Anacortes
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
With the weather forecast to be wet and windy in Vancouver, we decided to head south and explore Anacortes. We met at the US border at 8:45 and headed for Lincoln Creek Park-and-Ride just north of Exit 252 on its eastern side. After a quick coffee en route, we had about ten minutes to wait for the 9:47 80X bus. We put our money in the box (50c for Doris and me) and headed south. We made stops at the Alger and Cook Road Park-and-Rides and arrived at Mount Vernon's Skagit Station with 25 minutes to wait for the ongoing Island Transit bus. We took the opportunity to go into the Visitors' Center, collect maps and information and use the washrooms. We came out and get on the bus when it arrived early. Island Transit buses are free so there was no payment needed. The journey west over flat Skagit River lands was new to me and quite a change from the road through forested hills that we had travelled to Mount Vernon. This is the country of the La Conner tulip fields and of crop-growing lands. After crossing the high bridge over Swinomish Channel onto Fidalgo Island, we reached a bus transfer station at March Point at the southern end of Padillo Bay. The bus we were on was due to continue over Deception Pass Bridge to Whidbey Island and Oak Harbor. However, a Skagit Transit (SKAT) bus was waiting to take us into Anacortes. I had seen a notice in Skagit Station to say the fare had risen to 35 cents on October 1, so when we transferred I dutifully paid the full 70 cents for the two of us.
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.. .......It is a short trip along the east side of Fidalgo Island to the Old Town at the island's northern end. We got off at 10th and Q, walked west one block to Commercial Avenue and one block south to find Anacortes' welcoming entrance arch over the road. We then explored the Old Town's Commercial Avenue from 9th north to the end and back the other side, looking at its many historic buildings and the murals. The city guide gave a list of over fifty of each but after a while we just enjoyed them and stopped looking each one up. The wind was blowing strongly and we had to bundle everyrhing around us to keep warm. There were a number of restaurants available for lunch and we chose the Calico Cupboard since we had enjoyed its sister restaurant in Scott's Bookstore in Mount Vernon on an earlier visit. The bowls of the soup of the day were excellent and we were happy with our choice.
After lunch we braved the high winds again and made our way to the waterfront walk to Rotary Park on Cap Sante and along to its southerly point. From here we scrambled up a rough trail leading to Cap Sante's high rocky bluff. The winds buffeted us as we enjoyed the views east over Padillo Bay, south over Fidalgo Bay and west over the island to Puget Sound. We then scrambled down to the road which allows cars up to this overlook. We followed the road for a short way before taking a trail off left down to Rotary Park at a point near where we entered.Our final exploratory trip was to the departure point of the ferry to Guemes Island (named by Narvaez on his 1793 visit). We walked the nine blocks from O Avenue to I Avenue and then down from 8th Street to the ferry terminal at 5th Street. The wind had lessened and when the sun showed itself, as it did from time to time, it was a lot warmer. We took advantage of the ferry waiting room to eat a snack or portions of the lunches we had bought in reserve. The ferry trip to Guemes is short and costs $1 round trip. A general store and restaurant are close to the terminal on the other side but our day was nearly over, so Guemes would wait for another day.
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.We walked back, passing the old Carnegie Library -now a museum- and making a small detour through Causland Park. We reached the bus stop at 10th and Q about fifteen minutes ahead of the 3:35 bus. This whisked us to March Point where the 3:45 was waiting to take us to Mount Vernon. I put 75c in the meter and was given a 5-cent ticket back as change to be used on any future SKAT bus trip! We reached Mount Vernon at 4:05 where the 4:10 departure was already waiting for us. It was getting dark now and as we made our way towards Bellingham the rain started and was heavy by the time we reached the Park-and-Ride. We scuttled to the car, drove to the border to a short line of two cars ahead. We ended with dinner at the Roadhouse in South Surrey.
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