When Jeff and Valerie mentioned to us a couple of weeks ago that they were going to Oak Harbor for a weekend geocashing event it sounded like a fun time. They said that Oak Harbor was a "dutch" town and that they were staying in the Auld Holland Inn and that there was even a dutch restaurant on site. Dad chimed in and confirmed that Oak Harbor was indeed dutch and that they even had a dutch store. The stress of the bad weather and the holidays had caught up with us and a weekend away sounded like just the thing we needed. We left the boys at home and Michelle and I took off on Friday afternoon to return on Sunday afternoon.
Well, the trip was fun but the hotel and the dutch tradition in Oak Harbor were not what we expected. Working in the travel industry I am sort of a hotel snob. I know a lot of behind the scene stories of bad hotels and usually if a hotel is less than 3-stars, I don't stay there. I would probably give this hotel 1/2 a star.
The Auld Holland in is actually a mix between an English Tudor house and a German guest house that is stuck in a time warp of the 70's. The front desk clerk was from India. There was some delft blue hanging in the lobby but it was the kind you find in a cheap souvenir shop. The on-site dutch restaurant had been turned into a Chinese restaurant. We found an old menu in our room and the only thing dutch on the menu anyway was steak with "hollandaise" sauce so I guess it is just as well. I did not even know that was dutch! I asked the girl at the front desk if there was a dutch store or a dutch bakery in town and she was totally cut off guard by the question and said that there was not but if someone was interested in starting one, it would make millions. Anyone? Anyone? Regardless of the bad accommodations it was a fun weekend and took us somewhere we had never been.
We got to cross over the deception pass which I have heard a lot about but never had a chance to see. Notice the orb's. I think it is haunted.
We got to shop at the outlet mall. Hooray for shopping! We had a beautiful drive and best of all we got to have a weekend away from home. One of the highlights of the trip was breakfast at "Pami's Restaurant"
We of course had to eat there for breakfast. It was really good. As we were paying I noticed a framed newspaper article with a picture of the real "Pami". Notice the resemblance?
The ferry ride home was fun too!
2 comments:
Oh come on - 1/2 of 1 star? That is pretty generous. You forgot to mention that there was no thermostats so you just had to turn the heat on until you were so hot you thought you were burning in somewhere, and then once off, waiting until you were shivering to turn the heat back on to start the cycle again.......
I'm so glad you commented on my blog! I can't believe I hardly know my cousins! I do have a fun life and actually think I need to settle down a bit as I'm getting older...but maybe not ;) Hope the family is well, looks like you're having fun too with new grandbabies!!
Good to hear from you!
-Nichole
Post a Comment