Another Ferry Tale

Meh's Balkan women's choir had another recording session out in Port Orchard this weekend, so Zachary and I had the choice between hanging out at home without her for the day, or accompanying her out to the peninsula (and staying out of the choir's way in the one-room recording studio). Since there were a few promising exploration options last time that we hadn't hit, as well as that tasty bakery with Zachary's little friend, and of course the opportunity to see mommy at least a few times during the day, we opted for the ferry trip. We were actually driving another choir member and the drummer, so it was a nice full car -- and Zachary again seemed to take issue with people sharing the backseat with him, at least at first. He eventually conked out though, and snoozed until just before we boarded the ferry.

This was apparently an eventful day for the Washington State ferry service. On the way out, there were several PA announcements about car alarms (which turned out to be a choir member's car, whoops!) and mispositioned motorcycles, as well as a docking delay while a medical emergency forced the preceding ferry to turn around and redock. And on the way back, there were more emergency vehicles with disembarking priority, and a strange batch of vehicles that for some reason boarded the ferry in reverse. It was strange enough seeing a bunch of cars and trucks driving past us backwards, but I was most impressed with the big yellow school bus backing up several hundred yards at a fair clip to get onto the ferry.

When we got to Southworth, Zachary and I said goodbye to mommy and the choir, and drove out into the "city". Last time we'd passed what looked like a cute (and very pink) doll store, so this time we planned to stop in. Well, first I had to change Zachary out in the parking lot in our thankfully spacious, carpeted trunk - he was in the process of making up for not going for about three days, by going three times in three hours. Freshly rediapered, we ventured inside and looked at some impressive (and impressively expensive; most were high 3-figures) dolls and other cute tchochkes. The doll shop turned out to also house a Victorian tea house; while it likely can't compete with our two favorites, we'll have to check it out with mommy the next time we're in the area. Zachary was entranced with everything we saw, smiling, kicking, and letting out his happy high-pitched screams of delight.

Minutes after we were back on the road, Zachary conked out listening to his favorite music. I drove through the rest of the city's downtown and out along the Puget Sound. I caught glimpses of some impressive looking battleships docked in the Bremerton shipyards before we turned around and headed back to the recording studio. Zachary slept a bit longer, but woke up before mommy's designated lunch break, so we walked around the forested grounds a while, and then played for a bit in the sunshine.

For our second excursion of the day, we drove back into downtown Port Orchard and stopped off at the cute little bakery we'd visited on our last trip. The young couple that owns(?) the bakery was there, along with their nearly Zachary-aged and very cute son, and they recognized Zachary and me from last time. After covering why we hadn't been back (I explained that we weren't exactly locals), the dad and I chatted a bit about what the kids were doing, eating, etc. I found out that during the day, their son goes out on the delivery runs with a woman who was beaming at him from a table towards the back of the bakery. I didn't get to ask, but from the way she was complimenting him, she might be the grandmother or an aunt? After catching up, we grabbed a loaf of tasty rosemary bread and headed back in time to meet the choir at the ferry for the ride back. Zachary had a full day, but spent most of it very happy, interactive, and chatty with everyone he met. Hooray for positive travel adventures!