Date Night at the Lakebay Marina

Recently I had a post on here featuring a scrapbook page with photos of me dancing last summer with my daughters at our local Lakebay Marina. The Marina is full of character and characters, and last night I called in grammaD for babysitting duty and headed over there with hubby in tow.
It was a beautiful night outside and many of the patrons inside were lined up at the windows overlooking the inlet to capture with cell phone cameras the setting sun reflecting gorgeous oranges and peaches onto the fluffy clouds above.
After introducing ourselves to a gal I see at Rainier's art class often, we went searching for the wine and beer. Trillium Winery out of Home was out front serving some of their grape juice and the owner was kind enough to sample me with a Chardonnay. We ended up sharing a bottle of Silverdales Silver City Porter as we visited with our neighbors and met another couple there with their adorable baby Kariss. Isn't that a beautiful name? It means Love in Welsh!
One of the highlights of the evening was meeting Dayna, who was there premiering her latest film, Cold Light Day. It's a lovely movie featuring her choreography; two young men frolic down the pier on an average February morning. I thought the film's title was a perfect reflection of the way Washington weather plays with you- it can be a really nice day even though we don't actually see the sun, it shines brightly through our cloud cover regardless.
A perfect date night away and when we got home the kids were both sleeping soundly. Can't ask for much more than that!

Dancing Days Are Here Again

Hand cut fries at the marina-
hand cut grass on my page!

Last summer my mom and I took the girls down the street to our local Marina for some bluegrass music and of course some dancing.

My mom was always dancing and singing around the house- well, anywhere, really- and that's one of the traits I've tried to exhibit myself! Sometimes my older daughter will say, mom, that's weird! And that's okay. I'm glad they see me being a little crazy and cutting loose now and again.

This layout came together really quickly. I really just layered up a handful of scraps from the page I had completed last and stuck my photo strip on top. The  picnic table die cut is fun- I actually like its super sized ratio to the photos. And my custom grass on the cooler has a little bling to it :-)

The theme of this page as I made it was "travel." All summer long I had hoped to go down for dancing and we just kept not getting around to it. Its only about 5 miles away, and we have to drive by it to actually go to town, so there wasn't any really good excuse not to have got there.

Check out Rellys challenge as she fills in over at Shimelle.com  Then go see my gal Lisa's incredible custom map layout!

Hangin' With the Hombres at the Lakebay Marina Resort

My neighbors waving from the boathouse.



Motorcyclists from the Hombres, cleaning up the dishes.

Tonight I had the pleasure of meeting not just the manliest dishwashers ever, but also the super friendly owner of the recently refurbished Lake bay Marina Resort!

Owner Mark Scott took ownership of the dilapidated Marina last October, and has worked steadily improving the facility and grounds ever since. Anyone familiar with it's site has noticed a huge difference- shrubbery cleared, boards on the dock replaced, and a functioning kitchen are all great reasons to visit, either by boat or by foot.

Fuel, including clear gas with Soltron, and environmentally friendly alternative, can be purchased at the dock. Inside, yummies such as the hot fish and chips my neighbors were enjoying and cold beverages can be purchased for low prices. Paintings by renown local artist Tweed Meyer were available for purchase as well. I love this scene she painted which hangs on the outside of the boathouse.

You can bring your family, including the dog, and stay the whole weekend, exploring the surrounding areas by water. Either bring your boat and moor it for $1/foot, or bring your camping gear and stay on the shore for just $22/night. Kayaks and Stand Up Paddle Boards, or SUPBs as I was informed they are called :-), can be rented for $14/hour.

Last night we shared the company of many locals, visitors grabbing a bite after a day of boating, and as I mentioned before, the motorcycle group, the Hombres, who also happen to be sober riders. Their bikes and leather gear beckoned from across the shore, where they were all set up with tents and tables along the beach. The resort boasts raised campfire pits, and since the burn ban was lifted earlier this week, all the fires were blazing! I'll bet there was a lot of story swappin' going on over there!

What goes better with sitting around the campfire sharing stories than some live music! Every Saturday inside the boathouse local musicians keep the crown bobbin and in our case, dancing. Music starts around 6pm and ends around 8 or so, depending on how much rockin' and rollin' is going on.

Mark sat down with me and shared how overwhelmed he's been- by the support of the community especially. People have been downright ecstatic over the changes, and despite some of the challenges he's run into along the way in trying to fix things up, its all worth it to "breathe the life back into this place," as he so eloquently put it.

This statement really rang true for me; often times I drive the girls past the marina on our way in and out of town... last summer while driving by with my dad Ed, he commented that he used to camp out there amongst the tangle of overgrown bushes and tumbledown buildings. Hmmm, I thought, rustic! But when I showed him the difference driving by this year he was blown away, commenting that it was almost like going back in time to 1972 when he first camped along this shore.

You can find the Lakebay Marina Resort on facebook, sign up for their email list and be in the know about upcoming events and ongoing improvements. The marina is closed Monday and Tuesdays, and Fridays they are open from around 4-8, Saturdays from about noon to 8, depending on the crowd.