Wednesday, March 07, 2007

MusselFest 2007


Coupeville, WA 3/3/07


Mussels, Mussels everywhere. Each March Coupeville which sits on beautiful Whidbey Island plays host to the Penn Cove Mussel Festival. Penn Cove lies on the eastern side of Whidbey Island which seems to be a perfect place to cultivate mussels, clams, and oysters. So each year Coupeville celebrates the wonderful shellfish that come from Penn Cove. And each year Michael & I with my sister and friends attend the festival. The biggest attraction of the festival is the taste test of the local restaurants' chowders. For just a few dollars, each visitor gets a ballot with a list of participating restaurants and travels from tasting to tasting throughout town.


We usually meet about mid-morning and taste our way to fullness through many little cups of mussel chowder by mid-afternoon. An average of 12 restaurants participate each year, so 12 small cups of chowder have an ability to fill you up. We get a taste of traditional chowders, specialty chowders, bisques and soups. All with (hopefully) several little mussels strewn about the bottom. At the end of the day, we part ways satisfied and happy from good food and good company.


But a visit to Whidbey isn't complete without a visit to one of the numerous parks. This year Michael & I stopped by Ft Ebey State Park to walk the dogs and show our friend Michelle the place special enough to hold our wedding. After playing with the puppies a while we head back to the ferry, still full from our extended lunch.

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