I was pretty delighted to hear there is a Hobbit Hole in Port Orchard and I finally got to see it at the Brother’s Greenhouse. It is really well made and I actually got into it. The rest of the nursery was pretty great too, plenty of stock and helpful employees. They even had free cookies! We picked up some charming plants for the front porch.
And oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’ve been working on this one time impulsive blog project for going on seven years now! It began in 2010.
The Guardian Stone is Poulsbo’s newest public art installation and it is really lovely. My first thought was “oh, look, a sword in the stone! King Arthur!”, but no. It being Poulsbo, the piece is reflective of Norwegian history. The rock, steel and glass sculpture by Lisa Stirrett was installed in February 2016 at the Muriel Iverson Williams Waterfront Park. The nine foot tall piece is a nod to Swords of the Rock in Norway, though that piece is much larger (see a photo of that too). Really, it is captivating. You should go see it!
While Poulsbo was indeed settled primarily by Norwegians and other Scandinavian immigrants, sadly the Vikings did not make an appearance. But perhaps now they have through James R. Mayo’s humongous mural on Boehm’s Chocolates on Front Street. The mural was painted in 2011. I was surprised to learn that until World War II Norwegian was the dominate language in Poulsbo.
While visiting the small city for a seasonal day trip, I also captured a few Christmas photos.
Chief Seattle’s grave site is located at 7076 NE South Street, Suquamish, in the Suquamish Tribal Cemetary just behind St. Peter’s Catholic Mission and north of Bainbridge Island. While we were there, several small groups came to pay their respects and some have left tokens, mostly shells, but also some art and coins. To either side of the headstone are tall, painted carvings. He was buried here in 1866 and the headstone was put into place in 1890. It is obviously from other photos on the internet, that the grave site has recently been improved.
Chief Sealth was born in 1786 and was a Chief of the Suquamish Tribe. The city of Seattle was named after him.
Saint Peter’s Catholic Church was built in 1902, replacing an older church. The windows of the current church were taken out of the original church.
More about the site can be found here.
Poulsbo Marine Science Center at 18743 Front St NE, Poulsbo, WA 98370 was my choice while my dear husband perused antique stores in the charming town of Poulsbo. The center is free, though donations are encouraged. There is a large open touch tank as well as several aquariums with such great things as jelly fish, clown fish, sea stars, sea anemones and an octopus (pictured above).
It’s been three years since I’ve started this new place of the day project and as last year I wanted to pick an extra nice new place. The first anniversary I picked the Pagoda in the Chinese Reconciliation Park and last year I picked the Legislative Building in Olympia. This year dear husband and I went to Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse. Now I know that another coffeehouse doesn’t seem all to impressive, but this is my all time favorite coffeehouse. It was comfy seats, great coffee and food, an upbeat staff and a tremendous view. I ordered my iced Americano and happily sat in a comfy stuff chair facing the window. Life was good.
Looking back at the third year of this project, I have some new observations:
The encouragement that I’ve received along the way has meant the world to me! Thank you.
Update April 2016: Happily the coffeehouse is still doing well and I managed to snag the same chair as before!
Tangled FX 2.1 (Apr 3, 2016, 4:49:35 PM)
Small Details preset
…at least that’s what they said on their sign in their Eddie Bauer Outlet Store at 9990 Mickelberry Road, Silverdale, WA 98383. Everything in the store was 30% off, which was extra good since I had plans to visit today anyway. I picked up two pair of short ($30 each marketed down to $5 and then 30% off) and a pair of jeans.
http://www.eddiebauer.com/home.jsp
Eddie Bauer originated in the Northwest and first opened in Seattle in 1920 as “Eddie Bauer’s Tennis Shop”. The shop was only open during tennis season. In 1920 Eddie Bauer was 21. In the 1940s Eddie Bauer developed hypothermia while winter fishing in Washington State. Inspired he developed a quilted down coat that would prove to be warm and yet lighter then the heavy wool coats popular at the time.
In 1968 the company sold to Bauer’s business partner and in 1971 it again sold; this time to General Mills. Spiegel purchased the company in 1988. In June 2009, the company filed for bankruptcy protection and in July of that year was acquired at a bankruptcy auction.
Until today I didn’t know that Port Orchard had a boardwalk! Our family went to Port Orchard to give my dear husband a chance to look at old nicknacks (ummm I mean go through antique malls). But dear daughter and I stretched our legs and found this boardwalk, with real boards and a lovely, lovely view. We walked it to the end, which took under 10 minutes.
It turns out that the City of Port Orchard has some big plans for this little boardwalk. It is to be expanded to the Annapolis ferry facility and become part of the Mosquito Fleet Trail.
The Mosquito Fleet Trail Master Plan states “Mosquito Fleet In the year 1908 twenty-four docks provided passenger and goods transport between Kingston and Southworth along the eastern shoreline of the Kitsap Peninsula. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1908) The Mosquito Fleet derives its name from the ubiquity of the small steamboats that carried passengers between these docks and across the Puget Sound as common as mosquitoes buzzing through the air. Historians attribute the beginning of the Mosquito Fleet to the year 1853, when the Fairy began service between Olympia and Seattle (Clark, p. 48). At the turn of the century, numerous lines competed against each other, vying for both passengers and goods. The emergence of the automobile had disastrous effects on the Mosquito Fleet. By the mid-1930’s only the Black Ball Line survived. In 1951, Captain Peabody sold what remained of his fleet to the State of Washington, officially ending the era of the Mosquito Fleet.”
http://www.cityofportorchard.us/mosquito-fleet-trail
http://www.kitsapgov.com/mosquito/downloadplan.htm
http://www.kitsapgov.com/mosquito/pdf/mosquito_fleet_plan.pdf
For her upcoming birthday my dear daughter asked to go to one of her very favorite restaurants, which is named That’s-A-Some Italian Ristorante. Located at 18881 Front St NE, Poulsbo, WA 98370 (360) 779-2266. We have been going here for special occasions for years now and it is still as good. I had the catch of the day (grilled fish over angel hair pasta with a basil cream sauce), my daughter had Fettuccine Alfredo and her friend had the lasagna and all three dishes were top notch. They also have an extensive selection of wine and even a small wine shop, though we stuck with soft drinks. During pleasant weather (which is the opposite of what we had today) there is outside seating.
Their website is here
http://www.thatsasome.com/italian/index.html
