My Wonderful Gita

Though living in a seaside town, if I venture away from home, it usually is another water-related excursion.  Saturday I took a great Gita (Italian for a short trip) to Whidbey Island, opening the fun day with breakfast at Knead and Feed in Coupeville.

(http://www.kneadandfeed.com/).

For starters, the fast-paced, but very friendly staff is so marvelously down-home, that one even takes the time to admire my silver sailboat pendant. I enjoy the scrumptious spinach and feta scramble with roasted potatoes, accompanied by extra-thick homemade toast.  Customers can watch them knead the bread.  No wonder everyone is salvitating! Some only stop by for takeout of gigantic orange cinnamon rolls.  I forgot to reserve so joined others who wander the shops on First Street, waiting for their cell to ring–“your table is ready!”  The place is tiny and has very few tables, but there is room for me at the crowded long communal table and I hear all sorts of intriguing conversations up close.

A huge grassy meadow is the backdrop for the farmer’s market and the library has a book sale- so my passion for reading gets a boost!

Next, I head for Lavender Wind Farm. Must foregoe the namesake lavender ice cream and instead energize myself with the other passion: the camera.

Moments later, I miss the ferry to Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula, such an old-fashioned downtown with almost all the buildings built before 1910. http://enjoypt.com/

I buy my senior walk-on, round trip ticket for $6.20 for the next sailing and the woman-in-the-window smiles– “You’re from Anacortes, aren’t you?  I’ve seen you there.” (Small-town idiosyncracy).

Parking right on the highway is allowed, and in front of me, a bumper sticker reads, “Don’t believe everything you think.” Ah, all need this wisdom. A beach walk keeps me busy for an hour.  Masssive caches of intriguing driftwood pile up adjacent to the very clear, rock-filled shoreline. Families fishing, retirees gathering the wood, (probably for crafts), and dogs bask in the sea air.

The ferry pilings offer nesting landings for gulls and chicks cavort under mama’s watchful eye.

Inside, the ubiquitous puzzle tables keep some busy. Smooth sailing and a couple of tries for tying up the boat, and the walk-on herd almost runs off the ramp. They anticipate people watching, massive doses of food and music, boutique shopping and avant-garde movies at the famous, old Rose Theater. Some head west for the Olympic Mountains or beautiful Sequim. (http://www.sequimwa.gov/

My way-in-the-past memories of PT always centered in the annual Wooden Boat Festivals, but more recently, I am content as an ambience-seeker. But first a stop at the most extensive used-and-new books store, William James on Water Street (great example: new $15 paperbacks for $3.95).

On to enjoy the newer Marine Center, which is a must-see for anyone under the spell of “water,” like me. http://www.nwmaritime.org/ . I walk by the Tide’s Inn, where “Officer and a Gentleman” was filmed, and stand in line for the return ferry, where everyone snaps ferry photo-ops and texts like crazy to show where they are.

A return to Coupeville for my second meal of the day– a sole/soul scoop of Italian gelato to compliment the book I’m reading–Bella Tuscany by Mayes.  Italy:  the dream vacation.  Probably in another lifetime.  Meanwhile, I live vicariously through its pages.

My straw hat has been missing since morning, so I return to the lavender farm.  All is quiet, no one around, and there it sits on a picnic table–no theft in this beautiful location. The sun is going down and I catch the last rays on West Beach and Deception Pass State Park.

I’m almost home. The radio plays “Little Things Mean a Lot”–that oldie speaking of romance, but interpreted by Ruth as my perfect “Gita.”