ArtFest 2011: Day One

After we checked out of our B&B in the morning, we roamed Port Townsend, doing a little shopping but mostly getting in a nice walk.  We explored the new Maritime Center that is just being completed.  It's quite a handsome wooden building, with places to store skulls and other wooden boats and has great launching facilities.  It has a nice deck on the water side.  There is a cafe and The Wooden Boat Chandlery (where we each found a thing or two we had to have).

We checked in for ArtFest at Fort Worden in the mid-afternoon.  We were billeted in Dorm 225, our favorite, in a nice double room.  Well, "nice" at Fort Worden is misleading.  It's not fancy.  It's clean and comfortable, but not fancy.  You have to make your own beds and share bathrooms, but it is great fun to be with a whole bunch of like-minded individuals for the four night, three day event.

And I do mean individuals!

Here we have Nonie sitting in our room in the dorm.  We made it rather cheery with our quilts from home.

After our first day of class (more later) Nonie and I met my old friend Michele in town at Ichikawa, a very nice Japanese restaurant.  Michele brought along two more friends, Teri and Denise.  We had a great meal and lots of chat and laughter.  We had a chance to unwind and talk over our classes.

I had the black cod.  It was excellent.

Nonie and I celebrated by each having a "saketini."  It turned out to be sake, plum wine and a goodly amount of candied ginger.  Delicious!  I wouldn't want to have more than one, however.

We were seated in the tatami room at Ichikawa and I had this interesting view out the door of the little dining room toward the bar.

The sun was just going down as we returned to the Fort from town.  I love the way the sunlight was highlighting the lighthouse.