Category: Day Trip

Blyn

S'Klallam Library

There’s a gem of a little library located in Blyn, the tribal center of the Jamestown S’Klallam nation. The focus is on Native American culture and history and there is a wonderful selection of volumes if this is where your interests take you. Some volumes are for use only in the library but most are available for check out if you are local. I was thrilled to find two coffee table sized volumes of Edward S. Curtis photographs that are worth a return visit to linger over.

S'Klallam Community Center

The library is one of a collection of buildings that serve both the tribe and the broader community. The Jamestown S’Klallam host lectures and community events in this community center.

S'Klallam gateway totems

These totems create a beautiful gateway. In the distance is Sequim Bay.

Artist’s Books

Teri Greeves 2

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art has an exhibit entitled “Artist’s Books Chapter Five: Women, Now and Then“, a small room of assemblages that focus on aspects of women’s lives and what it means to be a woman. Interesting, comical, disturbing and beautiful. This one by Teri Greeves caught my eye. Entitled “Book of Dance and Dress,” it is six pages of beaded artistry portraying the dance and clothing of Native women. The book appears to be constructed of deerskin.

Teri Greeves 1

The dancing portrayed is contemporary and taken from competitive pow wow dance styles.

Teri Greeves 3

It was behind glass. I wish I could have gotten closer. The detail was gorgeous.

Plan B

Bainbridge Museum 1

A bunch of us got together yesterday to visit a tantalizingly beautiful garden on Bainbridge Island, about an hour from Sequim. There was a chance of rain. And it was raining in Sequim. But we hit the road with optimism, ever hopeful. The rain didn’t let up but Plan B was no disappointment either. We visited the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, a sleek and modern spot that I for one had passed many times on the way to the Bainbridge ferry to Seattle.

Bainbridge Museum 2

It’s a small two-story building with a nice rooftop garden and one side opens onto a pretty courtyard. The art on view is a small collection — enough to be engaging but not so much as to overwhelm. For me it was just right. There’s also a nicely curated gift shop and a small bistro that made me long for an early lunch. All in all a very nice substitute…and the garden still waits.

Tatoosh Island

Tatoosh Island

About a half mile off the shore of Cape Flattery in Neah Bay is Tatoosh Island which is actually a group of small islands. They are collectively under 40 acres in size and are located at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Tatoosh is owned by the Makah Tribe and historically used as a seasonal fishing camp. It’s presently unoccupied. You might be able to make out the Cape Flattery Light in this picture. It has operated on the island since December, 1857.

Researchers from the University of Washington have studied the marine ecology of these islands since the late 1960s. It is one of the most intensely studied field sites in the world because of its isolation, climate, and location. The island is home to a diverse collection of marine plants and animals.

Cape Flattery

Cape Flattery

The views at Cape Flattery are sublime. It is a classically beautiful Pacific Northwest coastal environment at the distant northwest edge of the U.S. continent.

Cape Flattery 2

I hadn’t been to this spot in over 20 years yet the scenery was so deeply embedded in my memory that it was still familiar.

Cape Flattery 3

The rugged coastline is both forbidding and glorious while the day’s grey weather added to the mood. The humbling hike was worth it.