AndyO Blog

I actually woke up before 10:00 a.m., which is a record for me on the weekend. In fact, we were out the door and sitting in Mia's Cafe in Eastsound before 10:00. The food was excellent, made with top-quality ingredients and imagination.

After breakfast, I headed to Darvill's bookstore and Brenda went to Moon Glow arts and crafts. It was such a luxury to be able to browse a bookstore without kids. However, unlike some of the smaller "Independent" bookstores that I love so much -- like Cannon Beach Books -- Darvill's didn't seem to have the selection of books that a smaller bookstore can really highlight -- or at least not ones I was interested in.

 

The two books I was looking for weren't there, and the person working at the front didn't really want to help me look (she was distracted by a family situation, which I totally understand). I still ended up buying three books.

After that, we wandered around the shops in Eastsound. One of the galleries had the most realistic dolls I'd ever seen -- bordering on creepy.

There was also a farmer's market going on that day, with arts, crafts, and food, but we didn't have an appetite for any of it having just eaten breakfast. Still, it was fun to look (and smell).

The real destination for us that morning was Orcas Island Pottery, a short drive from Eastsound, and one of Brenda's favorite shops in the entire world.

Orcas Island Pottery has a vibe all its own, with pottery placed throughout the property, as well as in a few rooms.

One side of the property has a spectacular view across the water to Waldron Island.

In the main house, I found the nicest cat. I wasn't sure if he wanted to be petted, but his loud purring telling me to just go ahead. 

Something new at Orcas Island Pottery was the best tree house I'd ever seen. Just look at the way this thing is constructed. Inside there was a playroom for kids, with a play oven and kitchen. There was another room above this one that I didn't look in.

Brenda was debating whether she should replace a set of beautiful blue bowls which had broken over time with new ones. I told her to do it. The bowls ended up being designed by the owner of Orcas Island Pottery.

Hanging out

After our shopping expedition, Brenda went off to a kayak excursion, and I lay around in peaceful bliss. I know that it might not sound that exciting, but reading, working on the computer, and admiring the view was the best thing I could do at that time. I think Brenda felt the same way about what she was doing.

Olga Cafe

For dinner, we went to the famous Olga Cafe in, you guessed it, the town of Olga. Our server was a spirited young woman, who had a lot of tables but seemed to be doing fine.

I ordered steak, and Brenda ordered Chicken Marsalis.

One thing I considered ordering was the famous cashew nut and chicken salad sandwich. But they were out of it. Actually, they seemed to be out of a lot of things. We heard people asking about certain items, and the server would say, "Sorry, we're out of that."

Fortunately, the steak was good. As was the pie.

Unavoidable Eavesdropping

That night, I was back on the computer, and Brenda was working on home made jewelry. As we relaxed, we couldn't help overhearing the conversation the people were having on the deck above us. It seemed like such a banal conversation for two people who were sharing a hotel room -- the kinds of things you think you'd already know.

We heard all about his college. And more about his college (he really liked it, I guess). I could only make out words here and there, and we finally closed our sliding glass door so we didn't have to hear any more about his school.

Brenda said something to the effect of, "Just go ahead and do it already!" as if all this talk about his school was some kind of foreplay.

And if you're wondering, curious reader, we didn't hear anything upstairs after they shut their door and went to bed.

Labels: Orcas Island, Travels, Vacation, Washington State