Category: Businesses

Where are the pig people?

Sunny Farms, our local market and nursery, usually has a venerable pumpkin pig couple who hold court this time of year. Kinda sorta like Santa and Mrs. Claus with a country attitude and a, uh, different kind of cute. You can’t sit on their laps and I don’t think they grant Halloween wishes. But then I haven’t done any asking. And unlike the typical Claus North Pole scene, that bench in their little hut hints at a repurposed “utility shed.”

I’ve gone by with my camera repeatedly and Mr. and Mrs. Pumpkin Pig haven’t been there. Where are they? We don’t know where they go when their Halloween gig is done. Zip lining in the Amazon? Skiing in the Arctic? Studying lions in the African savannah?

Here’s last year’s portrait. If you see them around, do tell them they’re missed. . .although scheduling this post probably guarantees that they’re now back, holding court like they were never gone.

It’s open!

Signs are up, paper is off the windows, and Kiwi’s Fish and Chips has been officially open for business for about a week (though not when I took this shot around 9 a.m.).

So far there are two reviews on Yelp.com. One’s great, one’s not. That sounds about par for the course with a new restaurant. But the location is good, on Washington Street near Sequim Avenue, and the fish qualifies fish and chips as health food, right? And think of the lycopene if you add catsup!

The Pumpkin Patch

The Pumpkin Patch is open. This is one of the local go-to spots with a field of pumpkins, a small general store, pigs and piglets, and a pumpkin catapult. There’s also a cornfield maze for those who like to pay to get lost. (I easily do this for free without even trying.)

You can see the pumpkin cap of this tower year round from Highway 101 at the west end of town. The area at the base of the tower sells corn on the cob, corn dogs, and apple cider.

Delicious!

We went out for a late dinner at the new Sequim Seafood and Smokehouse Restaurant on Saturday night. It was a quiet night, though there was a large group in another corner. The staff told us that they’ve been busy but that it’s quieted down some since Labor Day. The restaurant has been open eight weeks now.

I won’t pretend to be a restaurant critic here. I’ll just say that our dinners were wonderful. They offer fresh, “wild caught,” high quality seafood that was very well prepared. My prawns, above, were perfect.

My husband had halibut. I would have coveted it if my prawns hadn’t been so good. His fish was fresh, delicious, and beautifully cooked. This is what seafood is supposed to taste like.

I don’t take this meal for granted. We had a seafood lunch in Port Townsend a few months ago that cost more and should never have left the kitchen.

Sequim Seafood and Smokehouse has a small, sensible menu, just right to match startup ambitions for a new restaurant. It includes the expected chowder and fish and chips as well as dinner dishes like we had. They presently serve dinner only but hope to eventually serve lunch, too. The staff is friendly and pleasant. Service was good and the setting is attractive. We don’t go out to dinner regularly or often, but we’ll definitely put this spot on our list, right up at the top. If you like seafood it’s worth a try. The restaurant is located on West Washington, in the same shopping center as Safeway.

Closed

The historic 3 Crabs Restaurant has closed. The last meals were served on August 25th and a final sale of equipment and furnishings was last weekend. The restaurant signs are down and the building is quickly emptying as an era ends.

The restaurant opened in 1958 and became a local landmark, the go-to spot for seafood or a good bowl of chowder. The site, nearly 52 acres of land and tideland, has been sold to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The building and its septic system will be removed and shoreline access will be restored and improved.

A happy surprise

One of my earliest posts on this blog, September 2, 2011, was entitled “Waiting.” I was a little peeved. About six months earlier a new drive was constructed at the Carlsborg Post Office – one of those handy drives where you pull off the road and drop your mail into a post box like the one above, then pull out and go on your way. The drive was constructed. “Oh, boy,” says I. “How convenient!” Except that a drop box was never installed on the drive. Thus, the post.

A blog follower, retired postal worker Max, saw my blog and commented that he would contact the “powers that be” to see about getting a drop box delivered to Carlsborg. Max did what he could, but the U.S. Postal Service is what it is. I frankly wrote it off to another case of evaporated tax dollars. So I will admit to great delight on Monday when I saw this little beauty as I pulled into the Carlsborg Post Office. I was so surprised that I drove past without using it.

Did Max pull it off? Did a budget item finally click into place? Mere postal customers will never know, but I’m more than happy to credit and thank Max for our new box. I intend to call it the “Max Box.” And, locals, if you should drive by and see someone sitting nearby with a bottle of champagne, wave and say “hello.” That would be me, toasting Max. Thank you, Max!