Vashon and Maury Islands
To celebrate our anniversary, we took a drive to the Fauntleroy ferry terminal, then caught the ferry to Vashon Island. We drove down across the narrow land bridge from Vashon to Maury Island, where we took a walk on the beach near the Point Robinson lighthouse. (That’s the lighthouse you can see from the Normandy Park Cove where we got married one year ago — the cove is across Puget Sound in the background of this picture.) From there we drove around Vashon a bit and then took the small Tahlequah ferry that connects to Point Defiance in Tacoma.
We could live on Vashon. Seriously, it’s on the list. The commute is pretty long, but there’s that peaceful ferry ride every time. And we saw many encouraging signs that we’d fit right in to the Berkeley-esque hippie culture over there.
It was fun to have a leisurely day, and now I need to get in a long day’s work to prepare for another busy week. The work blog needs some overdue attention, so the next post here on the personal blog will probably be from Brazil later in the week …
This entry was posted on Sunday, April 29th, 2007 at 8:14 am. You can subscribe to comments on this post through its RSS feed.
on April 29, 2007 at 12:16 pm Tom wrote:
Wow — very pretty. And a quick tromp around realtor.com shows that it doesn’t seem to be any more expensive to live on the island than it would be to live on the mainland, right? Seems like the housing prices are about the same. Does the ferry run reliably year round?
on April 29, 2007 at 12:44 pm Doug wrote:
Yeah, housing prices are similar to around the suburbs. But there are more older/cheaper places remaining over there, I think — not as built up as on the mainland. Yet.
Ferries run from 5:00AM to 1:00AM 365 days a year — weather that prevents the Washington State ferries from running is extremely rare. Last February we had some 60-70 mph winds that shut down the floating bridges, and even then only the most exposed ferry route (up by Port Townshend) closed down, and Vashon and the other Puget Sound ferries continued to run as scheduled. That would be cool, to be on a ferry while the wind is blowing 70 mph!
on April 30, 2007 at 8:49 am Scott wrote:
Beautiful! Would it be an easy place to own a boat if you lived there?
sp
on April 30, 2007 at 3:10 pm Mr. Bruce wrote:
…stuns me how fast a year goes by…happy anniversary.
Pete may have a functioning boat (16 feet, 1978 runabout) out front in Normandy Park. It may be seaworthy now.
on April 30, 2007 at 4:55 pm Doug wrote:
Scott, it would be an easy place to own a boat, although I think waterfront property is no less expensive that over in Seattle. It would probably have to be a boat on a trailer.
Bruce, I am very interested in borrowing that boat if it’s seaworthy. I keep telling Megan we should check out Blake Island, or a few other places around the Sound you can’t get to by car.
The Vashon idea has grown more appealing since going there. We probably need to check out some of the details and see if we come back down to earth on this one.
on April 30, 2007 at 6:07 pm Mr. Bruce wrote:
(At least years ago) the water supply was limited on the Island to wells and the like, by design, by the inhabitants. You probably notice the amazing lack of mega mansions, given the island’s proximity to Seattle/Bellevue via helicopter? Not enough water. Someone tried to bring across a water main underwater. Got voted down.
Encourages minimalist living. I remember one guy bought five acres and put a yurt on it. See any of the “wild” deer running around?
Again, years ago. Things may be much different. …give Pete a call.
on May 1, 2007 at 5:49 am AUNT MARSHA wrote:
Dear Lord! I remembered your birthday and forgot the anniversary. huh. Yes, well….happy, happy Dear Ones.
Stole you a birthday present yesterday, btw. More like a … find. Maybe.
Mailing it today. Quickly.
love, love,
on May 1, 2007 at 5:52 am Doug wrote:
Hi Marsha! I’m off to the airport …
on May 2, 2007 at 6:27 am AUNT MARSHA wrote:
stop that flight!
Where are you off to now?!
Is Meggie with you?
when will you return?
on May 2, 2007 at 6:57 am Megan wrote:
He’s in Brazil. I’m not with him, but I–and Guillermo!!!–will be meeting him in Mexico City next weekend.