Day 14: Fabulous Fairhaven and its Farmers Market
Trip Start
Jun 05, 2008
1
21
24
Trip End
Jun 24, 2008
Bellingham,
Washington,
United States
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Today's photog: Kory
Today was a purposefully laid back day, a rest between all the driving and before we hit Seattle. We found the perfect place to be laid back: Fairhaven, a small town (or neighborhood? I'm not sure if it's officially a town, or part of Bellingham) on the south side of Bellingham.
The business/downtown district of Fairhaven takes up just a few blocks, but it has TWO count 'em, TWO bookstores, a couple of pottery shops, a fine woodworking shop, a glass shop, etc. - and every other building seemed to house a cafe. A few blocks down is a port where people can catch a ferry to Alaska, the San Juan Islands, or Victoria.
It turned out that the Farmers Market is in Fairhaven on Wednesday afternoons, so we hung around to see what the locals had to offer
Food and books!
. It was a gorgeous day, so this wasn't hard to do. Although the market is on the small side, on a grassy public square/park where outdoor movies are shown, we weren't disappoinnted: our eyes feasted on beautiful lettuce, radishes, broccoli, and flowers, and we made a lunch from local vendors who offered coffee, fresh milk, pretzels and croissants, shortbread cookies, and more. We also met an area artist named Jesse (whose last name escapes me at the moment) and enjoyed talking to her. More about her another time, but she was a kindred spirit and a delightful person. I got a few block print goodies from her. At the bookstore I got a CD by an Alaskan poet/fiddler Ken Waldman - not something I was likely to find in TN. We also drove around the Fairhaven residential areas, and found a lovely house, about the size of ours, with a stunning view of the water. Of course their prices were more than twice what ours would be. I wonder if they'd be interested in trading?
We also made a stop especially for Mike...it turns out that Grizzly Industrial, which makes all sorts of woodworking and machine equipment, is headquartered in Bellingham. So we went on a most purposeful industrial tour to visit their showroom. I've never seen so much equipment in one place! Plus, it turns out the president of Grizzly likes to build guitars, so they also have kits and supplies for luthiers. I think Kelsey and Mike may try to build a mandolin from one of their kits.
We spent the afternoon washing clothes, swimming, and eating up the leftovers in our little fridge. And I got us repacked and reorganized, since tomorrow we'll be turning in the car after we get to Seattle.
