Tourist Traps – Riveted

Exploring Port Gamble

Laura Domela — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 21:15:07 +0000

We headed into the town of Port Gamble today around noon. We wanted to check out the town and have some lunch at the Port Gamble General Store and Cafe (well, technically brunch, since we skipped breakfast). We took off in the dinghy, loving the quiet, non-smelly electric Torqueedo (though I think we may invest in a second battery, to tame the battery complex we occasionally feel while far from Airship). We toured the shore looking for a spot to beach. The point there where the mill used to be, just beneath town, is now a big construction zone, but we saw some people walking along the beach so we decided we could beach there and then walk up the hill to town.

As we walked up the beach toward town, however, it appeared that we were "inside" an area that was fenced off from town. I called up to the cafe to see if they knew where we might be able to get some legal beach access, and they were not so sure, but the guy said he thought there might be beach access around the point toward the Hood Canal Bridge at a park near Salisbury Park. He said the construction area wasn't completely fenced off…and that there was a road going in so people could get to the research center around the corner. Just as we hung up, a gentleman in a big white truck drove over to, um, chat with us (through a giant wad of chewing tobacco he was shoving into his mouth as he was rolling down his window…gross). I told him we were anchored out and we'd just beached the dinghy but that it looked like we weren't supposed to be here. He agreed. He said this area is a (closed, non-operating) construction zone, and dangerous to the public. (Looked like just a big muddy lot to us, but okay.)

That pale yellow building on the hill is the Port Gamble General Store and Cafe. So close, yet so far.

I asked if he knew of a spot where we could beach the dinghy and walk up to town, and he said maybe around the point by the kayak shack, so we headed out into the choppy (but not too bad) water in search of beach access.

Looking toward town, the old mill in the foreground:

We could see Salisbury Point down by the bridge (it was far, and probably a bit of a walk to town from there) but as we rounded the corner a bit more, we saw a bunch of kayaks on racks and what looked like a kayak rental shack or something. Oh, and some beach!

Low tide was an hour ago, so we pulled the (now lighter without that big outboard) dinghy up quite a ways up the beach. (Turns out that was way more than we needed, but whatever.)

Sure enough, a kayak rental place. They were apparently closed so we just borrowed the beach for an hour or so.

We had lunch in the cafe adjacent to the Port Gamble General Store.

The food all looks and sounds great online, and their website is very nice. The food was good, but not go-back-for good. I mean, we'd go back, but our expectations would be different. We shared a burger that was fine (a little overcooked for our taste)…with bacon, bbq sauce, onion strings, white cheddar, and cornmeal crusted fried jalapenos. All that sounds great, and it was tasty, but overall needed more juiciness. The fries and homemade ketchup that came with it were fabulous though. We also shared a prawn tostada salad (Alaskan prawns, cabbage, lime cilantro dressing, avocado etc.) and for a $17 salad, I think we expected more than a small skewer on top with three small-medium prawns. It seemed excessively expensive for what you got. The prawns sounded like they should have been a highlight, but felt too separate from the rest of the salad. I think we'll try breakfast next time. ("Voted North Kitsap's Best Breakfast/Brunch" says their website.)

After lunch we wandered around town, and as we were halfway down the main street, we realized we'd driven through here before when we were camping in the Airstream on Hood Canal in 2010 and we drove the truck into Seattle to pick up our Hobie Tandem Island. The large expanses of green grass surrounded by bright white picket fences that makes up the historic part of town is hard to forget:

Woodpecker in a tree, doing his woodpecker thing:

Mrs. Muir's House of Ghosts and Magic:

Port Gamble is apparently famous for its paranormal activity and hosts an annual Ghost Conference in October.

Lots of great Victorian architecture in Port Gamble:

We stopped in at the general store before heading back to the dinghy to pick up a couple things. I think they're really trying to up the tourism in this town…it's definitely cute and has the "blinky light" vibe and a few funky shops and museums that make for a successful tourist stop, but it's a bit of a hassle if you want to visit by boat. If they just had a little dinghy dock or a convenient public beach, that'd be great! Nearby Kingston has 'em beat with easy access to town by boat.

Now we're back on Airship working. Kevin's broken wrist seems to be healing up well after surgery. He's doing all the therapy exercises prescribed every two hours, and is spending some time out of the brace when he's kicking back doing something more sedentary. He's able to type with both hands now (not totally 100%, but he's writing his own articles, rather than dictating them to me for typing). This text with youngest daughter the other night was pretty funny:

Her: So, how is boating with your broken arm? Is it way harder, or just a little bit harder?

Kevin: Oh, it's WAY easier. Laura does everything. I'm like a queen. "Honey, after you get those dock lines and finish the dishes, could you give me a massage?"

Heh.

I have to say for me…boating with one hand down is definitely harder and more work all around, but it's way more fun for both of us to have Kevin happy and healing out here on the water than it would be hanging at home or in the home office.

Hoonah, AK

Laura Domela — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 00:51:21 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska

Today was a rainy rainy day in Hoonah. (That's the view from Airship's galley, above.)

But we had things to see, so we suited up "full Alaska" (rain pants, rain jacket, hat, Xtratufs) and headed out to do some exploring. First up at 9am was a visit to the carver's studio just up the road, where local native artists Gordon Greenwald, Herb Sheakley and Owen James are working on the cultural elements of the traditional Huna Tribal House being built in Bartlett Cove in Glacier National Park.

Our tip from Sherrie–the harbormaster here–to get there at 9am when they opened in order to beat the cruise ship crowd was a great tip! We heard later from some boat neighbors who went later on that there were about 20 people in there when they visited. We were the only ones at 9am, and spent a lot of time chatting with the carvers and learning about the project.) More info about the project is here if you're interested.

I took a bunch of photos, but even shooting RAW the white balance was so hard to get right in the final photos. The light was a mix of natural light and giant green fluorescent jobbies hanging from the ceiling, so I'm giving you the black and white versions (which look much better).

These panels make up what will be front of the tribal house:

The panels are all hand-textured, and the texturing alone takes about 12 hours per panel:

Handmade tools for the job (the one on the far left has an antler for a handle…the rest are from tree trunk/branch sections):

This is carver Gordon Greenwald, telling us how they make the tools, and why the wood handles are better than the antler handles (because they're softer and have a little give when you're using them, and the antler handles are too hard, and the impact transfers more into your hand when you work):

We also got to see the four interior house posts, each one representing one of the four original Tlingit clans. The clans are the T'akdeintaan, (Raven), Wooshkeetaan, Chookaneidí and Kaagwaantaan (all eagle moieties). The central pole carvings are a goat, a shark, an octopus and a wolf, respectively. Each image has to do with the history and stories of that particular clan.

Here's one color shot that turned out okay, so you can see the paint colors (that's the shark, and the spine of the shark which is important for the story of this corner house post, but I don't know that particular story). They're using consumer paint to match the traditional pigments (and not, for instance, salmon roe mixed with saliva):

On the corner post next to the shark…this story I kind of know. It's story of a giant octopus who was snatching villagers as they went about their daily fishing and gathering. Since the clans get so much of their everything from the sea, they could not go on being afraid of the water.

A boy (I forgot his name) tied a spear or a knife to his hand, killed a dolphin to use as bait, and went out in his canoe to attract the giant octopus. He threw out the dolphin parts and the giant octopus showed up and grabbed the bait and the boy and the boy was never seen again. But soon, the carcass of the tentacled monster washed up on the beach and the young man's body was found inside.

This one tells the story of the glaciers in Glacier Bay advancing (at the speed of a running dog). Some young men were hurrying to tell the rest of the villagers to flee, but the glacier was moving too fast and swallowed them up before they could warn the others.

The orca's blow hole is often depicted as a face, because the spray of the whale's breath is like a spirit that radiates from the blowhole and without it the whale could not breathe.

Traditional tribal carved headwear, some with fur:

Gordon was so nice to spend so much time with us and share so much information with us. Follow along with the progress of the Huna Tribal House here on facebook, if you're interested. I think we won't get into Glacier Bay this trip. We'd like to have more time to spend in there, and I'm doubting there's much in the way of internet so we'll aim for next summer and as a bonus, we'll probably get to see this work on the actual Tribal House there in Bartlett Bay when it's finished.

After the carver's studio visit, we headed down to Icy Strait Point to get in a bit of touristy activity at the cannery (about a 2 mile walk from the marina).

The bummer about the cruise ship(s) being here is that the town is flooded with (a minimum of) 2,500 more people. The benefit of that, however (besides the economic impact is has on a small Alaskan town of 750), is that many of the places that would not be open on a "no cruise ships day" are open. (Like, the baleen and fry bread place, for instance.)

The cannery museum and shops and restaurants (and zip line, of course) were all open today, so we grabbed some halibut fish & chips and a beer and had a fun conversation with some other diners from the cruise ship. (Seven days! All they get up here is 4 ports in 7 days!)

They've got a bunch of the old equipment in there with a ton of info about how they processed and canned salmon when the cannery was a working cannery:

I even bought a touristy thing in the gift shop. (Well, I bought two…one for Tiffani and Deke, since I'm pretty sure if they'd seen it, they'd have gotten one for themselves anyway.) Click to enlarge, for full detail.

The woman working in the gift shop was super nice and gave us a good tip for a breakfast spot (and what to order) tomorrow morning before we take off for Elfin Cove. (Everyone we've met here in Hoonah has been so nice and friendly. This is a sweet little town and a recommended stop.)

Our walk back in the rain was wet but pretty:

The forecast tomorrow looks good for Icy Strait so we'll head to Elfin Cove and then on to Pelican if the Icy Strait/Cross Sound conditions stay chill. After that, I think we'll start heading….I know, please no, but we have to….south. Slowly, very slowly…south. I have to stop thinking about it now.

Hey look! Another humpback! Shiny!!

Big Bubba’s Burgers and the George Kenny School of Chainsaw Carving

Laura Domela — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 00:44:48 +0000

This morning we left Olympia and headed north toward Harstine Island. The sky was beautiful and the water was calm, and it only sprinkled a little bit during our cruise. Our original plan was to moor at McMicken Island on the east side of Harstine, but en route we decided we couldn't pass up a stop at Allyn, WA for one of Big Bubba's Burgers and to check out the George Kenny School of Chainsaw Carving, LLC (listed on Yelp under "Art Schools").

We docked at the city dock and walked the block into town and stopped first at Big Bubba's.

103-year old church across the street from Big Bubba's:

Big Bubba's is a walk-up, roadside burger stand (since 1966):

Happy Motoring Begins Here!

They have outdoor (covered and non-covered) seating in the way of picnic tables:

We tried today's special, the chipotle burger with bacon and roasted jalapenos and it was delicious!

Just down the road a bit on the same side of the street (you can't miss it) is the George Kenny School of Chainsaw Carving (and wine tasting, and martial arts):

Where the magic happens:

The yard is open to the public and you can wander at your leisure and check out the students' creations.

The start of an eagle:

Obligatory Sasquatch and Seahawks, because, Washington:

Campfire bears in the parking lot:

Allyn, WA turned out to be the perfect lunch stop.

Back to the boat!

Looking north from the dock:

Nice new Rocna on the bow:

Next stop: Jarrell Cove State Marine Park on Harstine Island!

Exploring Roche Harbor

Laura Domela — Sun, 05 Oct 2014 00:29:35 +0000

This morning we got up early and decided to head up to the Lime Kiln Cafe for some breakfast (and one of their famous donuts). Breakfast was good. The salted caramel donut we shared before breakfast was really good.

After breakfast we headed over to the harbormaster's office to pay for our night of moorage (they were closed at 5pm when we got in last night. Roche Harbor slip moorage with electricity and free Wi-Fi was $31. I think that's the cheapest one yet! After we paid up, we walked around the grounds of the resort a bit:

Wow. Fancy kayak docks:

The little chapel (the only privately owned Catholic Church in the United States, apparently):

Old schoolhouse:

We decided we really should walk up the hill and see the highly rated mausoleum (highly rated in the "you've never seen anything like it" kind of way).

There's a LOT of signage to get you to this place:

The entrance (kind of):

Past this entrance sign there's a little trail that leads you past a bunch of old graves:

And more signage:

It's like the Wall Drug of mausoleums (and every bit as quirky when you finally arrive):

You really need to read this sign though to get the whole flavor of the place:

Yesterday I gave you a little history of Roche Harbor and the McMillan family (here's a link if you need a refresher) but this mausoleum will give you a whole 'nother view into this family.

I kinda dig this idea — the ashes of family members being buried in chairs around a big table like this. It paints a nice picture of an imaginary family dinner, complete with arguments about politics and health care and whether marijuana should be legalized…going on over, and over, and over, and over again for all of eternity.

Oh. But no alcohol allowed. Well then nevermind.

We left the mausoleum and headed back to the marina (with a fairly quick walk through the sculpture garden) next to the airport. Nineteen acres of rolling hills containing about 120 sculptures dotting the landscape…pretty cool. We carved our names into the "friendship totem." They encourage you with a sign (put your name and where you're from), and they even leave you a little engraving tool plugged into a very long extension cord. Neat!

We loved Roche Harbor and its quirky, picturesque vibe! We'll be back!

Geysers, Goats, Wine, and Mud

Laura Domela — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 01:47:20 +0000

Today in Calistoga it rained most of the day, so we just hunkered down and worked. Late in the afternoon there appeared to be a break so we unfolded the bikes and took off for a little exploring.

First stop was Envy Wines.

Hey look! They have an Airstream too!

It was a great tasting. (Sauvignon Blanc, Rose, Cabernet, a really good blend, and a Petit Sirah). The tasting room was filled with visitors from Portland (us), Seattle, Spokane, and San Francisco. Fun! Great wines! We brought some back to the Airstream…on our bikes:

Next stop: Old Faithful Geyser of California.

This geyser erupts every 10 minutes, but sometimes every 6 minutes (so convenient!). It's…um…"AMAZING"?

But not really. I mean, it's okay, but it's $14/per person and it's certainly not Old Faithful in Yellowstone. But hey! There's a petting zoo, which is really just a bunch of goats running around. BUT, they have Tennessee Fainting Goats, and although we didn't get to see any fall over, they were pretty cute.

They've got some other stuff too (Jacob's Four-Horn Sheep, and I think some other kinds of goats), and a llama or two.

And that's it. But for us, it was TOTALLY worth 28 bucks because we got to make you guys this video that will give you the truly authentic feel of this tourist trap experience. Enjoy all the way to the end:

So there. We just saved you 14 bucks per person, right? (And how'd you like that fortuitous volunteer narrator??)

We rode back to camp, put our bikes away, and walked a couple blocks to our 6pm mud bath appointment at Golden Haven Hot Springs.

It's a litle hotel/resort with a mineral pool and stuff, but during the week at certain times they have a two-for-one special so a couple (or two naked friends, whatever) can go for $89 bucks total and get a mud bath (with mud facial and cold compress), then a jacuzzi mineral tub soak, then a blanket wrap. And if you want to go in their mineral water pool afterward, you're welcome to do that too. Here's a shot of the mud baths, but my lens was steaming up so it looks a little gauzy:

It was so cool though. You get in and have to kind of shimmy your way down into the mud (which is clay, peat and hot springs mineral water) until you're submerged, but you still are completely suspended in this earthy stuff. It's super trippy and we loved it.

We walked back just at sunset and snapped this shot outside the Airstream:

A great day in Calistoga!