Day 5 was a bit of a repositioning day. I need to get some things in in case I need to leave early to get my car back in Denver. With that in mind, I decided to get the Washington peninsula out of the way because one of the stops had to be on a Saturday. So I drove up from Portland and took the ferry to Vashon Island. Vashon is home to Dragon’s Head Cider. I of course, picked the busiest day of the year on the Island for the annual strawberry fest. I went early enough, though, so the ferry wait wasn’t bad. The cider there was good. I picked up a few bottles for Melissa, grabbed the next Ferry over to Southworth, and drove up to Alpine Fire Cider to grab a few more bottles. The next stop was Propolis Brewing. I had been there about four years ago and thought it was OK. This time I think they have upped their game. They had a wide variety of saisons and sours. The kriek was quite tasty. I also tried the Salal, which was a bit challenging. Aged in Tempranillo grape barrels with Salal berries, there was an odd earthy note that almost reminded me of a beer I had from Wild Heaven with prunes and figs, but it was a bit jarring. I picked out a few barrel-aged sours and saisons to take home. It was also fun talking to the bartender who came from St Paul.
The last stop of the night was a bit of a bust at Finn River Cider. The place was hopping, and I was there to grab a couple of bottles of lambic-style cider, but they were out. So I grabbed a half dozen oysters and a pizza, then left and bought a nice bag of cherries, peaches, and apricots for snacking. But as is tradition with this trip, the travel gods had another nice surprise when I tried to check-in. The hotel had filled every room they had booked with booking services with people who walked in. I didn’t get another hotel until 1 AM. But overall, it was a good day. I love the views of the mountains, and the drive down the 101 with the views of the Hood Canal made it all worth the while. Now for 3 days in the Portland area and South.
