Aug 09: Road Trip - Forks, WA

Today, we took a road trip to Forks, WA.
What's in Forks?
Apparently, Forks is the setting for the new, very popular, young adult vampire novel Twilight. The novel depicts Forks as the rainiest city in the US. Forks is nestled in the Olympic peninsula amongst the lush green forest.

Since we're in Seattle, which is just a stone's throw away, we decided to go exploring.

According to Yahoo Maps, the route is straight forward and should be about a 3.5 hour drive one way.

The route:
1. Take a ferry from Edmonds to Kingston.
2. From Kingston take 101 to Forks.

The ferry ride is always nice with the wind blowing through my hair and the great views.
After the ferry, we were en route to Forks when we came across Fat Smitty's in Discovery Bay.
S mentioned this place is usually closed when she drives by, usually off-season, but we're in luck. It's the summer.

The place was quite the popular spot. A group of 14 were seated before us so we sat at the counter. While deciding what to order, a reservation was made for another large group.
Did we strike paydirt in finding a great dive?


The decor was unique. Decorated with Marine Corp memorabilia - insignias, flags and caps. Also, they sold Fat Smitty hats and t-shirts.

What was really unique, the ceiling and the walls were lined with dollar bills.
The dollar bills were people's calling cards - name, date or a dedication to someone hanging on the ceiling for all to see.


I wasn't sure which burger to order. S knew what she wanted - a cheeseburger, but me I'm slow. I finally ordered the Smitty burger. Why not... it's their signature burger.

Imagine my surprise when this beauty was placed in front of me. A honking double-decker burger... sort of like a Big Mac except the patties are larger and hand formed. The burger was cooked medium... an over-crowded grill? I rationalized this place probably grinds and form their own burgers so a medium done burger should be fine. I did enjoy the burger. The burger had good flavor, not too greasy. The down side was the meat was a little gristly and coarsely ground which made for mystery bits in the burger.
Overall, still a good burger.


After finishing our meal, we looked at the statues and they now made sense to me.
From left to right: Fat Smitty. his signature burger and a bottle of Pepsi.
No Coke. Pepsi. (Think old school SNL - the Greek burger joint skit.)
On top of the building is a statue of his wife. Definitely a unique place.


Continuing on to Forks... It was raining most of the way. Imagine that... rain in Washington. Very scenic and great views of the Sound and large lakes.

We made it to Forks... Drove around looking for the rest stop, but came across the Sawmill museum/Chamber of Commerce building. Both of which were closed.

However, S spotted the van advertising a "Twilight Tour".


I didn't read the book Twilight so I didn't know who and what, but S pointed out the truck and the main characters name, Bella.


Vampires love Forks.


A rain gage showing annual rainfall. I didn't even realize the sign in the background "Edward hearts Bella" was a reference to the book.


However, while we were looking around, a chamber of commerce member was pulling up to open up after-hours. She wanted to be available to meet early evening visitors. That's us! Washroom please! lol!

She was a very kind woman. A proud member of the Quileute tribe. She emphasized the folklore that her tribe was descended from wolves.

We talked about the book Twilight and how many visitors the town receives due to the book. About a year ago, about 25 people per week. This year is about 100 people a day. Wow!

It was great running into her.

On our way out... we stopped by the high school. Where Bella attends?


Overall, it was a fun trip. Great company, good burgers, scenic drive and nice chat in Forks.
It turned out to be a long trip too. The 3.5 hour one way trip didn't include the wait time for the ferry which was another 60 to 90 minute wait each way.

Total time on the road... 11 hours. Rained most of the time.