Category: Downtown Sequim

Yum!

Pane d’Amore Bakery moved into their new downtown store a month or two ago. I’m happy to report that the offerings are as good as ever.

We wandered in on a recent Saturday looking for a carb fix. In addition to a tasty selection of breads, they also offer breakfast pastries, focaccia, and a small selection of gourmet items.

Here’s the store’s new exterior.

Pane d’Amore is located just over the fence…from Over the Fence. And in case this gives you ideas, I’ll warn you now: Sorry! They’re closed on Sundays.

A very nice facelift

A little over a year and a half ago I posted that the Red Ranch Inn had reopened after closing sometime in 2011. Since then there’s been steady work to breathe new life into these lodgings. It’s looking good. Take a look here at what it looked like last year and see if you don’t agree. It’s now called the Olympic View Inn.

Sand sculpture resurrection

Last summer I posted a version of this sand sculpture here. The sculpture, entitled “Violet Picking Lavender,” was a volunteer effort by Kali Bradford who spent over 200 hours on the work to celebrate Sequim’s annual Lavender Faire and Festival. I posted a photo of the work on July 7th. A week later vandals destroyed the top of the castle and smashed “Violet’s” head off.

Bradford returned to work on the sculpture last month, adding the lion to protect Violet. And she rebuilt Violet’s head.

I don’t think this dragon was part of the earlier sculpture when I saw it; it’s not in any of the photos I took.

Although there is rain erosion, you can see some of the human-caused damage in this shot. To call it senseless is an understatement.

Bradford admitted she didn’t have the heart to rebuild the sculpture after the vandalism but said in the newspaper last Friday getting back to the sculpture was a way for her to heal from the vandalism. “That’s the great thing about sand: I can always rebuilt it.”

Sequim Senior Center

The Sequim Senior Center is a buzz of activity. I found my way there a month or two ago when I had call to meet with a volunteer to untangle some healthcare insurance mysteries. While there I explored a little and discovered that in addition to exercise classes, art and games such as bridge, bingo, and pinochle they also offer tours. The Center offers daylong bus tours to scenic areas like Snoqualmie Falls, to sporting events, and even some of the larger shopping centers around Puget Sound.

A local benefactor has generously donated money and property to build a new senior center, first to purchase and initial 4.5 acres of land. Then he donated a coin collection and more recently gifted to the Center a mobile home community that he owned. Income from R. Leo Shipley’s donated business will benefit the Senior Center’s capital campaign.

The Farmer’s Market

Summer months bring out the Sequim Farmer’s Market, an event held on Saturday’s downtown.

I was truly spoiled by farmer’s markets in California. Bigger metropolitan areas create a worthwhile demand for producers to truck their goods to these markets and California’s long growing season favors production. It’s not so bountiful and diverse in Sequim’s little corner of the world. Our local organic producer, Nash Huber, is the market’s “anchor” producer. There doesn’t seem to be too much other fresh produce at the market. Which isn’t to say it’s not available around here. It simply doesn’t make it to the Farmer’s Market.

I’ve read that the market is working to broaden their offerings and I know it’s not an easy proposition for a producer to spend a day sitting as a vendor at the market. In the meantime, there are plenty of tempting crafts and goodies to keep people coming back.