Landmark

No, I’m still in Washington, although I wouldn’t mind a trip to the Netherlands.

Today I drove to Lynden which is about 20ish miles from where I live to get a supply of Lizzie’s diet food from the vet. I usually go the back country way but today I went through the town just for the heck of it and realized that the famous Windmill Hotel would do just fine for a blip.

When we first moved to Washington in the early 1980s, Lynden was a town of about 3-4,000 people. Most of the people lived on dairy or berry farms in the area. The town had originally been settled in 1875 and saw considerable Dutch immigration in the early 1900s – hence the theme of the town. It's always been a beautiful little place with immaculate houses and yards, impeccably clean – a picture postcard kind of place. There was a thriving business center which, despite its prohibition on doing business on Sunday, always seemed successful. At one time, Lynden held the world record for most churches per square mile and per capita. It was not an easy town to live in if you did not share the orthodox religious views of the residents. Over the years an influx of people to the area has significantly changed the demographic as the town expanded.

It’s been quite a while since I drove through the town and I was truly saddened today to see so many of the businesses closed or boarded up. It was always a pleasant place to do business and my husband and I used to joke that you could find more of the things you needed in Lynden than you could in Bellingham. I hope there’s an economic revival in its future because it’s still a lovely little town.