Go! Road Trips 2010
Seattle’s nice, but rolling out of town in the springtime is even sweeter. Here, five excuses to load the trunk, get behind the wheel, and put rubber to asphalt.
By James Ross Gardner, Jessica Voelker, Christopher Werner, David Laskin, and Lia Steakley Dicker
Travel time: 2 hours
Sequim in a Sports Car
by Christopher Werner
When a friend let me borrow her Porsche 911 Carrera, the game plan was practically already written: Break out a bitchin’ collection of CDs, adjust the Ray Bans in the mirror, and bolt full throttle out of town.
The pocket-size peninsula town of Sequim might not strike Northwesterners as the best place to parade a fine piece of German engineering. But I’m from Wisconsin, which is about as flat as my vowels are drawn out. Since moving to Seattle two years ago, I had itched to scale the Olympics. That regal range is a holy adventurer’s grail to me but, carless, I had never experienced it. I vowed the first time I got my hands on a set of wheels, I’d head for the foothills. The little burg just 60 miles from Seattle and 40 minutes from Olympic National Park seemed an obvious base.
Funny thing is, my travel companion and I found that our favorite moments in Sequim were not the ones we spent careening around the foothills, pushing the Porsche to its road-hugging limits in a half-assed attempt to appease my mountain fix. Rather what we found on the flat terrain made us view Sequim as more than just a gateway to the Olympics.
First, the wineries. Olympic Cellars, just off Highway 101, served as a launch pad for us and a number of other giddy vino lovers playing tasting-room roulette among the region’s half dozen vineyards. Co-owner Kathy Charlton displays her entrepreneurial panache in the press clippings completely covering the walls of her wine shop. Her chatter was as free-flowing as her pours; while plenty of other tasters eagerly awaited refills, Charlton made sure to tell us about every—I mean every—tasting note. She also filled us with freshly grilled oysters.
Sequim’s friendly vibe popped up again at nearby Alder Wood Bistro, where our cheeky waitress made spot-on recommendations: chicken saltimbocca and, especially, a plush Portuguese Grahams Six Grapes Reserve port.
But no Sequimite beats Dungeness Bay Cottages owner John Webb in the affability department. After check-in, Webb quizzed us on our interests (wine, hiking) and helped us draw up a plan of attack. The cottages, just steps from Dungeness Bay (which empties into the Strait of Juan de Fuca), make for an ideal late-afternoon spot to wind down and sip varietals procured at main street’s Damiana’s Best Cellars.
Dusk cast an eerie, only-in-Washington glow. You know the kind: Darkness encroaches but takes its sweet time to settle, creating an iridescent gray haze. Like the lights of Victoria, BC, across the way, stars—So many! So bright!—flashed on one by one as if they, too, were controlled by a switch.
The fog blanketing the bay out my window was slow to burn off the next morning. I was slow to rise, all too cozy in the cottage. Still, I couldn’t leave town without a stroll along Dungeness Spit, the longest natural sandbar in the U.S., and Sequim’s most noteworthy attraction.
Early risers can dodge the throngs of families who show up later with wobbly-footed tots (and who, let’s face it, cramp the whole serenity thing). One can pass an entire day hiking to the historic New Dungeness Lighthouse perched five miles out. Or just pad along the trail for five minutes for views of the soaring Olympics—a sight that rivals those seen from a fast car.
Published: April 2010
• DETOUR
Hurricane Ridge
The fir-ringed perch—26 miles from Sequim—grants you up-close eyefuls of the Olympics and panoramic shots of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Customize your view by hoofing along any of the ridge’s handful of hiking trails. nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm
You totally skipped over The Big Burrito on Road 68; you really missed out!
You totally skipped over The Big Burrito on Road 68; you really missed out!
Unless you live in Woodinville or thereabouts, you have to be flying to get to Chelan in 3 hours!
Yes, Ben is a nice guy. The whole family is. You can’t do the lake area justice in a short visit. Even a long weekend isn’t long enough to find all the smaller but excellent wineries on the out-of-the-way roads. And you have to go to the end—to Manson—to get to CR Sandidge. Ray Sandidge is a noted winemaker who was one who helped make wine what it is there today. Capers restaurant is a favorite of locals and tourists, too, and the Red Apple stores have great wine buys plus food to go. The Golden Florin-known to some as “Charlie Bears” is well known as a natural foods source. And on and on……And I’m not plugging my town, because I don’t live there! It’s 70 miles from Leavenworth to Chelan, but we go when we can.
I work in Redmond and commute to and from Chelan weekly. It’s 3 hours on the nose door-to-door going the speed limit or reasonably close to it, although as my wife will attest i’m not much for stopovers (although I do like the ham and butter on baguette from Anjou bakery in Cashmere!) so I don’t generally dilly-dally. It does take time to find all the great wineries and we are starting to have more food options – more of the wineries are offering happy hour food, regular dinners and lunches and special winemaker dinners, etc. Just be prepared to slow it down a bit when you come and enjoy “Chelan Time”.
Thanks for the write-up of the area. We really do have a rich choice of taco options. If you make it out on a Sunday, be sure to make the Pasco Flea Market (http://www.yelp.com/biz/pasco-flea-market-pasco-2) for the best food, people-watching, & overall cultural experience.