Well, finally! Work has subsided a bit and I've had the time and energy to get out into the world to have fun! A good friend has been staying on the island for a bit, so we've taken the opportunity to spend some time together. Last week, we met up in Coupeville to have an early dinner at another favorite waterside spot, the Front Street Grill. That picture up there is the view from our table, looking across Puget Sound toward Camano Island.
Coupeville is known for its Penn Cove mussels -- in fact that water is Penn Cove, really. Anyway, that is what I had -- very fresh mussels cooked in a sauce of Whidbey's blackberry port, shallots, and garlic. Totally delicious.
Dori enjoyed some gorgeous crab cakes and a salad. And yes, we celebrated our time together with a glass of champagne.
This weekend, while Dori was still here, we decided to go roaming. So we headed straight north off of the island to poke around the town of Anacortes. Driving off of Whidbey Island took us over the Deception Pass bridge, which is an absolutely stunning bridge over Deception Pass. We did not stop for photos as both sides of the bridge were mobbed with cars and tourists walking over the bridge, but I can assure you that it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. And it's not just me ... Deception Pass was recently ranked as one of the top five most beautiful state parks in the US.
It's a narrow bridge so I was paying strict attention to the road and traffic. But Dori got this picture out of her window. Did I say that it was gorgeous, clear-blue-sky day?
Anacortes is a seaport town, probably known most widely as where one gets the ferry to the San Juan Islands. The old downtown area had cute shops and restaurants in old brick buildings -- lots of interesting art galleries and shops featuring decor and antiques and fun items. I enjoyed poking around a bit in Fabrics Plus, a small but well-stocked fabric store that seemed to have anything anyone might want. It is always good to know the most accessible sewing/quilting resources.
We stopped for lunch at The Secret Cove, a little spot tucked around a corner among boat yards. The view was fabulous.
The food was... fine, really. Nothing fantastic, but the view made up for it. Did you notice the snow covered mountains?
We decided that the day would not be complete without a stop at Greenbank Farm for a slice of Whidbey pie. I will confess that I prefer other desserts to pie, but I can attest to this being the best pie I have ever had. Ever. We choose local marionberry pie, a la mode, of course.
It was a lovely day. A great friend, gorgeous scenery, and good food. We covered a lot of conversational territory and laughed a lot. Dori and I met in law school and have known each other for over forty years, and yet we never run out of things to talk about. Isn't that the best kind of friendship? So it was a very therapeutic day, indeed.
After dropping Dori back at her mom's house, I took back roads home, and as always was struck by the surprise of such beautiful views.
One more thing... this week I got talking with a guy in a local shop. The conversation turned, as if often does here, I've noticed, to what brought each of us to Whidbey Island. "I've just always had a thing about islands," he said. "and I just knew I wanted to live on an island." "Yes!!" I think I actually yelped with pleasure when he said that. It is exactly how I have felt, and he is the first person who has had ever expressed that same thing. Me, I trace it to the novels of Elisabeth Ogilvie that took place off of the coast of Maine, but who knows.
I am just always so happy to here. And isn't that exactly how one should feel about one's home?
