Divide and Conquer

Sometimes P and I enjoy going out blip-hunting together, but today we went our separate ways, covering two interesting local events on a sunny, cold day. (Here is P's, about a fascinating 94-year-old photographer.)

For 21 years, the Port of Bellingham has sponsored a Holiday Port Festival over the first weekend of December, and many Bellinghamsters, as the locals are known, flock to this free, family-friendly event. The highlight is the Gingerbread House Contest, open to bakers of all abilities and ages, who may choose to have their creations donated to a silent auction, with all proceeds going to our local Red Cross chapter.

The "house" part of the contest is sometimes stretched quite a bit, as seen in today's photo -- a gingerbread stiletto and shoe box (how did they do that?) from one of my favorite local stores, 12th Street Shoes. I loved these too -- a house-within-a-house-within-a house, and coach and carriage.

People are encouraged to bring donations for the local food bank and enjoy free rides on a horse-drawn wagon or a fire truck, art activities for children, and performances by local choirs, bands, and dance groups. It's a wonderful gift to the community, particularly in these hard times.

The Holiday Port Festival is held in the beautiful Bellingham Cruise Terminal, overlooking Bellingham Bay in the historic Fairhaven district. It's not a terminal for enormous ships going to exotic climes -- it's a transportation hub from which you can board the weekly ferry to Alaska, or take a whale watching day cruise through the San Juan Islands, or summer winery or brewery cruises on a windjammer schooner, or take the train or a Greyhound bus (long-distance coach) to Vancouver B.C. or Seattle and beyond, or take a shuttle bus to Sea-Tac (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport), or just catch a local bus between Fairhaven and downtown Bellingham.

We love the convenience!