Living the Good Life in Anacortes

Seattle in the rear view mirror we head north to Anacortes. 

Thanks to blogging friends who had moved on down the road, we were armed with information and directions and headed to the Cap Sante Marina to dry camp in their parking lot.

 
 We are set up early in the afternoon next to Suzanne at Take To The Highway and ready to enjoy the atmosphere at the Cap Sante Marina. It is mid-week and there are only a couple of other campers and it stays pretty empty while we are here with people only coming in and spending a day or too.


              

 Our Back Porch View is of The US Preston Maritime Museum which we visited.

 During the late 1800's the rivers and Puget Sound served a water road ways with up to 300 paddlewheel boats traveling up and down the water ways.
 

 Logs and branches from logging efforts, abandoned boats and other debris clogging the waters .  Congress allocated $20,000 for a snag boat and in 1885 the Skagit began clearing the waterways.

 
For 97 years the three snag boats cleared the harbors and rivers.  First there was the Skagit in 1885, then the Swinomish in in 1914, the finally the Preston in 1929. 
 

The Preston was operated by up to 14 crew  who had living quarters aboard the vessel, many of the crew serving for decades.

The Ships Galley

 The Ships cook who served from 1969 till 1981.

He prepared the food made to order.  He told of a story when he ask what they wanted for dinner for the next week.... the reply was it doesn't matter.   After a week of peanut butter and jelly they never replied it didn't matter again. 



The Preston worked the harbors and rivers until 1981 when the ship made it's last trip to the Lake Washington Shipyards with whistles blowing.  A few days later the Captain Virgil (Sandy) Welsh took down the ships flags for the final time.

It was an interesting tour and worth the $3.00 entrance charge.

The Marina in on the edge of the downtown area. so walking about in the mornings while Hailey got her extra shut-eye was my favorite thing to do.  

It was a very good thing..... I found a ice cream shop made from a homeowners garage near our back door, behold.....a yummy treat to finish the day!!

Anacortes is another little town that has murals adorning the outsides of many of the local historic buildings.  Bill Mitchell painted all of the murals from his wheelchair that depict the local history, people and cultural of this sea port gem.

  

Yet another unique feature of the little seaport is the local garbage cans in the public areas.  They have painted the cans to revive the salmon cans of the past.   With current flash freezing and the ability to bring fresh seafood directly to markets, canning of sea food is mostly in the past.  It is always interesting to see how a community preserves its history and Anacortes certainly found a unique way in the garbage can tribute. 

     

At this marina you are able to walk on the docks among the boats.... a rarity in the marinas we have been near. 

 It makes interesting evening strolls dream dreams of owning a boat in this water wonderland.....

   

 and to await the boats lights, twinkling after sunset.

 

 Another wonderful day.

Hope your Trails are Happy To!!