Saturday, 27 September 2014
I slept deliciously late. I don’t sleep well while traveling, not even in the quietude of the Sylvia Beach Hotel, so I had some snoozing to catch up on. Then, off to the last day of 2014’s Ilwaco Saturday Market for some peaches and a treat. I walked half a block, realized my knee was so painful even with my cane, and turned back to get a ride down from Allan before he went boating; fortuitously, my pal J9 showed up at that very moment, so we went to the market in her little car. (All of a block and a half’s walk, it would have been; I was in pitiful condition.)
Ilwaco Saturday Market
He was good, and I dropped some money in his tip box; didn’t buy a CD although now I kind of wish I had. I hope he’s back next year.
When I got to the Pink Poppy Bakery booth, Madeline had found a moment to read.
At home, I thought about gardening, and did just a tiny bit of clipping and tidying in the front garden.
Meanwhile, Allan went boating on Loomis Lake.
Loomis Lake
Allan:
Last time I was here was June 9 when the wind blew from the north & I rowed up to the northern tip & sailed back. Today I sailed and paddled upwind north to 198th where J9’s sister used to live.
The lake was very shallow with plant growth so I drifted south a mile to watch the birds and look at the houses. Several noisy herons, mallards and gulls and jumping fish.
Rolled up the sail and started paddling up wind but found sailing easier & quick enough. Dinner reservations were three hours away.
Pelicano Restaurant
We had found out the day before that Pelicano was closing its doors. I so loved that restaurant and we usually dined there once a month to enjoy their changing seasonal menu. Our friend and client Susie of the Boreas Inn invited us to join her and Bill for a poignant last meal; then she fell ill from a flu shot, so Allan and I went alone.
Now this might seem like a shallow problem: A fine dining restaurant closes and we are sad. But it is more than that. It’s a working class problem, as Ilwaco is a working class town with lots of closed storefronts and the merchants who do have shops here were greatly benefited by the vibrancy that Pelicano brought to the port. There is now no restaurant in town open for dinner, and five former restaurants sitting vacant along Waterfront Way. (A new Italian place is in the works to open next spring, and it would make sense to have a simple dinner café with plainer and less expensive fair, as well.) There are many reasons we are sad to see Pelicano close, not the least of which is that we like the owners and staff so much.
One pleasant thing about the Pelicano menu is one could order a regular or smaller portion; both of the above dishes were the smaller portion. That saves room for dessert.
So sad to hear that Pelicano is closing. We ate there when we visited last year and loved it. I’m also a bit worried that I keep hearing how bad off your knee still is.
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Knee prob comes and goes. That day was unusual. The next few days were better. Thanks for caring.
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I’m sorry about your knee, too. So unfortunate that Pelicano is closing!! Do you know what the owners plan to do? Another restaurant perhaps?? Hoping!
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We are hoping, too.
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