Bookstore "Day" Episode VII, NORTH to Edmonds & Beyond!

 [Find episodes 1 - 6 here, here, here, here, here, and here.]

Before I admitted that I just wasn't going to get to all the stores this year--and that was okay--I'd sold Scott on the idea of taking Amtrak to Edmonds. It wasn't a hard sell; Scott is always up for a train ride. He did draw the line at adding the complication of bringing our bikes so, alas, Bessie and her companion stayed in the garage for the day and we just caught a C to take us downtown to catch the 8:30 Amtrak.

The "Edmonds only" car

We met a nice young woman from Brooklyn who was heading all the way to Vancouver, BC, even though she was riding in the Edmonds car. We broke it to her that she wouldn't actually be traveling through any national parks on the train while assuring her that the view would be quite nice anyway. I also suggested she check out Vij's in Vancouver because that's what I tell absolutely everyone.

The trip north was pretty quick and uneventful so before long we found ourselves in Edmonds, where we had some difficulty figuring out how to exit the train station grounds. It was early, ok, and we hadn't had time to stop for coffee at Zeitgeist. It was so early, in fact, that our quarry wasn't in the open yet so we started sensibly enough by finding a coffee shop--two, actually. Scott felt that Cafe Louvre had a Starbucksesque appearance--and I'd been more taken with another shop's online description--so we continued on to Walnut Street which offered great coffee and treats in a somewhat brighter atmosphere. How do I know it was brighter? Because we still had time to kill after finishing our coffees there so we went to Cafe Louvre too. Great mini-eclairs at Cafe Louvre, but the coffee was definitely better at Walnut Street.

We approached Edmonds Bookshop at 10:00 a.m. to find quite a crowd at their front door. I was surprised by such enthusiasm for books on a Thursday morning, but it turned out to be a class field trip and we were beckoned in ahead of the twenty-odd small children. The word for Edmonds Bookshop is . . . well, I was going to say "charming," but actually it should be "heart-warming." The bookseller was friendly in a genuine sort of way and to hear the owner address the crowd of kids, all settled down on the floor, practically brought tears to my eyes. It gives you hope, you know--small independent business, selling books, oddly enthralled children--it was all pretty fine. Their book selection was pretty darned good too, though I confess that I find the practice of separating "classics" from the rest of fiction to be a little odd. (Several bookshops are doing this these days so I guess it's a thing. I just wish they'd put a "check out our 'classics' section if you're not finding what you seek here" sign in the general fiction area. For context, know that Watership Down is considered a "classic" in some bookshops.)  Edmonds Bookshop also appreciated Cascadia Field Guide, which will always be one of my favorite book projects so I was charmed by this as well:

As I was checking out I told the bookseller that I'd worked on Cascadia and she mentioned they'd had another Mountaineers author in to do a reading lately-- "Zimmerman?" I am embarrassed to admit it took me a couple of minutes to place the name for of course she meant Graham Zimmerman whose A Fine Line I'd also project managed! I can only say that I've taken to retirement like a duck to water.

My Edmonds purchase because Shuggie Bain was excellent

By this time our ferry was about due so we started scurrying towards the waterfront, but then I remembered I wanted a shot outside the bookshop, even if we didn't have the bikes, so we hurried back up the few blocks we'd just covered for that photo.

I make a poor substitute for Bessie

But "ferry?" you ask? To get to Seattle? Oh, gentle reader, did I not say "multi-modal" at some point in an earlier post? We caught the ferry (oddly, no photos) over to Kingston so we could collect a stamp from Saltwater Books, possibly another new addition to SIBD. It was, happily, a pretty short and quiet stroll from the ferry dock in Kingston. And what joy to encounter, along a side street, a woman out weeding accompanied by her pet goat!

Moses, a goat who would have liked to eat everything I was wearing

Eventually I tore myself (and my jacket and scarf) away from Moses and we made our way to Saltwater Bookshop which, I'll say, is the sort of bookstore you might expect to find in a shopping center next to a grocery store. In their defense, apparently they do more online orders so most of their stock is invisible to the in-person shopper. It was challenging to find a book here, though the bookseller seemed a very nice woman and they had some nice displays. I finally settled on a collection of classic mystery stories:

The shop opens into Borrowed Kitchen, an utterly unpretentious bakery from which we bought some excellent danish and bread that survived the trip back to West Seattle quite nicely.

Saltwater had a "photobooth" so I used that for the store photo

We had a bit of time to kill before the Bremerton fast ferry was due and, as I've noted before, one needs more than coffee and pastry on these expeditions so we found a restaurant to have lunch (excellent fish & chips, with the most surprisingly delicious cole slaw!) and then did some more exploring and experiencing of the sights:

Does Bigfoot stop by Kingston frequently that they should have such giant Adirondacks?

Looking down from the Fast Ferry dock we could see a million tiny fishes teeming in the water. So fascinated were we by the fish, and so bewildered by the boarding protocols, that we nearly missed the boat entirely. We had it pretty much to ourselves for the trip back to Seattle.

The boat goes so fast that you aren't allowed to be outside while it's traveling and you're supposed to remain seated while inside. It didn't have the freshest smell, but it was pretty speedy--less than 40 minutes dock to dock. I just wish it made more frequent crossings since I wouldn't mind spending more time in Kingston. The fast ferry very conveniently docks right next to the West Seattle Water Taxi which happened to be there when we arrived so we just walked from one boat to the next, essentially, to get home most expeditiously.

And so ends the tale of SIBD 2024. I had worked out possible routes to get to the shops in Shoreline, Kirkland, Redmond, Mercer Island, Bremerton, Bainbridge, and Poulsbo, but I was truly a bit sick of desperately seeking for something to buy at some shops, and Poulsbo, man, that was just going to be hell to get to and from without a car. Maybe we'll bike the loop around the top of Lake Washington that we mapped out when we were feeling more ambitious earlier, and certainly I want to see about the 520 bridge route and the trail that is supposed to be on the east side of the lake. But we won't be getting stamps, alas,