Organ Concert, Rosario History, and Dinner at the Mansion

Laura Domela — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 01:19:01 +0000

This afternoon we went up to check out the 4pm organ concert and presentation given at the Mansion by Christopher Peacock. It was pretty cool! He played a few pieces on the 1900 Steinway grand piano (the last one out of the factory, on December 31, 1900), and then he went upstairs and played the organ (an Aeolian pipe organ with 1,972 pipes that Moran had installed at the Mansion) while showing a slide show of Robert Moran's photographs of the San Juan Islands, the shipyards in Seattle, Rosario, early shots of the mansion, the Moran family, etc. Moran was a pretty good photographer! There's one photo of his that I LOVE, but unfortunatley I can't find it online anywhere. If you've been here you might have seen it. It's of a small child, with a big fish trailing behind him on a string (the child is looking at camera). It's great, and reminds me of some of the vintage crime scene photos I've seen…I know, that's weird. Whatever. I'm weird.

Robert Moran (not a selfie), with the figurehead I posted about earlier:

The Tiffany chandelier in the organ room (depicting the performing arts):

An early shot of the mansion (which is now white, but used to be maroon):

Apparently the morning wake-up alarm for the whole house (even when there were guests) was frequently something played on the organ. Something like, this:

Listen: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor – Rosario

Christopher Peacock then showed the silent film version of The Phantom of the Opera while playing the organ to accompany the film (I took a couple stills to give you a little of the vibe):

I also (since I'm on a roll with the audio) recorded more of the organ music so you know what the accompaniment sounded like:

Listen: Phantom – Rosario

The console of the organ is upstairs, hidden away from the people who might be downstairs listening to the concerts. It was a player organ, but Moran never fessed to that, and his guests in the audience would all compliment his playing and clap, and he just took it all in and said thank you. So funny!

We wandered around upstairs checking out the library. Boy I'd love to be able to peek inside this set of illustrated Victor Hugo volumes:

Love these beefy iron hinges on the doors:

After the concert/presentation, we headed down to the Mansion Restaurant for dinner.

We sat in a window seat (I think they're all window seats) on what was previously the porch of the Moran Mansion. Here it is in the early days, before it was enclosed:

Kitchen, probably just there on the right in the photo above:

Our waiter (hi Bob!) was fabulous and we had a great dinner. Charcuterie and Manhattans to start:

We shared a caesar salad, and two entrees (short ribs, a house made tagliatelle and meatballs). Both entrees were solid and fit the "warm comfort food" bill for a cold cold day.

It's still REALLY cold out, but the wind has died down substantially since this morning. We did a little research on how to reduce the squeaking of lines when tied to a dock and Kevin rejiggered us a few times this afternoon. I think we've got it now!

Oh man, I keep forgetting to post this! Downstairs in the spa, at the far end of the indoor saltwater pool…there's this photo. I tried to get a better shot of it that shows the pool and the cool mosaic tile floor, but it's hard with people in the pool…so you'll just have to deal. How hot is this lifeguard?

24° — feels like 13°

Laura Domela — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 16:53:29 +0000

Yep, it's cold cold cold here on Orcas Island now that those winds have shifted from South winds to North winds. Early this morning as predicted (known gale warning), we awoke to the sounds of being on a pirate ship in a storm.

We both got up and went out to (1) remove the dang burgee (little flag on the bow that says "Nordic Tug" with a little tug icon, very cute) because it was blowing and clanking around like crazy (which ended up to matter NONE in the big scheme of things that made noise for the rest of the night), and (2) make sure all our lines were really REALLY secure, and that all the fenders were in the right spots between the boat and the dock.

I've been using this great app called iWindsurf for getting the winds. These panels showing wind speed are 4am, 7am, 10am, and 1pm this afternoon (forecast) and that little blue dot is where we are. Fun stuff! (Click to enlarge)

And here's what it sounded like at about 4am from bed, as the wind tossed us around a bit:

Listen: Sounds like a pirate ship, doesn't it?

Once when it was quiet for several moments Kevin said "It's much quieter now that we've broken loose." (fucker)

This morning it was clear and beautiful and the winds were still howling. Looking out into Cascade Bay it was choppy and there was spindrift on ALL of the water…hard to get a photo of it, but I tried:

We bundled up and headed to the Mansion Restaurant for breakfast (because, they have the Perfect Eggs Benedict!). Everyone was talking about the wind and the cold and the restaurant was warm and busy.

Back at the boat now doing some work (and learning about how to tie the lines so they don't creak as much).

Moran Mansion – Riveted

Organ Concert, Rosario History, and Dinner at the Mansion

24° — feels like 13°