Incredible Port Townsend

Our original plan for Friday was to go to the mountains, but the weather forecast was "mostly cloudy" so we decided a better plan would be to take the ferry to Port Townsend. 

Waiting for the ferry.  Here it comes.

I am always amazed at how many cars and trucks they can get on a ferry.  

We boarded the 11:15 ferry, sat down to enjoy the 30 minute ride and immediately spotted Hobart's close friend David and his wife, Colleen.  So we had a fun, brief visit with them.  

By the time we arrived at Port Townsend, we were hungry, so we looked for a good place to eat and chose an old hotel that had a dining room with a view of the water. 

 Our waiter, Sean.  I love old buildings with brick walls.  

I ordered the stuffed sole and Hobart ordered the salmon baked in parchment paper.  Delicious!  

Mine.

Hobart's--his was so good he wanted to pick up the parchment and lick it when he was through with the salmon.  No, he didn't do it, but it was difficult to restrain him.  

Fully satisfied, we walked the town, did a little shopping and enjoyed the sights.  We saw some wonderful shops...

old buildings...

art...

The title of this piece was "Crappy Outlook".

a stairway to "up" town...

Uptown house

a street musician...

an unusual "speaker's corner"...

some nut cases... 

and eccentrics...

This man (yes, it's a man) and his wife were shopping for yarn.

This man was scraping the calluses off his feet with a little tool.  Strange place for foot-grooming.  

We were tempted to stick around to see who owns this car.  

How often do you see paper dolls on the hood and flip flops on the bumper?  

Hobart's scratching his head, trying to figure out how they did that.  And why.  

We took each other's pictures in various settings.

Waiting for the ferry...

in the street...

in a nut... 

I told Hobart I wanted to take his picture in the nut, so he took this pose and said he was ready...

 better nut pose. (Two nuts.)

We also stopped for dessert at this darling soda shop to fill up on sugar. 

I had a sundae.

Hobart had a strawberry soda.

Hobart read all the story boards. 

 Who wants to know about eelgrass?  Hobart.  

Then it was time to catch the 5:15 ferry back to Whidbey Island.  

Goodbye, Port Townsend.

But...another surprise!  On the ferry going home we ran into still more dear friends  

 Fred, Eloise, Jan and Marshall

A wonderful ending for an incredible day!

Cinderella and Chihuly

Saturday, September 22, was filled with beauty.  We spent the day in Seattle --first to see the ballet Cinderella at McCaw Hall and then to the Chihuly Glass Garden at Seattle Center at the base of the Space Needle.  We started out early and the weather was perfect.  The trip was uneventful until we got a block from the parking lot.  The cars inched around the corner, one or two cars per green light, obviously waiting a turn to turn into the parking garage.  We finally got parked, into the building and into the restaurant for a quick lunch.  The menu was one of those fancy ones where one doesn't have a clue what is being offered but I ordered what I thought was crab and cauliflower soup.  It was.  Hobart ordered the stuffed French toast, which he later described as "poison--five different ways to get sugar into my body".  My soup was delicious.  (All five spoonfuls of it.)  We ate, went into the theater and found our seats which were wonderfully close and almost in the center.  The lights went down and the orchestra began.  Gorgeous music.  I looked over at Hobart, who had his eyes closed.  He was smiling as he absorbed the beauty of the moment and the music. The curtain rose and we spent the next three hours enjoying the ballet.  

When the ballet was over, we walked to the Chihuly exhibit which was a short distance away.  What an incredible experience that was.  I am always in awe of what that man could create in glass, but the display exceeded my expectations.  Enjoy the following pictures.  

Persian ceiling

We ended our day in Seattle at the Collections restaurant which is right by the Chihuly exhibit.  The restaurant displays various collections under glass at each table--pocket knives, shaving brushes, tin toys, etc.  The walls are decorated with other collections--old radios and hundreds of church keys.  We ordered and devoured the wild salmon on a bed of corn and mushrooms--the salmon was on a bed of corn and mushrooms. =) Delicious!  After dinner we stopped at Starbucks for a cup of coffee.  (How can you go to Seattle, home of Starbucks, without drinking a Starbucks coffee?)  We decided to go home on the ferry, reasoning that at 8:00 on a Saturday night, few people would be trying to get to Whidbey Island.  Wrong!  The line for the ferry started many blocks before the entrance so we turned around and took the long way home, over the bridge, visiting all the way to Oak Harbor.  

Good day.   

Unforgettable experience. 

Many blessings. 

Great life.