This is the time of year when tourists invade the Pacific Northwest. They come here from Indianapolis and Kansas City and Tokyo. They bring cameras and also their curiosity. They stop locals like me on the street in Seattle, point off toward Puget Sound in the distance, and ask: “Is there water all around that island?”
The Puget Sound ferry system is a particular mystery to tourists. “What time does the 9 PM ferry sail?” they inquire, earnestly.
I was on a ferry last evening. Being a non-tourist-non-gawker, I had my Official Pacific Northwest Goretex rain parka, carried at all times by locals, rolled up, pillow-style, as I stretched out and tried to nap on one of the bench seats...but napping was not possible because all around me the visitors milled, chatted excitedly about the view, and took pictures. Out the window above my head I saw someone on the upper deck pointing at something interesting (probably an island...one surrounded by water.) Nearby a Japanese fellow had his son pose for a picture standing with a vending machine (do they not have those back home?) while his wife took a photo of a map on the wall.
If you ask me, tourists were the best show on that ferry trip.
