This morning I woke up and headed for a quick shower at the marina so I could get started with my day. My plan was to make a big circle of the island. The past few years on my visits I have tried to hit most of the major "hot spots" on the island. I wanted to revisit some of my favorites this time and catch a few more not yet discovered (at least by me). I caught an early lunch at Vic's Diner. Jim, my realtor, told me that Vic's is having free burgers to celebrate their anniversary. Hey, I can't beat that! I met him at his office and we walked there together.
Jim introduced me to a lot of people. Because of his job, he knows many people on the island. I met several of the gentlemen in his "no name" club. I gather that this club consists of a group of older gentlemen that meet once a week for lunch. We ran into them yesterday at lunch. They are pretty entertaining to say the least!I also found some time to work on the blog today. I have been using the free wifi at Pelindaba's cafe. While there, I have grown to enjoy their Lavender Rooibos Tea. You all know that I'm a big green/herbal tea drinker. This is one that I'm going to bring home for everyone to try. This is the same place that made the lavender pepper that I brought home last year. That is excellent when used as a dry rub on pork chops! Yum-yum!
Today I enjoyed relaxing and sightseeing. I hiked around the island and snapped some pictures. Nothing overly exciting, but it was exactly what I wanted to do.
This was taken heading south away from town. The snow capped Olympic Mountains lie in the background. It's hard to believe that a few days ago I was over there hiking!
Pelindaba Lavender Farm. The lavender was not yet in full bloom, but the scenery was still beautiful.
After leaving the lavender farm I drove to the west side of the island and then headed north.
Just gorgeous! The Olympics are a mere shadow on the horizon. My next stop brought me to the Lime Kiln Lighthouse. I just love the Pacific Madrona trees. Their rust color is so vibrant set against a lush green background. Their trunks seem to creep about without an established path. There is no rhyme or reason to their madness.
Look at how clear the water is! They say it is one of the best scuba diving destinations in the world! I would love to learn...if it wasn't for the sheer terror that resides deep in my bones...I can hear it now (cue the theme music to JAWS!!!) I'll just say that being born and raised in land-locked Missouri has not done anything for erasing the images that that movie and Shark Week continue to cement in my mind.
In the following picture the Lime Kiln Lighthouse is in the distance. I took this shot because of the carving in the tree "'76." My year of birth of course! That said...I do NOT condone or encourage carving into trees.
As I headed further north, I reached English Camp. This park, along with American Camp, are part of the National Parks Service. The Blue Delphinium just seem to pop!
I thought that I would catch dinner in Roche Harbor on the north end of the island. This community is more of a resort. It kind of reminded me of Main Street at Disneyland. Last summer I had a meal at the Madrona Grill. I just loved the red pepper-radish slaw that is served as a side dish. I wanted to go back to see if I could figure out what was in it to possibly duplicate it when I got home. After the service that I received, I'm not sure if it was worth it. Okay...I have never been a person that enjoyed dinning alone. However, I am beginning to embrace it. It's kind of funny to notice people's reactions towards single dinners. Some people would smile at me, some would look at me in pity (I even heard a kid ask their mom why I was eating alone), and some people would totally disregard my existence. I always wanted to be a fly on a wall, now I had my chance! I am beginning to wonder if most people are uncomfortable eating alone in public? I guess food usually goes along with fellowship. Now to my rant...Ok. I was seated at a small table that could seat 2. It was up against the building on the outside deck. Most of the larger tables line the edge of the deck overlooking the water. All of the tables have as least one umbrella over them. It took at least 15 minutes (that is when I first looked at my watch) for any wait staff to even acknowledge me. Finally, someone came to take my order. I ordered a burger and the long awaited slaw. My waiter said that he would put my order in and bring me a glass of water. I forgot to mention that it was very hot outside. Another 15 minutes pass...no water...only saw my waiter once as he flew by me to deliver food. About 10 minutes later he brings out my food and says, "Oh ya, I'll go get your water." The food was good and my water did eventually come as well. I did not, however, see my waiter again until he brought my check. (That took a while too). Now I know that they were busy so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. However....I don't know that there is really a rationalization for the following...except for the fact that my check was not as big as a table of 8 and the squeaky wheel gets the oil. As I was dinning a waiter from another area came over to the umbrella shielding my lone table from the scorching sun. I must have had a puzzled look or something on my face as he started to retract my umbrella. He said, "You are not going to like me for this." At the time I wasn't exactly sure what he was doing so I didn't say anything. In hindsight, there is a lot that I should have said. Oh well. And then....he walked away with my umbrella! What?!? I was now blinded by the slowly sinking sun so I could not run after him even if I wanted to! Actually, I did see where it ended up. A table of 8 was now doubly shielded from the harsh setting sun. Little old me...all alone...blinded and ignored. It was kind of funny actually. I do not think that I will return to Roche Harbor any time soon!
My umbrella is the 3rd from the right!Tomorrow I kayak! Everything will be okay once again!
No comments:
Post a Comment