Blog

WHAT’S UP, DOCK?

Friday Harbor Waterfront Views

By Cap’n Crabby

I’ll tell you what’s up….people…up in the trees, acting like overage Tarzans.  County Fair time.  Bakery Boat.  Rowdy Rendezvousses.  Lots of stuff happening in Friday Harbor in August.  The speed limit on Spring Street is reduced from 20mph to 10mph, due to the numbers of tourists standing in the street, staring blankly in various directions.  There are no traffic lights here, no whistling or tweeting Walk/Don’t Walk technology, so pedestrians are pretty much given free rein.  It is like when the cows find a hole in the fence…they all congregate on the nearest roadway and look confused.  Anyway, we try very hard to not run over our visitors, and sometimes drivers will stop and herd them back onto the sidewalks and into the t-shirt shops.  Crab season finally opened, and the main craggle migrated up San Juan Channel last week, right into the ambush of traps carefully set.  It was a massacre.  The Bakery Boat has been serving local bakeries’ products fresh-from-the-oven and onto the fantails of boats in the Port of Friday Harbor on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and has applied to the state for a Mimosa and Bloody Mary license. The incomparable San Juan County Fair starts on August 17, with lots of family events, art exhibits, rides, food and music My favorites are the Sheep to Shawl competition, in which teams of fierce knitters shear a sheep naked, spin its wool into yarn, then knit a sheep-shaped shawl to cover its shame, and the Trashion Fashion Show, in which contestants wear creations made from discarded and very diverse items .  The 4H Brine Shrimp rodeo, zucchini races, and of course the Food Court, in which we locals get to eat delicious and exotic foods such as one might get at a shopping mall over in America.  The new food buzz this year is the Angel Fries, a local invention consisting of deep-fried strips of angel food cake sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Personally, I think an Angel Dog on a stick would be better. Zipline San Juan and San Juan Vineyards jointly opened the new Sip-n-Zip-Wine attraction last month, and reports that it has been a great success.  The event combines a 7 station zip line ride, with wine tasting at each station. Riders wear safety harnesses, ride an electric hoist to the first station (Merlot), fill their tasting cup, clip onto the zip line cable, and set off on a brake-controlled leisurely ride through the treetops to land gently at the next station (Cabernet), and so on.  Zip Wine riders also receive a 50% discount on the Chardonnay hot tub pool, which opened last year. Two big yachting rendezvousses are coming to the Port of Friday Harbor in August, one group from the Rotary clubs’ International Yachting Fellowship, and one from the Latitudes and Attitudes gang.  Coincidentally, each group is known for their own unique 4 Way Test.  I have been advised by the publishers of this rag that I must reveal any compensation I receive from any business that I mention in my writings. An excellent idea, and one that I had overlooked.  On the advice of my lawyer, Anthony Vivenzio (Law Offices of Anthony Vivenzio, labor dispute resolution, good advice, all around great guy)  I herewith, and notwithstanding, declare that I hope to receive paltry consideration for every single mention of anyone.  If I plug their business, they should compensate me in some spendable or consumable manner, or at least common decency would suggest that they do.  Simple. Easy. Elegant.  Let’s give it a try… Friday Harbor Marine. Friday Harbor Yachts. King’s Market. San Juan Vineyards. Ace Hardware.  Islands Petroleum.  Liquor Store.  Liquor Store.  Liquor Store.  Islands Inn.  Haircuts  M Us. Cask and Schooner. Duck Soup Inn.  Suzys Mopeds. Burt’s Survivalist Shop. Ye Olde Cider Shoppe.  I’ll let you know.