Artful Weekend Getaways

0 CommentsFriday • April 27, 2012 • by Imei

When the economy tanked in 2009, many people began trading in their expensive vacations for closer-to-home weekend getaways. When the job has less PTO available, or your boss needs you to say on the line when it’s your time to take a vacation, there are some negative consequences to putting off the necessary R and R time too long: exhaustion, resentment, poorer performance, to name a few. After coming back from a restful weekend away, here’s some great ways to have an artful weekend getaway you can capitalize on anytime.

My weekend getaway was to my “happy place” on this planet, the San Juan Islands.  Just because it is only a 1.5 hour car drive away and a ferry ride away does not mean it isn’t a beautiful destination worthy of weddings, camping, jogging, bicycling, nature viewing, and photography. I have made over a half-dozen trips to the San Juans in the past ten years, and I have never had a bad experience. To top things off, the San Juans also have a small but thriving artist’s community, with practitioners of Yoga, culinary arts, pottery, jewelry making,  music, and painting.

 

PLAN YOUR ESCAPE 

We started the weekend off with dinner and the ballet in Seattle on a Friday evening (taking advantage of HH pricing for appetizers and wine), and planned to be up early in the morning to catch the last morning ferry from Anacortes to Orcas Island. That ended up being a good plan, since any laziness on our part would force us to wait three hours until the next ferry. Therefore, there would be no late night cavorting, movie-watching, or socializing. Ah, the sacrifices we make for art appreciation!

Packing for a weekend is as tough as packing for a week if you don’t have a general idea of what you want to do with 48 hours on an island. I keep a couple of packing lists for travel handy, but my general rule of thumb is to pack as light as possible for the most amount of general fun. For a weekend, I include the following:

- two pairs of shoes: one for walking/running, and one for going out
- fitness clothing that can play double duty, and layers for changing weather
- one iDevice for entertainment, GPS/maps
- a pen and paper to write with (I keep a small notepad in my bag)
- a decent camera (I had one on loan)
- sunscreen

You might not agree with this next part, but whether you’re traveling by yourself or with your main squeeze, an artful weekend getaway includes a limit on how much time to spend with your face in a screen. My personal tendency is to keep iDevices off or set aside, or you’ll miss the best moments. That included some moments where the camera needed to be set aside as well. A lazy lounge session on a park bench yields restful rejuvenation well beyond what any iDevice can give me. Plus, it’s free (unless you count the brain cell energy consumed).

FOLLOW THE NATIVES

The woman at reception at the Outlook Inn told us about a very special wine pairing dinner at their New Leaf Cafe, with Gonzalez Byass (Spanish wines) and Chef Gordon Terry as a part of their “Outlook University” [here's where I say I don't mind going back to school!].  She said one of the wines she tried was so good, “…it was like my mouth said, ‘Welcome, come on in.’” Whenever someone who lives there recommends something with that kind of enthusiasm and unfettered joy, you should ALWAYS pay attention to see if that’s something you’d like to try. And so we did.

Before the dinner, I asked permission to take photos before and throughout the dinner, and the hostess approved. Taking pictures during a meal with a flash made me feel like Press, but I was pleased to see out of a corner of my eye another young diner taking pictures with his phone camera. Food presentation is art!

The weather was extraordinary for Spring in the Puget Sound, a warm and lovely 72 Fahrenheit.  I watched for when others who lived on the island were running outside, or where they were gravitating towards for after-dinner fraternizing. While we never did make it to the Odd Fellow’s Building (where  Hejira World Band was playing!), a good amount of locals did recommend going there for a good time.  You’d get your dance and world music fix, all at once.

I also noticed about seven book clubs were registered at the Danville Book Store in East Sound. Forgot a good book to read? Most of your local town getaway destinations will have a book store, complete with a discount table if you want a cheaper read. Some of the B&B’s will happily take your finished books for recycling to other happy weekenders.

A THING OF THE EYES

In the movie, “Sabrina” starring Julia Ormand and Harrison Ford, Sabrina says to Linus that she’s been taking photos all her life, only recently with a camera. It’s a quote that I feel has been true for me. I’ve always been framing scenes, imagining the finished photo well before the shutter has been pressed.

We took the camera everywhere except on the morning run. What I saw on the run anyways would likely not have been captured easily: three does crossing a road quickly, and an eagle flying overhead. Everywhere else — Mt. Constitution, Olga Harbor, and a variety of stops along the way — the camera had enough memory and battery life for the afternoon.

SUPPORT LOCAL ARTISTS

What would an artful weekend getaway be without supporting local artists? Well, for starters, it would be dull. Because local artists take the time and care to share their lovely environment with you as a visitor, these places can thrive with continued art. In a time when art programs are being cancelled from schools because of budget issues, it’s that much more important to spend some of your dollars investing in the arts.

Art entrepreneurs Scarlett and Tyra took advantage of the fine weather by displaying their matted prints in a makeshift booth by the road. I think they had a pretty good gig going, including a cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows. We think is an excellent alternative to the lemonade stand.

 

Teresa Greenway, mother to one of the young artists pictured above,  has an eBook pdf out on Amazon, available through your Kindle reader. including tasty recipes for sourdough bread. I do have to mention that these girls were quite the little businesswomen. One of them kindly reminded us to please stand to side of her booth after making our purchase, since our bodies were blocking the view of the sign from the road! However, I do want to also mention that the little boy who chased after us for the dollar bill he felt he lost when we paid with a $5 bill for a $4 piece of art might need a little help with math.

Ever grateful for the new friends, venues, and destinations that have come from starting a Twitter feed back in 2009 that has grown to 1600+, our final stop on the artful weekend getaway was to Allium, a culinary gem on the island. I learned of Allium through my connection on Twitter to the restaurant, but my companion for the weekend had already vetted this gem on a previous visit. Its quiet view of the water, and Chef Lisa Nakamura’s tasty masterpieces made from fresh ingredients, Aloha, and an unpretentious setting made this meal feel like you were eating in her home (and in fact, she says that on her website). Her meals are works of art, including that chocolate pudding creme brulee with a candle for my birthday. [Super yum, and the eight paw salute from two sets of human hands and front paws from the kittehs!]

 

All good things come to an end. I sacked out on the ferry ride back to Anacortes, my mind and heart full of music, art, sunshine, and images. When I see a lot of beauty in a short period of time, my mind needs more sleep to start processing it all! After putting couple of sample photos post-editing on my FB page, I think I have a pretty good idea that people liked the photos. As always, I’m reminded that photography really is an art form, since it requires one to change the way s/he sees the world in order to render even the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Granted, in past trips to the San Juans, I’ve also camped alone, pitching a tent in Moran State Park, bicycling everywhere, and cooking my meals over a campfire instead of dining in a white-tablecloth restaurant [usually accompanied by a good bottle of Scotch]. An artful weekend getaway does not have to be expensive or fancy. And I can tell you, no one paid anything for the view of two eagles flying below the outlook on top of Mt. Constitution. Nor could we have ever paid enough to have selected the best weather weekend of April to travel. I’ve always said that some of the best and most beautiful experiences in life are the ones that cost little nothing, but transform us forever.

Want to plan your own artful weekend? What do you think need to do in order to make it happen? Share your best ideas for weekend getaways that put art in the center of your experience.