Showing Off Anacortes -- Wednesday 9/11/2013 -- Day 124

Part of the charm of our summer vacation in the Pacific Northwest is our 'home town' of Anacortes, and we could spend a week showing Joe and Pearl only its interests and attractions, but we hit some highlights today.  

One of the first things you notice here are the colorful murals on the walls of downtown buildings and the cut-outs placed about town.  A favorite of ours is by Cap Sante marina.  We regularly see tourists being photographed with this group, "The Divine Divas of the Deep," painted by lifetime resident Bill Mitchell.

Joe enjoys it, too.

Pearl loves the flowers, which contribute to the attractiveness of residential areas and downtown streets.  This pink lovely hangs by the entrance to their hotel.

We continue our walk north to Pier 1 at the Port of Anacortes, where Dakota Creek Industries is building two new ships.  This one is R/V Neil Armstrong, an oceanographic research vessel, named for the first man to walk on the moon.  She is in the second of the third year of building, and will have berths for 24 scientists and crew of 20.  With a length of 238 ft., she will cruise at 12 knots and a range of 11,500 nautical miles, or 40 days.

The attraction along Q Avenue as we turn south is leaves beginning to change from the forest green to orange, wine and red.  How many photographs did we take?

We decide we have walked enough for now, as the next part of our tour is up, up the hill to Cap Sante Lookout bluff, where we can see our marina (Cap Sante Boat Haven), as well as Anacortes Marina,  a bit of Guemes Channel and a tiny bit of Guemes Island far into the background of the photos -- so we climb into our truck for the drive.

What a view! Guemes Channel and Guemes Island behind it are seen at the right of the photo.

Herb and Joe find some equipment they must inspect 'to determine if it is set up correctly and functioning properly.'  I suppose it is, since they move on.

Looking to the southwest we see Anacortes Marina.












Pearl reads the Interpretive Panel to learn about the fishing and logging history of the town, then finds an interesting tree, the madrona, one of my favorites with its peeling and papery bark.

The next stop is back to The Majestic Hotel for Happy Hour and dinner.

Pearl Relaxes in the Madrona Tree

Willie of Willie's Tug,
   and of Walldog, Willie and Jake
   Wednesday, September 11, 2013