to a table up near the front.  You have your choice of tables or booths.  A TV plays the blues and jazz for music and it just feels comfortable and easy.  A perfect way to finish a day of sightseeing.