Last Friday we hopped in Wes, opted to keep his top up, and crossed the Deception Pass Bridge for a jaunt to Whidbey Island. The day proved the weatherman right (rain and gales) and our escrow lady 
prescient (the lunch spot was perfect). After making a short stop in Oak Harbor, the island's Naval Air Station bedroom community, we headed south to Coupeville, which edges Penn Cove's southern shore. Low tide bared the sound's bottom, and called to the locals like a siren song. Whole families were out, slickers on, shovels and pails in hand, digging for clams, oysters, and geoducks (really! check out the link. pee first, if that's a problem). Also near the shore are dozens of swimming platforms, except, they're really for mussel harvesting, which was main reason for coming to Coupeville. Mussels!
prescient (the lunch spot was perfect). After making a short stop in Oak Harbor, the island's Naval Air Station bedroom community, we headed south to Coupeville, which edges Penn Cove's southern shore. Low tide bared the sound's bottom, and called to the locals like a siren song. Whole families were out, slickers on, shovels and pails in hand, digging for clams, oysters, and geoducks (really! check out the link. pee first, if that's a problem). Also near the shore are dozens of swimming platforms, except, they're really for mussel harvesting, which was main reason for coming to Coupeville. Mussels! Starving as we were, we couldn't resist touring around the place because of such lov
ely funk. Gorgeous gardens and crayola-colored cottages. But we made it to 12 Front Street, and found the Mosquito Fleet Chili down a flight of outside stairs. OMG! Such a meal! First the BEST mussel chowder I've ever eaten. "It's an eleven-hour recipe," the owner told us, after we'd oohed-and-awed over the mussels' tenderness. Then we had the pulled-pork, which was also stupendous, but not as good as the chowder, for which they'd just won the medal at the previous week's Chowder Festival.
ely funk. Gorgeous gardens and crayola-colored cottages. But we made it to 12 Front Street, and found the Mosquito Fleet Chili down a flight of outside stairs. OMG! Such a meal! First the BEST mussel chowder I've ever eaten. "It's an eleven-hour recipe," the owner told us, after we'd oohed-and-awed over the mussels' tenderness. Then we had the pulled-pork, which was also stupendous, but not as good as the chowder, for which they'd just won the medal at the previous week's Chowder Festival. On our way back to Fidalgo Island, we stopped in Deception Pass Park because it seemed like a smart and lovely thing to do on such a day. . . until we got out of the car and realized just how strong the gales had become. But heck, everyone and his cousin were out walking in the park and picnicking. What's a little rain and 50 mph wind??? Susceptible to peer pressure as we are, we got out of Wes, prayed a limb or 40-year-old tree didn't fall and flatten fine physique, and presssed our way to the park's end. It was impossible to hear, so forcefully the wind roared through the huge pines and madronas. I couldn't help laughing for the fright and wonder the experience conjured in me.
A little history: Deception Pass Bridge was built in the 1930s to connect Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands, making it easier for Whidbey Islanders to get to the mainland.
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