Then I checked Craig's List. The first thing I saw was a recent posting for a place on Vashon Island. Suites with kitchenettes for $135 a night. Amy called and talked to enthusiastic Nat, who then sent photos by email. The place looked pretty bare bones and we probably should have said no thanks. But Nat was comically eager and we're not that picky -- especially if it means we won't have to keep looking around for lodging.
Tuesday we took the ferry to Vashon Island and got there around 3:30 p.m. The ferry ride was great. Here's Amy in an action shot:
When we drove up to the place, "the Bates Motel" is what was going on in the minds of our children. Nat was standing in the driveway, looking kind of goofy. Up close it looked like he had shaved in the dark or perhaps with the lid of a tin can. Maybe both. Here's what the place looks like:
Nat kept saying he hoped we would use the pool. It had a tarp over it. Fortunately, the weather was cool enough that we never had the need to use the pool. The room itself was perfectly fine, though lacking in nearly all amenities. He had obviously rushed out to buy some soap -- giant bars of Ivory at every turn! -- a few towels, and, blessedly, some coffee (and, no doubt, his own, dirty coffee maker -- but what the heck, my coffee maker is pretty dirty).
We spent Tuesday night looking around Vashon Island. We had bought a load of groceries before getting to the place -- not realizing "kitchenette" meant a microwave oven and a little fridge. But no matter, there's an Indian restaurant in town, and we had a great and HUGE dinner.
We bought THE PRESTIGE at the local video store for eight dollars, but back at the room there were technical problems and we weren't able to watch the movie on the laptop as we'd hoped. Fine. We'd also been to the local bookstore and had new books to dig into.
Wednesday morning Amy and I took a morning walk. Across the street from our "inn" was an abandoned greenhouse, overtaken by white morning glory.
Behind it were a few homes, one of them a way-cool house made out of an old barn. As it turns out, this old greenhouse was one of a long line of them, all covered over with plant life and lining the road for a few hundred yards.
Wednesday we took the ferry to Seattle to look around.
We visited the Pike Street Market, the Public Libary and shops around there, then went to the Space Needle.
Thursday morning Amy and I drove to a spot we'd read about in a little book we'd purchased. We walked in, a short forested walk to a pond. Wilson's Warblers were flitting about, so we watched them for quite a while. We walked around the pond a couple of times -- probably only a mile and a half total. It was very nice. Lots of great stuff on Vashon Island.
Our inn wasn't great stuff, but we had a perfectly fine time and couldn't help laughing over the whole deal. Poor Nat is in over his head, I think. But in the end it was a great time and only cost $270 for two nights for four people in two rooms with two bathrooms and two showers.
Here is Amy standing by one of the hotel's features, a giant debris pile, about which Nat told me, "I'm going to have to do something about that."
