Views of Sequim, the Olympic Peninsula. . .and beyond
I had a rush of memories when I saw these Coke bins recently at Gere-A-Deli in Annacortes. I remember galvanized bins like this at outdoor events filled with bottles of soda – bottles, not cans, mind you – and never, ever enough ice to combat the heat.
I suspect nonfat milk was the leading edge of our dieting obsessions, or, more accurately, our fantasies. Trade out one or two foods for a lighter alternative and the pounds melt away. Wouldn’t it be nice?
We recently visited the Gere-A-Deli in Annacortes and in addition to a delicious lunch they served up a big side of nostalgia. He peaked before I was old enough to follow him (really!) but Hopalong Cassidy was a huge cultural icon, first through books, then via movies in the 1930s and 1940s. By the early 1950s Hopalong was on television and became an early branding franchise as his image was the first produced on children’s lunchboxes and 100 companies eventually producing products with his image. (I do remember Butternut bread.)
I don’t remember either of these brands; the big size of the cans makes me wonder if they were for restaurant use. But around our house we often had tins from various purchases or gifts that had second lives holding collections of sewing bits, nuts and bolts, small toys and the like. Tomorrow we’ll head back to Gere-A-Deli for a couple more – uhm, am I really that old? – artifacts.
The wedding’s over. The guests have gone home. The honeymoon’s over. The pressure’s off. The perfect time to get your wedding pictures taken. And what prettier setting than the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival?
During the Sequim Lavender Weekend we have everything from lavender lemonade to lavender ice cream. But we arrived too late for the Tulip Buffet. After taking in all things tulips, we were curious about the tulip buffet. Tulip salad? Tulip casserole? Tulip burger and tulip fries? Or perhaps tulip tiramasu? Maybe next year.
You want to get something down low. How do you go about shooting? Classic squat?
The bend-over?
Or, perhaps a variation on a favorite yoga pose?
Here are some examples of why the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is a flower lover’s delight.
Two big tulip growers in the Skagit Valley welcome visitors and we quickly found our favorite: RoozeGaarde. A $5 admission fee gives wandering privileges through beautifully planted gardens. The views are stunning.
RooseGaarde has been in business for nearly 60 years and is run by the five sons of the original owners, immigrants from – where else? – Holland. The gardens are replanted each fall with nearly 250,000 flower bulbs, a process that takes about 10 weeks. Their catalog claims they are the biggest bulb grower in the U.S.
A local innkeeper told us that with bus tours the gardens can see up to 15,000 visitors a day, making the mantra “get there early” good advice. Despite the steady flows of people everyone we met here was uniformly friendly and courteous.
There are plenty of fields for driveby viewing so it’s not necessary to pay to view. But this is a great spot to see labeled specimens, get planting ideas, and experience the wow factor of professional designs.