A Delightful Thanksgiving

I checked out of my Airbnb on Wednesday morning and headed to the ferry terminal in Edmonds, WA. DD#1’s in-laws live over on the Olympic peninsula and the ferry is (usually) the quickest way to get there. However, the State of Washington is having some issues with its ferry system. The Edmonds-Kingston route is down to one boat, so instead of leaving every hour or so, the westbound ferry was only leaving every 90 minutes. I wanted to be on an early sailing to avoid any potential backups.

My plan was to stop at District Fabric, in Port Townsend, before heading to Port Angeles. DD#2 had suggested I check to make sure they were open, first, so I did that on the ferry ride over. Lo and behold, they were closed on Wednesday. I had to come up with an alternate plan. I’ve wanted to go down and explore Silverdale, so I decided to do that, instead. Silverdale is down near Bremerton, which has a naval base, and I knew there was a Joann Fabrics there.

[GPS and I are a dangerous combination. I will happily drive wherever Google Maps will take me.]

A few years ago, Joanns unveiled their new “concept store” in Columbus, Ohio, and said that eventually all their stores would follow this plan. It’s too bad they haven’t been able to carry through. I was in a similar Joanns store in Portland last June. The Silverdale store was even bigger than the one in Portland. Fabric is organized and displayed on well-labeled racks. I saw apparel fabrics I didn’t know Joanns carried. The cutting table was fully staffed by three people and other employees were working throughout the rest of the store.

I bought two one-yard cuts of swimsuit contour fabric. This is basically what is in Spanx. I am going to try it instead of power mesh or elastic in some of the pants I’m making. I could have gone nuts in there—hot pink stretch cotton sateen? yes, please—but I need to sew up the fabric I already have.

By the time I left Joanns, it was after lunch, so I headed back in the direction of Port Angeles. I stopped at the Walmart in Sequim, to check the remnant rack, and as I walked into the store, I discovered DD#1 standing there. She and DSIL were out running errands for his mom. The two of us went to peruse the remnant rack and chatted along the way. We—DD#2 and her boyfriend and I—were invited to dinner at her in-laws’.

I located the Airbnb, visited the Walmart in Port Angeles, and made my way to the in-laws’ house. After a wonderful dinner of Swedish meatballs, we all went to a Thanksgiving Eve church service. I belong to a Mennonite church here, but I was raised in a Missouri Synod Lutheran church, and the Lutheran part of my upbringing insists on popping up every now and again. DD#1 went to Pacific Lutheran. Her husband went to St. Olaf. Both are Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) colleges. The two of them have attended the Lutheran church in Ketchikan. I used to play piano for one of the ELCA churches here in the Flathead. DSIL’s parents attend a Missouri Synod Lutheran church, so that’s where we went on Wednesday evening. His mom sings in the choir. I sometimes feel like I still have one foot in each denomination.

We were back at the in-laws’ for Thanksgiving Day. Their dishwasher broke Tuesday night—what timing!—so while DSIL’s mom cooked, I washed dishes, and we had a lovely time visiting. This is the third year we’ve spent Thanksgiving with them.

On Friday morning (my birthday) DD#2 and her boyfriend and I stopped in Port Townsend on our way back to Seattle. Port Townsend is a darling little town with lots of shops. My destination was, of course, District Fabric. They focus on apparel fabrics and have everything from silk to wool to rayons to knits. They were also having a 25% off sale. I picked up the Thread Theory Comox Trunks pattern.

I do not need to make knit boxer shorts for the husband, but I might. He did say that if he liked them, I would have to make all his boxer shorts, so I may be creating more work for myself.

Getting back to Seattle was a laborious process. We decided to drive down to Bainbridge Island and take that ferry back to downtown Seattle because that route was running two boats. Even so, they were 20 minutes behind and we had to wait in a long line of cars. We left Port Townsend just after lunch and didn’t get back to Seattle until 4:30 pm. I checked back into the same Airbnb and we had my birthday dinner at Ray’s Boathouse.

On Saturday, the three of us walked a few blocks over from DD#2’s apartment to the German Christmas Market at Seattle Center. I know this is a pale imitation of the real German markets—DD#2 has been to several in Europe—but it was still fun to visit. Nordstrom (DD#2’s employer) was one of the sponsors. I was hoping for currywurst for lunch and I was not disappointed:

I first had currywurst in Dresden when Tera and I went on the National Honor Society trip with our daughters in 2009. I am no fan of ketchup, so it should tell you something that I love currywurst. It is bratwurst smothered in ketchup with curry seasoning on top. I should make it more often.

The weather, as I noted, was stellar all week. Apparently, that was the first dry Thanksgiving in Seattle in decades.

I was missing the husband and missing Montana, so I bugged out of Seattle early on Sunday morning. I also wanted to avoid the holiday traffic over Snoqualmie Pass. I had a nice, easy drive and was home by dinner time.