Bittersweet and savory

Our first trip to Coupeville was in May, 2014, following a tip from one of Garrett's former coworkers that we should check out a restaurant there called The Oystercatcher. We fell in love with both, even going to far as to say The Oystercatcher became our favorite restaurant. Living nearby and eating at the restaurant often became the eventual life goal. We still might move to Whidbey Island one day, but we're not sure what'll become of The Oystercatcher after the end of this month; the owners decided they wanted to move on to other projects.

They weren't the first owners of The Oystercatcher, and the new owners might keep the name. But there's no guaranteeing they'll want to serve the same type of amazing, modern food. Not so modern as to be gimmicky or scientific, just good and beautiful food that makes you so happy to live in the same era as it. We'll just have to wait and see.

We've stayed in four different Coupeville rentals, two in town and two a few miles away. The former favorite is one we've stayed in twice, right on the water and two doors away from a nice resort. But this time around we had Tuvix in tow, and when you add "pets allowed" as a filter while searching for rentals, the pool to pick from shrinks drastically. Luckily we found one so dog-friendly, it's even mentioned in the name. It's an old manufactured home on a very cool piece of hillside land overlooking the water, and it has a huge back yard which is unusual for view places. I guess it's because they only have one street between the highway and the water, so there was no need to make the lots tiny. The best part is that they're very private. Aside from a walkway between us and the house next door, the rest of the property has natural barriers all around. You can't even be seen when you're in the back yard except for in a back corner, and the viewer would have to be in the small second story of that house.

Tuvix is unfortunately sick with diarrhea. Again. We don't know what's causing it but signs point to him eating something he shouldn't in the back yard. He's still young and his immune system and gut biome are developing. Unfortunately he just can't make the connection between eating things outside and feeling bad.

One of the things that could make the rental where we stayed better is a little bit of fencing on either side of the house that would allow dogs to run free. He's used to that in our yard at home and it was obvious he hated always being on the leash. But at least we knew he wasn't swallowing anything he shouldn't. I hate to say it, but it might be best to get him a muzzle for running around the yard off leash.

We briefly considered not going on the trip but we knew we'd resent him for years to come if he made us miss our final dinner at our favorite restaurant. And if, except for two hours, we'd just be hanging around with him, it may as well be in some other house. That house has a huge laundry room that's a great place to stow a dog for a while. They even provide bedding in there, but we brought our own because we had plenty of room in my van. Thankfully he didn't make a mess while we were gone, and we had an incredible meal. It was sad, too, of course, but wonderful nonetheless.





It's certainly not easy to get good photos on a walk with Tuvix. In these three photos, it's very obvious when I'm not the one holding the leash.







There are only a handful of homes alongside that park and they have one of our favorite views available on the island. It's not just the water, but the lovely farmland below that show the shadows of the clouds in all their inverted glory. If we had the budget to live there, it'd be an easy choice. And I'd definitely start making time lapses again.

Back home and back to reality. I've unfortunately been awake since about 1am, three hours early. Tuvix kept Garrett up most of the night so I've got him with me. Now we know that he travels well, but that really only extends to behaving in the car. Being somewhere new wasn't so much fun for him and it was quite obvious he was happy to be home. We are, too.



As always, there are more photos on flickr.

Bittersweet and savory

Our first trip to Coupeville was in May, 2014, following a tip from one of Garrett's former coworkers that we should check out a restaurant there called The Oystercatcher. We fell in love with both, even going to far as to say The Oystercatcher became our favorite restaurant. Living nearby and eating at the restaurant often became the eventual life goal. We still might move to Whidbey Island one day, but we're not sure what'll become of The Oystercatcher after the end of this month; the owners decided they wanted to move on to other projects.

They weren't the first owners of The Oystercatcher, and the new owners might keep the name. But there's no guaranteeing they'll want to serve the same type of amazing, modern food. Not so modern as to be gimmicky or scientific, just good and beautiful food that makes you so happy to live in the same era as it. We'll just have to wait and see.

We've stayed in four different Coupeville rentals, two in town and two a few miles away. The former favorite is one we've stayed in twice, right on the water and two doors away from a nice resort. But this time around we had Tuvix in tow, and when you add "pets allowed" as a filter while searching for rentals, the pool to pick from shrinks drastically. Luckily we found one so dog-friendly, it's even mentioned in the name. It's an old manufactured home on a very cool piece of hillside land overlooking the water, and it has a huge back yard which is unusual for view places. I guess it's because they only have one street between the highway and the water, so there was no need to make the lots tiny. The best part is that they're very private. Aside from a walkway between us and the house next door, the rest of the property has natural barriers all around. You can't even be seen when you're in the back yard except for in a back corner, and the viewer would have to be in the small second story of that house.

Tuvix is unfortunately sick with diarrhea. Again. We don't know what's causing it but signs point to him eating something he shouldn't in the back yard. He's still young and his immune system and gut biome are developing. Unfortunately he just can't make the connection between eating things outside and feeling bad.

One of the things that could make the rental where we stayed better is a little bit of fencing on either side of the house that would allow dogs to run free. He's used to that in our yard at home and it was obvious he hated always being on the leash. But at least we knew he wasn't swallowing anything he shouldn't. I hate to say it, but it might be best to get him a muzzle for running around the yard off leash.

We briefly considered not going on the trip but we knew we'd resent him for years to come if he made us miss our final dinner at our favorite restaurant. And if, except for two hours, we'd just be hanging around with him, it may as well be in some other house. That house has a huge laundry room that's a great place to stow a dog for a while. They even provide bedding in there, but we brought our own because we had plenty of room in my van. Thankfully he didn't make a mess while we were gone, and we had an incredible meal. It was sad, too, of course, but wonderful nonetheless.





It's certainly not easy to get good photos on a walk with Tuvix. In these three photos, it's very obvious when I'm not the one holding the leash.







There are only a handful of homes alongside that park and they have one of our favorite views available on the island. It's not just the water, but the lovely farmland below that show the shadows of the clouds in all their inverted glory. If we had the budget to live there, it'd be an easy choice. And I'd definitely start making time lapses again.

Back home and back to reality. I've unfortunately been awake since about 1am, three hours early. Tuvix kept Garrett up most of the night so I've got him with me. Now we know that he travels well, but that really only extends to behaving in the car. Being somewhere new wasn't so much fun for him and it was quite obvious he was happy to be home. We are, too.



As always, there are more photos on flickr.