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Whidbey Island

I am stickler for festivals unique to the small towns that surround us. I have been following the Orca Network for some time, getting their monthly updates, I think bi-weekly even, on the pods that are spotted in the Strait, as well as other whale reports. It's delightful, really. I love reading the reports and seeing the pictures of the beautiful creatures that inhabit the Salish Sea. That is where I stumbled upon the Whale Festival in Langley. Since it was the end of my spring break, I decided that this was something we had to check out and it was kid friendly, so we ventured to Whidbey Island for a day of fun.

We enjoyed wandering the town. The firehouse had been converted into an amazing blown glass studio with many beautiful sculptures on display.

Maddy loved watching them work and create new sculptures. 
Like I could pass up a whale tail!

We enjoyed the bakery early in the morning, which was connected to an arcade that housed tons of old arcade games. Maddy quickly learned how to play pinball. 
Cool Mermaid and whale wood carving
Observing some kids playing arcade games. 
Miss Pinball Wizard

We then wandered the town a bit, feasted on some tasty pizza, and then went to the local Methodist church tor read for the parade. Maddy dressed up as a "whale fairy." She was elated to be a part of the parade. Beforehand, we even saw a couple of whales feeding on the ghost shrimp in the channel and got to ring the bell to sound the presence of the whales. 




Getting her face painted. 
Her hat was a bit too big. 
Super creative cookies to help support the Orca Network.

Mr. Gray Whale aka Patch.





Excited about being the "whale fairy."
Even Jax participated. 
Checking in on Jaxson as we participated in the parade.





Phone booth
Phone booth---yes, it really works!

I think we were shocked that the two phonebooths we spotted were actually functioning. It transported us both back in time, a bit, and Maddy thought the two phones were pretty neat. 



At the end of the parade there was a gathering of the locals with music, poetry, and final blessing and prayer to welcome the gray whales back to the area. Brad and I smiled at the hippy kind of atmosphere, but fell a bit in love with the uniqueness of Langley. He even said, "I could see us here. It reminds me of Afton." No plans on moving across the sound, but it will be a place to visit and enjoy on a day trip, I'm sure again. 








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