I grew up in an extremely small town on the top of a mountain. The town consisted of 3 gas stations, one grocery store, a bank, a courthouse, and one big school and not a single red-light. That was pretty much it. Everyone knew everyone and we all hung out at the town square on Friday and Saturday nights. I grew up not realizing what the world had to offer beyond that mountain's edge. Being able to experience the world is one of the many things I am grateful for living this military lifestyle. It is a way of life and not everyone can hack it. I think being a military family has kind of made us natural wanderers. While the moves are tough, especially those where we are thousands of miles from family, we make what we can at each spot.
Being stationed in Washington is our most recent "home" location. Boy, was this a culture shock for my small town and my children. Being stationed in this area has brought quite a bit of foreign life for us. We are not accustomed to the "big city life", different store chains, no AC in basically any home and most stores/restaurants (you read that right, NO CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING) and the complete lack of Dunkin Donuts. But hey, at least we have Starbucks :). I have learned to avoid I5 at all costs and not to get caught out in town after 3 pm, otherwise that 15-20 minute ride home now takes an hour and 15 minutes. Everything here feels a lifetime away because the drives are such chaos, every event here is over crowded and we spend more time parking than we do at the actual event, and the people are, well as a dear friend of mine has said #peopleoflakewood should be a thing :)
With all of this craziness and what might sound like negatives, there have definitely been positives. The summers are so mild and beautiful that there is nothing else like it that I have experienced. No matter where I am on post, I can catch a glimpse of the most beautiful mountain views that make my heart smile each time I see it. These glimpses stretch out into the surrounding area and I am met with constant beautiful views and picturesque sunsets. The well-known evergreens stretch so tall, they give you this sense of smallness, but in a good way. It reminds you of how this Earth is much bigger than we are and how there is so much beauty around us, if only we stop and enjoy it. The air smells of pine and sometimes when I go outside, there are seagulls in my driveway. Washington is beautiful. Simply put. Being here has really kicked in that Wanderlust feeling, making me feel like I need to plant my feet and take a new adventure every time I step out of my front door. Sometimes we stay close and take walks on gravel trails that lead us to old train tracks and beautiful rock beaches, or other times we venture out to local port towns to sample the yummy food and unique town feels. Many of our adventures are on a whim. We wake up and scroll local pages devoted to exploring the beautiful state, like "Hike Washington" on Facebook (check it out if you haven't) and stumble across posts that stick out to us, and plan our day. One post that triggered our Wanderlust lead us on a few little mini adventures. It was a post about a greenhouse with a fun whimsical area, a port town with a fun themed festival, and a Norwegian inspired town with a bakery that had treats that were so yummy and mouth watering, they make it worth the drive alone.
Our first stop was at a little greenhouse that spoke to the nerd in all of us. The Brother's Greenhouse, located in Port Orchard, was a cute little nursery set atop a hill that was filled with beautiful exotic flowers, including a banana tree, raspberry and blueberry plants that you could literally walk by and pick fresh fruit straight off the vines and bushes to eat, and the cutest little Hobbit house nestled at the end of the walk decorated in gorgeous greenery. I could have spent hours here. Some visitors have, reading in the little nook inside the cool Hobbit house, escaping momentarily from the chaos of the outside world. What I loved about this little spot was how quaint it was and how being there made me feel so connected to the world. It took you away from the hustle and bustle and brought you to the present with its sweet ripe fruit and light breeze and beautiful peaks of sun rays. Inside the greenhouse was such a variety of plants from exotic flowers to succulents and cacti. There is also and area filled with anything and everything fairy! Little gnome and fairy houses decorated the inside of the greenhouse, most handmaid by locals. This little spot is definitely worth checking out, if you have not done so already. Be careful though, because you may not want to leave.
After our purchase of lilies and a few pieces of fairy memorabilia, we headed out to our next stop. The Bremerton Blackberry Festival. Coming from the south, I absolutely love blackberries. They remind me of my childhood, picking them with my grandmother along her property and then making jams and treats so sweet you couldn't have just one. So, of course when I heard about this festival, we had to add it to our stops. Bremerton is a small little port town with piers and sailboats that provide picturesque scenery. We walked along the festival and sampled the goodies while stopping and enjoying the views from the piers. We spotted the coolest looking jellyfish in the water, and quickly realized the water was full of various little jellies. Watching them swim and float around left you feeling a sense of calm and peace. The salty breezes and sounds of the seagulls flying overhead gave it that true coastal feel. Along our walk, we noticed a couple of cute little shops and eateries that had our timeline encouraged it, we would have stopped in for a bite or trinket. Bremerton had a quaint little small town feel that would make anyone feel at home.
Our final stop on this day trip was to our ultimate goal, Poulsbo, a small Norwegian inspired town in northern Washington. We had seen various posts about an authentic Norwegian bakery filled with all kinds of goodies. Being the "foodies" that we are, we had to go for a taste. Coming into the area, we were greeted by a statue of a Viking with the message "Welkommen". There was one main road that did a little mini loop that was filled with little shops and eateries. The air was filled with the smells of ice cream cones and fresh baked pastries. The main parking lot area was positioned by the water and had a cute little park that where you could walk along and enjoy the views. The dock or pier doted a bar & grill type restaurant where you could enjoy a nice meal, some local brews, and views of sailboats on the dock. Once we parked, our tummies were rumbling and we began our search for food. After looking around and smelling all the yumminess, we decided on a local pasta place that made all of their food from scratch, and even had gluten free options. It was a small restaurant with that hometown feel. The food was very good and after we shared some laughs and filled our bellies, we had to stop next door for some ice cream! Cones in hand, we walked the streets popping into all of the little shops to explore what was inside. There were some very interesting shops from small bookstores to little boutiques and even a nautical inspired shop with anything and everything related to the ships and seas. The town was beautiful, as you can see from the photos.
After our days adventures, we headed home all content with the days experiences. This was definitely worth the day trip drive and I recommend it to all of my friends! All very easy stops, each with their own unique adventure!
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