July 28, 2002 - La Conner #2
We took a day to go sightseeing in some of our "old favorite" areas. This is Deception Pass. The water that separates Fidalgo Island from Whidbey Island. The bridge is in the left picture and the water on this side of the pass is called the Strait of Juan de Fuca, shared equally by the U.S. and Canada.
Now we're on the other side, and it's probably part of Possession Sound. The plaque reads, " DECEPTION PASS named by CAPTAIN GEORGE VANCOUVER 10 June 1792. Feeling that he had been "DECEIVED" as to the nature of the inner waterway. Port Garner (now Saratoga Passage) he wrote on his chart "DECEPTION PASS". He honored MASTER JOSEPH WHIDBEY who found the passage while commanding a small boat crew of explorers by naming the island "WHIDBEY". Velocity of currents in Deception Pass 5 to 8 knots per hour. Depth varies 6 to 37 fathoms. 1 knot 6082.66 feet 1 fathom 6 feet Placed by D.A.R. 1935" It also gave the chapter name of the D.A.R. but I couldn't make it out. And for those younger readers, the D.A.R. are the Daughters of the American Revolution. A patriotic women's club. They may still be around, but they aren't erecting plaques like this that I know about.
Standing on the bridge, looking first inland, and then out toward the sea. There were people on the beach who must have walked (hiked?) from the State Park there.
Watching the boats pass underneath was cool. We've never been through the pass in a boat, although we know lots of people who have. During slack tide is the only time most sailboats will attempt it because of the speed of the current.
Then it was off to the Greenbank Farm festival that wasn't. Hummmmm. Seems the tour guide booklet has the dates wrong. It's not the 26th and 27th, it's the 27th and 28th we learned. Empty vendor booths was the first clue, plenty of parking space was the second clue. But it was fun to be at the "Whidbeys Greenbank Farm 1904" anyway. The cherry pie ala mode and the loganberry pie ala mode were excellent. The cafe was open for business during the setup, and we weren't the only ones who had bad information. Business was brisk.
This beautiful old home in La Conner known as the Gaches Mansion is now home to the Quilt Museum. And there's a fund raiser going on this afternoon. Local (and not-so-local) artists exhibit their work for sale at auction. Benefits to go to the museum. Yup, my bride made me put on long pants (not Levi's, either), shoes that shine, and a clean shirt. Well, at least I didn't have to wear a Tuxedo like the musicians. At least the fellows had on Tux's. Great quartet, too.
Yeah, that's local wine being uncorked, and not just little bits of finger food, either. Real good stuffed bread in generous portions and a complete fruit plate too. The black cat was obviously the Lord of the Manor. We sure got our $5 each worth in just the food and wine. To say nothing of the people watching and art viewing. The paintings all had a silent auction bid sheet on them with a price by the artists name. The artists were all there and it was fun to listen to them talking to each other and the guests, most of whom seemed to know each other. After all, La Conner boasts a population of less than 800 (though the surrounding community of Shelter Bay and the Swinomish Indian Reservation make it a much larger community). The bidding was to start at 5:30 and we were plenty early. Barb was actually hoping we'd get to see some of the quilts, but the museum closed at 4, about the time we arrived.
Oops....Barb is looking at those cute barns waaaayyyyy to closely! But I had to admit, they caught my eye as well. Notice the "M" on the board behind her? Well, it turned out the auction was to close by sections, and the barns were in section "K".
And for those of us in smaller living quarters with smaller budgets there were smaller pictures. And some really nice framed paintings.
As Lord of the Manor, he can nap whenever and wherever he wants (here, in the middle of the yard where everyone was walking). The second violinist had the longest hair Barb and I had ever seen. It's braided, and goes down to the ground next to her chair, and then forward alongside her violin case. When she was standing, it touched the ground...while it was braided! The group was really quite good. Both classical and contemporary music. See that couple on the other side of the quartet? The guy with suspenders and the woman to his right?
As an ardent "people watcher" I was fascinated by them. He (the one with the braided pig tails) had come to the party holding hands with the long-haired violinist. The lady next to him was a very vivacious expressive blue-eyed brunette. I couldn't tell if they were old friends or complete strangers, but it was great fun watching them. The guy was very reserved, would nod and smile occasionally, but seldom actually added to the conversation. But I liked his wool hat a lot! And then--back to the artwork--there was group "C" that was all florals, and the upper right painting caught my eye.
The price on the painting was $130, and it caught Barb's eye as well. It was titled "Peach of a Pansy". And about 5 minutes before they closed the silent auction for section "C" (nobody had bid anything on it -- or most the others either), I encouraged Barb to put a bid of $50 on it. She did. And the auction closed and there I am proudly buying an original watercolor that we both liked a lot, for a price we felt was very reasonable.
As I took the painting out to the car, I noticed that all the other paintings had sold for the asking price or more. Oh, well, it's a fund raiser after all. And I had asked when we came in if the price was the "reserve" (minimum bid) and was told it wasn't. And then I'd verified that with a couple of guys who obviously had been here before and knew their way around. With the painting securely locked in the Jeep, I found Barb and we planned to wait until the section with her (our) barns was about to close, and see if we couldn't score some more nice paintings. And what do you know. Here's a nice lady asking if we were the ones who had purchased the pansy painting for $50. Yup, that's us. Need my phone number or something? Nope, need the painting back or another $80 (that was the bottom line, they were more polite than that). Harumpfh. What a way to run an auction. Seems that yes, the price on the bid sheet was in fact the lowest acceptable to the artist. We were a bit embarrassed, as were the people running the auction. Seems the locals knew the rules, but us outsiders who use the word "reserve" as it pertains to an auction missed the point of the whole thing. So, the painting went back. We hunted up the artist, expressed our apologies and she was great about accepting them. Misunderstandings happen, even when you're living the lifestyle of the unemployed and homeless!
Back to Journal Contents: Previous Page: Next Page: