I used to travel quite frequently to the west coast for work. My colleagues there always teased me about my reaction to their snow capped mountains. They called me a cheap date but what I was is a Pennsylvania girl not used to their unfamiliar landscapes. Where I come from we call a hill a mountain.
Ferries are another foreign entity to me in my daily life. I had been a passenger on a few people / vehicle boats over two decades ago, then in 2022 my husband and I drove our car into the belly of the beast to go to Nantucket. We were both fascinated by its size; we came home with this sign which speaks to us on so many levels.
However, it wasn’t until a trip to Port Orchard, Washington last fall that the intrigue turned into an obsession. We rented a house right on the water, Kitsap Fast Ferries foot / just people / fast / smaller ferry passing by all day on its way to and from Seattle. The larger ferry, which can accommodate vehicles, traveling the same route, sailed by with the comparable frequency, looking like a cruise ship. We quickly learned that Washington state boasts the largest ferry fleet in the United States. It’s not just a method of getting somewhere, it’s a way of life, so much so that when we asked Siri for driving directions to Seattle, it led us to the ferry terminal.
It was such a thrill to see the Washington State Ferry (the big one) go by during the day but all lit up in the darkness of night is when she was truly stunning. Each evening when we were ready for bed we stayed up until we saw her pass one last time.
We featured the ferry on our Christmas card (“Ferry Christmas” was way too good to ignore), a Washington State Ferry ornament was under the tree for Mister Rain. He gifted me a ferry t-shirt. My dear friend gave me a kitchen towel with a beautiful, colorful drawing of the ferry. It’s so striking that I contacted the artist, Jacqueline “Q” Holmes, to have a 2′ x 3′ canvas print made. It now hangs in my bedroom.
We did take the ferry to Seattle one day. The boat ride is also an adventure for landlockeders like us. On the second to last night of our trip, my husband suggested we act like locals and take the people ferry from Port Orchard to Bremerton for dinner. It’s a $2 per person, 12 minute trip each way. We had a delicious meal at Anthony’s at Sinclair Inlet in Bremerton and because the ferries run regularly, when we were done we didn’t have to wait long for the ride back to Port Orchard. It was such a fun way to go out for a meal. For a brief moment we felt like Seattleites. We don’t have any public transportation where we reside let alone a water transit infrastructure so ferry life is a novelty and treat for us. And isn’t that one of the best things about travel?
There’s always the next ferry, indeed.
#sisterrain #alittlesightalotofheart #legallyblindtraveler #travel #washingtonstateferries #kitsaptransit #jacquelineqholmes #anthonysbremerton #aferrydifferentwayoflife
