Days 2&3 - Art, Alpacas, Lavendar, Parks, Orcas & Yachts in the San Juan Islands - Art, Alpacas, Lavendar, Orcas and Yachts



Historical Society
Topographical Interactive Map
San Juan Island

(Continuing my San Juan Island Trip in July 2017)

We hit the ground running Monday, starting with an interview with  town/island leader, Barbara Marrett, over an amazing Breakfast. (Seriously, I am going to have to try and recreate the baked eggs in tomato we ate at  Cynthia’s Bistro).  We talked about island life, the tight knit community, and their ties to the orcas and the Salish Sea.  It's hard to deny the beauty of the area that just draws you in, and her story reflected that pull.  I have always been curious about small town island living and what brings people there, and she let us pepper her with questions about Friday Harbor's growth and laid back nature, the (sometimes) hassle of being cut off from the mainland, and her history that brought her to the island.

After our breakfast education we were handed off to another amazing town leader - the executive Director of the Whale Museum, Jenny Atkinson.  She spoke to us for hours about the orcas and other whales that visit the Sound. Adding to what we learned the evening before from Maya's Legacy (whale watching tour), we were getting a crash course in the local ecosystem.  She spoke passionately about the resident orca pod and how connected people on the island are to it. The reason the whale museum started naming the orca's was the fact that locals are able to identify so many since the people and orcas grow up together and these orcas are often found near the island coast line. Islanders are able to pinpoint births and deaths in the pod since they are such a regular site around the San Juans.  Sadly, they numbers have plummeted.  The Whale Museum  mission is education everyone they can on the majesty of these mammals. After our talk, we were given a tour of the museum, and next thing we knew we were well past noon and well past the schedule that Lesley had made for us to maximize our time.  So, after some purchases (I had to adopt a whale to support their mission), we headed out.

Before we left Friday Harbor and drove into the heart of the island, we wanted to stop by the Art Museum.  Although we had planned for the Art Museum on Monday before our ferry, we found out it would be closed... quick schedule tweak and we made it.  The museum is small!  Really 2 main rooms.  It was hosting an exhibit on native masks  - masks from private collectors.  Much of this stuff was never seen in public.  And it was glorious.  These pieces tell stories but the museum let them speak for themselves - you had to pull up piece information on your smart phone using your scanner!  It was a smart way to show these pieces.

 

Fall Weekends Revisited - Mountains of Color, Spooktacular Homes and Friends

I have always considered myself, first and foremost, a Jersey Girl!  I was born and raised in the Great Garden State.  I love my home and think there is nothing better than the diversity of riches available in NJ... don't believe me, I bet you have never been off the Turnpike. Give me a weekend, and I will show you a New Jersey you did not even know existed.  Still, other places have soaked into my psyche... I have had other homes.  I am extremely lucky to have experienced 2 very different states, not just on visits and vacations, but to have seen them as second homes.  I lived in Louisiana and Colorado  for short periods and fell in love in different ways.  Every year, I try and go back to visit friends (more like family), favorite places and aim to keep exploring these amazing places.


Denver 
I flew out to Denver for a very quick weekend in early October.  With only 2 1/2 days in the Golden State, there is not much time for much besides friends and a few local outings.  My mentor, friend and Colorado Mom and I needed to catch up.  For years now she has been channeling Wonder Woman, Supergirl, She-Ra and any other badass female superhero as she fights and wins against cancer.  She is a walking miracle and marvel at her strength and determination.  And while she fights the good fight and works on various causes related to her cancer struggle (including the Colorado Ovarian Action Network), she also is a lover and supporter of the art community in Denver. 

My visit was her first attempt at major activity since a surgery to remove a tumor. So a trip to the Denver Botanical Gardens sounded like a nice leisurely thing to do... we wandered the paths.  Autumn color was all around AND we bumped into one of her friends.  The Gardens were displaying multiple Mexican Day of the Dead alters and her friend was designing one.  Just like that we went from a slow stroll to design consultants.  I have never worked on an alter before - it can be a highly personal thing.  These friends shared that cancer connection, and the alter recognized the strength of family, friends and women to tackle endless adversity.  It was a powerful message.  Three shelves - three parts to the theme.  I was honored to help. 

After reinforcements arrived, we walked a little more before we headed to Cherry Creek for some food at a fabulous French restaurant, LA Merise.  I think we were there for 2 hours just chatting, sharing pictures and enjoying our food.  Truth was I wanted her to rest, and this was the perfect way.  Neither of us wanted to call it quits (I fly a long way to see her) - so we headed to the Denver Art Museum to check out their newest special exhibit on the Italian Venetian Renaissance.  The special showing featured 50 significant works, including 19 from the Gallerie dell'Accademia. 

2015
We didn't take one this time

Not my favorite genre, but I did complete a few Smithsonian classes on the period - I could do this.  I knew that this was really about color and light, and I even recognized a few from class. This was a chance to see paintings from the 1400s-1500s - that fact alone is amazing.  We both dissected a few pictures noting the glitter like quality of the oil painting in some portraits and contemplating the feelings some of the subjects were displaying - if anything, the Venetian Renaissance was the time of emotion.  After asking lots of questions of museum staff and reminiscing about trips to Venice, we headed to the gift shop that has incredible offerings... we perused  and I took her home.  I am so grateful for the time I get with her... she is an amazing woman.  (Her memoir, Remarkably Stable brought me to tears.)

I left one friend and headed to another, out in Golden.  Our plan was very domesticated - her son had a soccer game that weekend... so I was set for a fancy spaghetti dinner with my 6 year old best friend and some serious Lego time.  Promises to embarrass him at his game proved fruitless as he was excited by the idea that I would scream endlessly for him if he scored... alas, practice time was trying on my vocal cords as he manipulated a goal in close range with no goalie ... I should have thought that deal through more. 

The Stinky Flower -Titan Arum

I don't know how many people out there have been frustrated by the Titan Arum... this flower is one finicky rarity.  And for the many years I have lived in this area, the specimens that the National Botanic Garden raise seem to bloom when I am out of town.   In 2013, when the last opportunity arose, it again opened while I was on travel; and while, I was able to make it home before it collapsed, I missed the flower in all its glory. 

They don't call this the Corpse Flower for nothing

... who wants to smell a flower that smells like a garbage bin in the summer, or like road-kill that has been cooking  on the road for days... well, apparently plenty of people because we stood in line at the Botanic Garden.  And that has never happened for anything else there.  For a moment there, I thought I was going to miss this one too.  We were on DC bloom watch for a week and I had a trip coming up in days... ACK!  I dragged by boyfriend to see the flower and got to see spadix (the spike) still wrapped in the spathe (one huge petal).  And two days later, it finally opened.  A friend and I went, during lunch, to see it/smell it!  Finally!  I guess it is a check off the flower bucket list (I am just not sure I have one of those, yet).

The Titan is the "rock star" of the plant world - (1) it rarely makes an appearance, (2) it is HUGE, (3) it is iconic  (4) it builds suspense and (5) it is picky.  When I say rare, I mean it - it takes a lot of energy to grow over 7 feet tall.  It is the largest unsupported flower in the world.  Because of that, titan can take anywhere between a few years and a few decades to bloom.  I have seen the average listed between 7 - 10 years, BUT that is only an average.  The one in New York took 70 years to open before it bloomed in July 2016.   The titan arum emerges from, and stores energy in its corm, a huge underground stem. It's pickiness makes botanical gardens a good place to support it; it requires very special conditions, including warm day and night temperatures and high humidity.  And due to its unique nature, this is a threatened flower. 

The botanic garden lines were sizable.  People we posing for selfies in front of it.  There was a web cam (which I used to constantly check the status).  Did you know you only have 1-2 days to see this thing once it opens?  And some were wondering why it wasn't more stinky ... yep, people wanted more stench.  What they did not know was that the back of the flower was cut open so botanists could get to the male and female plant parts, collect pollen and blow some pollen from another corpse flower onto the female parts.  This giant flower is NOT self pollinating.  It relies on flies and beetles... or humans with straws.  It takes a lot of work to see this natural wonder.  So check you local city gardens... go see the stinky flower when you have the chance!

Stopping to the Smell the Roses in a Convention Center Filled With National Parks

The Philadelphia Flower Show is an institution in the City of Brotherly Love.  Unfortunately, I never made the time to go when I lived in that area and have missed it for various reasons over the years (as it has grown in popularity).  This year, when I learned that the theme would be based on the national parks, I knew I had to go.  And the fact that I had yet to do a Philly weekend with my boyfriend... well that was a perfect excuse.


The best way I could describe the scene in the convention center is master gardener/landscape architects interpreted some of the parks greatest hits and unknown gems through botany.  Half the convention hall floor was filled with large scale exhibits of scenes in the national parks.  Here you would gaze upon the famous of Yellowstone and Yosemite, walk along the Appalachian, Pacific Crest and NJ Coastal Heritage trails, Look upon the mountains in interpretations of the Rocky Mountain and Smokey Mountain, see some lesser known gems like Lincolns home, enjoy the water views of Acadia, the views in trees like at Redwood, and we got into the urban parks - Independence, Gateway, Golden Gate, the National Mall.  And if these installations were not enough, the rest of the flower show had more.

There were pressed flower designs done by students to represent park badges and postcards.  There was a miniatures exhibit to showcase tiny flowers and skills with scale, you had arrangements with colonial dishes and others to interpret national monuments.   The National Park Service was out in full force with scenes showcasing the nation's best idea in short film format in what was like a cabin in the woods (surrounded by a babbling brook, a Bison (the Department of Interior's official seal) and a bear).  Rangers gave lectures on park features and were all around to answer question about the parks displayed and depicted.  I was in park lover's heaven!  An added plus - all the parks of my youth got plenty of love - I was so excited to see Delaware Water Gap get some love.  And Sandy Hook made a special showing and didn't get overshadowed by the Statue of Liberty (the share a park designation)!

The flowers were overwhelming in their beauty even after a week of showcasing it was hard to know where to turn.  It was a rainbow of color.  There were so many cascades of color that my camera quickly ran out of battery.  And the crowds?  Wow, the place was packed.  But beyond waiting in lines to walk through some of the parks, traffic moved... no one exhibit hogged (though a few did skip the line to snap a picture here and there).  And if you needed to rest your feet - you had choices beyond park lectures... the Philly Zoo was there for animal demonstrations for the kid in all of us. An artist was on hand painting detailed flower watercolors. Food was everywhere (yummy Philly pretzels and Little Italy's cannoli)  You could go upstairs to the specialty booths - where we headed to visit the butterflies!  And then there was the market place... lots of venders.  You could rest you feet in any number of places selling patio gear.  You could buy plants and flowers galore.  You could buy art for your garden.  Gardening gear?  Check!  Tools?  Check!  Need a sauna?  Check!  Walking stone?  Yep, that too.  It was all there.