We enjoy local museums to gain an understanding of the community and its history and the Gig Harbor Historical Museum did just that. The museum’s centerpiece, a labor of love for a multitude of volunteers, and a pride of joy is the 65-foot fishing boat Shenandoah.

The museum, established in 1964, began operations in 1976. The doors are open and docents are present to assist visitors on Sundays through Tuesdays from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. They also offer programs for students. Here are but a few of the exhibits that caught our attention.

Before we looked at the Shenandoah, though, we found plenty to contemplate inside while waiting for the docent to escort us into the Maritime Gallery.

The museum honors the ancient peoples who occupied the land before a U.S. Exploring Expedition arrived in 1841 with their own exhibit. The people who lived and visited in the area were from the Puyallup, Nisqually, and Squaxin Island Tribes. The Native Americans had occupied, hunted and gathered on land, and fished the sea for many years before the expedition’s arrival.

Poggie Bait. The phrase surprised me. I never heard the term before I met Jon and had thought it was a term used by his Slovak mother and grandmother. Down into another rabbit hole, I crawled to research its true etymology.

The phrase has a few meanings, one of which is a naval term meaning sweets and snacks and spelled as pogey. Aha! It didn’t come from his Slovak side; it came from his father who served in the Navy during WWII. A mystery I had never been curious about before solved through my research while writing this blog post.

The docent freed up, so we followed her into the maritime gallery where she allowed us to step aboard to look around on deck and peek inside the building.

The three lives of the Shenandoah over the past century: The Skansie Ship Building Company in Gig Harbor built the 65-foot purse seiner in 1925 for John Dorotich. Its first life began as a cannery tender and later a purse seiner in Alaska from 1925 to 1967.

Its second life began when Tony Janovich purchased the fishing boat in 1967 and operated it until he retired in 1998. He then donated it to the museum in 2000, which began the ship’s third life.

In 2003, the museum pulled the ship out of the water, paraded it through town, and deposited it in a lot next to where the museum is now located. The museum began a $2 million capital campaign in April 2019, which was later raised to $3 million. Campaign donations made possible the conservation and renovation of the Shenandoah, enclosure of the Maritime Gallery, and creation of new exhibits.

The museum celebrated 100 years of the Shenandoah on April 26, 2025. We wish we could have been there to join in the celebration and see the finishing touches on the exhibit.

Outside, we peeked inside the Midway School Building. The museum offers grade-appropriate programs for schools.

What possessed me to check the Pledge of Allegiance quote citation? I shimmied down another rabbit hole in search of Francis Bellamy, who is credited with writing the pledge. It seems a 13-year-old schoolboy from Kansas by the name Frank E. Bellamy, coincidentally, may have been the first to write the pledge.

Did one author steal from another? Did they each come up with something very close on their own? Who knows when over a century has passed? I gave up. If reliable historians cannot agree, I sure won’t figure it out. Besides, congress made word changes when they formally adopted it in 1942 and altered it again in 1954.

Famished by the time we finished with the museum. We’re always on the lookout for Mexican food when we travel and we’re happy to say Puerto Vallarta satisfied our hunger for the cuisine.

If the rest of our Pacific Northwest adventure turns out as interesting as the Harbor Historical Museum, this trip will turn out grand.

Up next: Puyallup Farmer’s Market, Pacific Bonsai Museum, the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, and Poulsbo, Washington.

Safe Travels

I’m sad to say, the year 2023 didn’t end on a cheerful note for me. While boarding a plane in December, I slipped and broke the head of my right humerus in three places. Doctor appointments and physical therapy kept us from venturing too far from home.

Our “get-away” day finally came on June 20, 2024, after my final physical therapy session. We hooked up the fifth wheel, climbed in the truck, and headed north with smiles on our faces and adventure in our hearts.

While many RVers might rush to reach their destination, putting in long hours of driving, we prefer a more leisurely pace. We planned six days for our trip to Gig Harbor, Washington, from the San Francisco Bay Area. This allowed us to stay two nights at each stop and poke around a bit.

Our first stop was Fawndale Oaks RV Park in Redding, California. I would rate this park as “okay,” if we ignore the electrical issue that prevented us from running the AC. Thank goodness trees provided enough shade to limit the heat. Fortunately, the grass had not yet turned brown because the antique fire truck did nothing to soothe our fear of a fire evacuation order during our stay.

A recent resident at the Fawndale Oaks RV Park is the Sacramento Valley & Eastern Railway Locomotive No. 2, a Baldwin 2-6-2T. The plaque says it was dedicated on December 11, 2021.

The next day we drove to Shasta Dam. My goal was to capture another photo of the Three Shastas: Shasta Dam, Shasta Lake, and Mt. Shasta. We last visited the area in 2013. That year we took the full tour of the dam, which we enjoyed and highly recommend. This year we only walked along the top and enjoyed the view.

We then drove to Burney Falls, only to see them from a distance because the trail was under construction.

Nearby, we saw a cabin constructed in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The sign says the Friends of the Falls restored the cabin. I’m guessing the restoration occurred between 1984 and 1986 since the plaque includes those dates. It amazes me whenever we encounter a CCC project, and I’m pleased we can enjoy the hard work the men put in to create all the infrastructure and amenities throughout the country.

For our second stop, we chose Rising River RV in Roseburg, Oregon, on the banks of the South Umpqua River. This RV Park earned a “great’ rating for their wide spots with short picket fences between them, plenty of grassy areas, and large shade trees that weren’t overgrown. They also had awesome bath houses with individual showers and restrooms like campers might encounter at a state or federal park.

The next day, Jon was on a mission to: 1) find fabric for a tablecloth he wanted me to make and 2) search for a water-flow gauge. I’m not sure why he thought we needed fabric then. It’s not like we had the sewing machine with us and I sure wouldn’t sew it by hand. We found material we liked at Joann’s and packed it away for when we returned home. He wasn’t so lucky in the search for a water-flow gauge. We tried at least six stores with no luck. Defeated, we drove through the Dutch Bros Coffee and treated ourselves to mocha frappes. There’s nothing like a mocha frappe on a hot summer day to soothe disappointment.

Next stop was Salem, Oregon, where we hoped to visit the Capitol building and take a tour. We arrived at Hee Hee Illahee RV Park around two. After set up, it was too late for lunch and too early for dinner, so we found the Flight Deck Restaurant at the Salem-Willamette Valley Airport serving exceptional food. So if you eat around three do you call it “dunch” or “linner”?

We’ve had positive experiences with regional airport restaurants in the past and Flight Deck did not disappoint. Salmon and asparagus for me were delicious, and Jon dubbed his Swiss burger, “the best I’ve eaten in a long time.” Another winner.

Our planned adventures in Salem didn’t turn out the way our meal did. A major reconstruction project at the Oregon Capitol prevented us from seeing most of the building. Elevator access to an upper level allowed us to walk onto a balcony that ran from one wing of the building to another. From there, we could see Waller Hall across the street.

Oregon Pioneer (also known as Gold Man), created by Ulric Ellerhusen, is a twenty-two-foot-tall hollow bronze sculpture with gold leaf. Installed The sculpture, installed in 1938, is visible from various places throughout Salem.

Waller Hall, built between 1864 and 1867, had started its life known as University Hall. The name changed in 1912 to honor Reverend Alvan (Alvin) F. Waller, the person who spearheaded the fundraising to construct the building. Materials used in construction included 500,000 bricks made from the clay soil removed to build the basement. While a fire decimated the interior of the building in 1921, the sturdy brick walls—about thirty inches thick—remained intact.

And as one might imagine, the building has gone through major renovations throughout its nearly 160 years. From the one building university, Willamette University has grown to 56 buildings around Salem and in Portland, Oregon.

A quick peek at the capitol’s website at the time of writing this post revealed all guided tours should resume during 2025. Perhaps they will occur in the fall?

On June 26, 2024, we pulled our rig into Sun Outdoor Gig Harbor Resort for a 12-night stay. At first, the tight spot they gave us with no neighbors on either side was a disappointment. Once we settled in, though, we had to rate it “excellent” for its coziness and privacy.

After our days of travel, we craved a reward: a seafood dinner, a glass of sparkling wine, and views of the harbor at Anthony’s at Gig Harbor. Viewing the photos and writing about the meal made my mouth water.

We were happy to have arrived safely in Gig Harbor and looked forward to all we would do and see, even if we looked a bit bedraggled and tired.

Up Next: Museums, farmers’ market, gardens, boat tour, and so much more.

Save Travels

Welcome back! Today, we restart our travel blog after a three-month hiatus. Annual medical appointments, taxes, and a kitchen renovation didn’t leave us much time for reporting on our 2024 travels until now. Without further delay, we present our first 2024 adventure, a trip to the Napa Valley in March.

Passing up a chance to ride a historic train is not in our DNA when we are traveling. So why oh why had we never ridden the Napa Valley Wine Train? We’ve lived within sixty miles of Napa for the past thirty years and never found time to ride the train? Shame on us. The time for us to do so had arrived.

Hennessey House Bed & Breakfast

On March 17, 2024, we left the fifth wheel at home for our two-nights in Napa and opted for accommodations at the Hennessey House Bed & Breakfast instead. M. E Johnson, a local carpenter, built the Stick Eastlake style home in 1889 for Dr. Edwin Hennessey. The home continued as a private residence until 1985, when it became a Bed & Breakfast.

Wanting to know a few facts about Dr. Hennessey, I found an article in the Napa Valley Register. According to the article dated October 17, 2010, Hennessey was born in Decatur, Illinois, in 1863. He studied medicine in 1883 and moved to Napa in 1884, where he lived until his death in 1924.

He ran his private practice while also engaged in other prominent positions. His medical career included positions in Napa County, the Yountville Veterans Home, and Napa State Hospital. He also served as a board member at various political and business organizations.

The article included a creepy story that could in no way occur in today’s society. A man hanged for his crimes willed his body for “the benefit of science.” Hennessey was present at the autopsy and took possession of the body for his “anatomical collection”. He had the skeleton cleaned and placed on top of a building to sun bleach. Imagine what the residents of Napa felt after hearing the skeleton had been there for six months.

Was the skeleton used in Napa County school as a teaching aid? Perhaps, according to a few unverified stories. I wonder where the skeleton is now. Is it boxed up in a storage closet somewhere? Could students have stolen it for a gag? The mystery continues.

Napa Valley Train

After a hearty breakfast at Hennessey’s, we headed to the train depot. Our table’s coziness between two etched-glass dividers gave us a sense of privacy, even though across the aisle sat another couple.

Let the ride and dining begin. Our server brought us sparkling wine to toast to our 50 years of marriage. We sipped our bubbly as the train lumbered through the City of Napa, paralleling State Route 29, as it traveled 18 miles toward St. Helena. The train returned to Napa after a brief stop.

Along the way, we alternated the joy of eating our meal and gazing outside the window as we passed various towns. Between the towns, green rolling hills gave way to grassy vineyard floors and pruned vines. Spring in Northern California is when grass is at its greenest. We picked a great time to visit.

I made a game of capturing images of the scenery. It’s not like the train stopped to allow me to click the shutter without jiggling, and the lighting didn’t always cooperate. Luckily, a few shots turned out to contrast the historic homes and buildings with the newer construction of estate mansions and wineries.

History:

• The Napa Valley Railroad began operations in 1864.
• Southern Pacific abandoned the line 1985.
• Vince DeDomenico acquired the right of way and the Napa Valley Wine Train was born after a $20 million rehabilitation.
• The family took over running the train upon the death of DeDomenico.
• Nobel House Hotels & Resorts purchased the railroad in 2015 and remains the current owner.

The Napa Valley Train ride was the most elegant historic train we have taken. We were glad we opted for the food service because it added to the ambience and made our time together memorable.

I’d love to go back for another ride in the fall when the grape leaves splash their autumn colors across acres of vineyards.

Oxbow Public Market

Before we left town on March 19, 2024, we stopped at the Oxbow Public Market on the banks of the Napa River to see what they offered.

Not as large as San Francisco‘s Ferry Building, the vendors at Oxbow sell a variety of goods for residents and tourists alike. Visitors will find an array of vendors equipped to satisfy anybody’s yearnings, be they savory or sweet.

Beer, wine, and cocktails are also available. And book lovers of all ages will want to search for their next read among the tables and bookshelves in Napa Bookmine.

More vendors surround the market and across the street.

Without an ice chest, we had to pass on loading up the car with groceries. Instead, we enjoyed coffee and pastries.

Copia: Now and Then

Now 2024

Across the parking lot from the Oxbow Public Market is the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Copia. The CIA offers a five-day Basic Training Bootcamps and other courses that focus on certain types of cuisine, such as Mexican or Italian.

Upon seeing the wall of displays outside of The Chuck Williams Culinary Arts Museum, we couldn’t pass up a look inside. Chuck Williams, the founder of Williams Sonoma, collected the items over his lifetime. Cooking utensils and tools hung on peg boards, sat on shelves in the display cases, and graced space on the floor.

The range in the photo below is very similar to the one we had in the house we bought in the 1970s. It wasn’t the most energy efficient model to use, but I sure loved the griddle for making pancakes.

Then 2008

The facility once housed The American Center for Wine & Arts—later named Copia—which operated from 2001 to 2008. Robert and Margrit Mondavi had donated land and provided other funding for the museum.

The major draw to the Copia Museum was Julia Child’s copper pots and pans, which she donated in 2001.

After seven years, the museum failed to generate enough revenue to pay its debt and keep the doors open. When the museum closed, Napa Valley College took possession of the center’s library. And the Julia Child cookware exhibit went to the National Museum of American History to join the rest of her kitchen, which Child had also donated in 2001.

I enjoyed going through the photos from our previous trip and comparing them to the current photos. Although the architecture of the building constructed 25 years ago remains the same, I expect some changes to the exterior. The extension of the rock facing to the right of the entrance and the addition of the mural soften the exterior, making it look less industrial.

Up next: We head to the Pacific Northwest

Safe Travels