HISTORIC PLACE

Had fun yesterday. That doesn’t always happen. Of course, I had to grit my teeth a few times to actually have fun. I love taking friends around to places they haven’t been.

I took a couple of ladies to Port Townsend – a beautiful historic little place with lots of history. Maria has been making overtures to restore our friendship. I want to encourage that so at the last minute I invited her to come along. I didn’t think she would come as she is addicted to football and usually will not come out of her room during a game. She came.

The day was forecast to be miserable. However, it was very nice along our route. We didn’t hit rain until the return just a few miles from home.

If nothing else, Maria can talk. Non stop is her habit and in that she did not disappoint. It is helpful for my readers to know the Maria knows everything and has been everywhere. We visited the fort where An Officer and Gentleman was filmed and she had been in every building and even one that was not there. Not possible. Some are off limits to the public.She had also hiked all over the grounds. I’m not saying she didn’t do those things, but I have questions.

We drove around to look at the architecture from the late 1800’s and then headed to historic downtown. My kids had been there the weekend before and the grandkids raved about a 50’s recreated soda shoppe. I was thirsty so we stopped. It was like walking back in time. Black and white tile floor, marble counter top, turquoise and black seats and stools – it was perfect. It would have been great had the prices been from the fifties.

I had a strawberry soda and one of the ladies had fried ice cream. Mine took my memory back to the soda shoppe in the corner drugstore four blocks from home. The taste was just as I remember it.

Maria did not follow us to the soda shoppe. She said she wanted to go to the deck on the bay and have a look. One other lady when with her, but came back to join us later. Maria did what she really wanted to do – go shopping. An hour later she had not returned. We had to go looking for her. When we found her she was at the other end of the shopping area leaving the historic district. She was looking for the car – she said.

Unfortunately, my choice to bring Maria did not sit well with one of the women. She was cool about it, but didn’t have the fun she would have had. It was probably too early to have her take a trip with me.

It’s Columbus Day. The least celebrated of our historic days. Of course, Chris did not really discover America. He landed in the Dominican Republic. Then, how can one discover a land that already had millions of people living here? The Indians call this Native American Day. Good idea. There are no Columbus Day decorations up anywhere. I am completely unaware of any celebrations in the area or any planned parties. I do wonder what special food is typically eaten on this holiday. Christmas is ham, Thanksgiving in turkey, Easter is hot cross buns, the Fourth of July is BBQ and Halloween is candy. We need to find a special food for Columbus Day. Maybe since he is from Spain it should be Tapas. Loves those foods.