Taking a Ferry to Port Townsend

Aren't ferries fabulous?  I'm just amazed that you can load that many cars onto a boat and transport them across a large body of water like that.  They all file in, let this huge ship carry them from one point to the next, and then they all file out and go on their way.  It's fascinating.  It's magical.  And there's the incredible view, water stretched for miles and your destination somewhere in the distance, just a spot of green and brown.  And the seagulls.  And the wind that blows across the surface of the ocean, ripping through you like a knife, wind so bone chillingly cold that you can barely catch your breath in it but you still want to stand in it...at least for awhile...at least until your nose is running so much you have to seek shelter.  But once inside you can sit next to a large window, feel the heat of the sun radiating from the glass, and enjoy the beauty of the ocean without the debilitating chill of the wind off the water.

This is how we made our trek from Kim's home in Edmond's to Port Townsend, the location of ArtFest.  I had never been on a ferry before so it was quite the experience.  It was more fascinating than scary, more soothing than unsettling.  But I did think about THAT episode of Grey's Anatomy.  You know the one.  The one that was the begging of the end.  The one that started the slow decline of last season.  The one that lead into the episodes that made me decide to stop watching the show.  Yeah, THAT one.

And now a word about Port Townsend: it is just about the cutest town I've ever seen.  I could go on and on about it but you really do have to experience it for yourself.  Charming.  That's a good word for it.  It has these incredible shops on the main street and the buildings are very Victorian with amazing details.  Another one of those places that is every photographer's dream.  And they have this Thai food restaurant that is to die for.  Try the seaweed salad.  Yum.

Right outside of Port Townsend is Fort Worden...home of ArtFest.  Wednesday was check-in.  I'd been prepared by those who had gone before as to what to expect.  I came ready to be overwhelmed.  But it actually wasn't bad.  The check in went very smoothly...and so did hauling my luggage up to my second floor dorm room.  I was a bit nervous about the dorm situation because I was rooming with complete strangers.  I had no idea who these women would be and luckily they turned out to be very sweet, considerate ladies...also first timers. 

Dinner was another story.  For the past couple years I have read reports about ArtFest on other blogs, reports about how fabulous it is, how it is life changing and even better than Disneyland.  So I came with fairly high expectations.  Kim, Christina, and I hooked up with Liz, Kelly Rae and Kelly's mother for dinner in the cafeteria.  That is when the overwhelm hit hard and all those expectations came tumbling down.  The energy.  The noise.  The excitement.  It's all a little too much for me.  And then there were the trades.  If you want to participate then you bring a little something that you can trade with other participants.  For instance I brought little sets of wallet sized photographs, Kelly Rae brought magnets with her art on them, Kim brought cute tins filled with ephemera and Liz brought little bags stuffed with chocolate and other goodies.  I guess I had imagined that I would be trading with ladies I met in my workshops or in my dorm, ladies I got to know a little and wanted to give a small memento to so that they could find me on my blog or e-mail me in the future and vice versa.  Dinner was a trading frenzy.  "Do you have a trade?  Do you want to trade?  Here's a trade"...with mostly sincere but some fake "oh how cute."  I have to admit I didn't like it...not one bit.  It felt awkward to me.  I felt weird and uncomfortable giving my trades to complete strangers...women I would probably not remember or see again during the entire workshop.  I came home with trades and although most of them have some kind of contact information I don't have a clue who the person is.  And I'm sure they're thinking the same thing about my trade.  So I got started out on the wrong foot.  I left dinner feeling the excitement but also feeling more than a little overwhelmed and totally weirded out.  And I certainly wasn't feeling like ArtFest was the most amazing thing ever.  I was leaning more towards the 'this fucking sucks' feeling.  I just hated the whole trading thing so much and never again will I participate in the 'first nite dinner trading.'  In the future I will save my trades and do with them exactly what I thought I was going to do with them in the first place: give them to people in meet in the workshops, the dorm, or sit with at future meals.  I think I will crawl into a little shell inside myself that first dinner and just tune everybody out for the sake of my sanity.  But I did get to end that evening bonding with my peeps in Kelly Rae's room and that was really nice...even though they didn't have heat...and it was freakin' cold.

Comments

[Thea]

You crack me up babey. Oh how I wish I was there to snuggle with you.
XO

[kim]

The view never looked that beautiful before! Did you use that lens?

beyond the trading fiasco ... the noise level is enough to do me in ;)

[shona]

awesome photo of the ferry. I can't wait to hear the rest of the story.

[jinky]

Your pictures are amazing. Seattle and the islands of the sound are AMAZING!!! They have a feeling of their own. Port Townsend is so beautiful your description and pics make me long for the ocean also. Thank you for sharing, your pics are sooo beautiful, just eye candy!
~jinky

[Elizabeth]

oh I HEAR you on the trades (whoops, just typed "raids"-- hee freudian typo) and have never participated in them, at first cause I was too lazy but now for the precise reason you describe-- I have to admit I feel guilty if I'm one of the ones who had the life-changing experiences that caused your expectations to be so high-- I went in with NO expectations the first time, plus I was so focused on the "we get to play with art supplies?" kindergarten awe-- that I didn't have any time to absorb or notice some of the less great stuff that I couldn't help but to notice this second time around-- but, LOVED meeting you and wished we'd had more time together . .

[Star]

I'm excited to hear about the rest of your experience. I, too, would have been quite disappointed at the frenzy (and apparent insincerity at times) of the trading experience and would probably have bolted from the cafeteria to find a small space of quiet to regroup--sounds like you found that as you bonded with friends at the end of the evening.