Back to Bellingham

It’s a good thing to have friends who are as appreciative of the nerdy and obscure as we are. Upon hearing of the magical nerd wonderland that is Bellingham’s American Museum of Radio and Electricity, our recently engaged California pals booked plane tickets to Seattle, a stay at the Nerd’s Eye View hostel, and some space with us for a field trip. No, it’s not all that long ago that we had a terrific weekend there (sponsored by Whatcom County Toursim) but we liked it so well we wanted to go again. And while we did repeat our visit to the land of gorgeous (and often operational!) temple of odd ball electronics — did you know that there were televisions that had round monitors? Imagine producing for a round screen! — we also discovered some great new spots.

La Vie on Rose is an unassuming little place that dishes up the home cooked style yumminess. There were potpies and panini and an array of good looking salads, and oh, the cake looked grand too. I had the veggie pot pie and a chocolate covered macaroon, other excellent lunch items were consumed. While we were there a local guy dropped it to find out if a certain type of bun was ready  — not yet, was the answer. It’s always a good sign when locals drop in for a particular item. Bonus? Walking distance from the Museum.

Ralf’s Bavarian Bakery has all pretzels all the time, unless you are too late and then, oh, that’s very sad. We stayed there for much too long, having made the mistake of being snarky in German on the way in. Ralf is from Augsburg, Germany, his oh so friendly wife Kacy is a Bellingham native, and they make the “bretzel” those of us who have spent a little too much time in hinterlands have come to miss upon their repatriation to the US. Go early in the day if there’s something specific you want, but if you’re not picky, go anytime.

Larrabee State Park has gorgeous wind and surf sculpted sandstone, tidepooling at low tide, and very pretty rugged cove beaches. We poked along the shore in the sunshine at a serendipitous hour when the tide was out — the water was still and flat. Though we didn’t see a lot of critters it was still a lovely break from the drive and a good place to eat our recently acquired pretzels.

Taylor Shellfish Farms on Samish Bay: 6.99 a pound for fresh crab — they were emptying the boiler when we arrived — and oysters a plenty. There’s a little marina and an oyster shell encrusted mini lighthouse tower at the end of the jetty. If you didn’t eat your pretzels at Larrabee, you could pick up some oysters here and have a rather nice picnic. Get beer before you leave Bellingham, and pack an extra shirt because you’re going to make a mess of your sleeves with while you shell that crab.