On Sunday, my son, Elliott, rode the ferry from Bainbridge Island over to Seattle to meet some of his friends from college. My husband and I dropped him off at the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal, and then headed over to the little shops nearby to browse. We had a great afternoon leisurely strolling in and out of the quaint shops and then decided to grab some lunch at a place we sometimes go....The Harbour Public House....
The Harbour Public House was first built in 1881 and was originally the home of Ambrose and Amanda Grow. Mr. Grow was a civil war veteran who moved to Bainbridge Island in 1881 after hearing about the many virtues of Bainbridge Island in the New York and Kansas newspapers. Mr. and Mrs. Grow homesteaded 160 acres along the waterfront. Construction of The Harbour Public House began in 1990 and took almost two years to be completed. I have attached a link to The Harbour Public House site at the end of this posting and encourage you to read the interesting history of the home and about the construction of the pub. The Harbour House Pub opened on December 27, 1991, as the first non-smoking tavern in the Seattle area.
The photo above is actually the back of the restaurant/pub. Below you can see the front of the Harbour Public House. You can also see a few of the beautiful flowers that surround the restaurant each spring and summer...
The Harbour Public House can be a busy place....especially on a beautiful day. This is partly because they have a great deck out back that overlooks the water. It is shaded by a gigantic umbrella which is the largest one I have ever seen!
The yellow and white umbrella covers almost the entire deck....
After seeing these photos, you can see why it is a popular place on a beautiful Northwest afternoon!
My husband and I put our names on the waiting list for the restaurant. I had my camera with me so, while we waited, I walked outside and made some photos for you to see of the beautiful flowers....
There are little paths that will take you behind the restaurant to the waterfront.
When I first moved from Florida to Washington State six years ago, I was surprised to see that magnolia trees and azaleas grow pretty well in the Northwest...
Here is a photo of the front of the Harbour Public House. That is my husband looking out the front door. He stayed in the restaurant to listen for our name to be called while I made these photos...
I love this photo I made of my husband behind the glass door....
Along the side of the building are some holly hocks...
Some very TALL hollyhocks...
They grow straight up and can reach very high towards the sky...
I loved the way they looked against the blue sky...
Here is my dear husband behind the door waiting patiently for me to make photos and listening for our name to be called. You can smell the aroma of the delicious food as you walk near the windows of the restaurant. A wonderful aroma filling the air...
With the mild temperatures in the Northwest, few people have air conditioning. Most days of the year, you don't really need it. Hard to imagine with the high temperatures that we are seeing in the South right now. Most restaurants have open windows without screens as we really have no mosquitoes to speak of. Occasionally, you may see one....but very seldom.
It didn't take too long, and our name was called to be seated for lunch...
My husband and I were seated near the bar at a nice table next to the windows overlooking the marina...
So many boats! Seattle is only a 30 minute ferry ride from Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal....which is located right down the street from the Harbour Public House. In the distance, you can see the skyline of Seattle in this photo...
You can also see one of the ferries...
It didn't take long for our waitress to take our order, and we selected hummus with veggies, chicken skewers, papas (like a yam fry and served with black beans, mango, sour cream...so good!)....my husband chose a local beer and I had a glass of merlot. Our food was, as always, delicious! While enjoying our drinks before the food arrived, I made a few photos out the window...
We saw a little group of Canadian geese swim by...
We also saw a couple of kayaks go by...
My husband made this photo of me at our little table by the window. The menus at the restaurant look kind of like little newspapers. You can see them on the table.
Washington State has some great wineries. Many are featured in the local pubs around the area. There is also a winery in Bainbridge Island...
The deck area... Everyone was looking out towards the water....
Thank you to the nice man who took this photo of my husband and I together...
Behind the restaurant is a wonderful walking trail that goes along the waterfront right beside the marina....
My husband and I love to walk along the docks on the waterfront...
The path on the side of The Harbour Public House leads right down to the long dock that goes along the waterside...
Butterfly bush...
This large butterfly bush was one of the first things we passed as we walked towards the docks. I am sure it draws lots of butterflies each day to this spot. I love butterflies....so beautiful... so free...
View out to the water from where we are standing...
Looking at the Harbour Public House from the docks...
My husband standing on one of the docks behind the restaurant. You can see that some folks were enjoying a day on their kayaks...
Standing on the docks we were walking, you can see the Emerald City...the City of Seattle...across the pond as we like to say...
Look at this little shanty...
Another shot of Seattle across the water...
You can see Safeco Field in the next photo...
Me standing near one of the many, many sailboats at the marina. You can see Seattle behind me...
We met a little friend who was enjoying a day on the water with his canoe...
Another boat...
Walking on the docks...
My husband took this photo of me walking the docks. I love the way the water looks behind me...
Some of the condos/apts. near the waterfront...
You can see all the long docks in this next photo...
Me walking up the ramp from the end of the dock...
Another photo of one of the long docks...
And did I mention that in Washington State we have some wonderful wild blackberries? Look at all these great blackberries growing all along the shoreline...
Another view of the endless docks...
The blackberries are just starting to get ripe...
We couldn't resist picking a few of the ripe blackberries...
Here is my husband looking for ripe ones...
Look at these beautiful blackberries! We ate them right on the spot...
Me on the dock...
My husband, Mark, reading the bulletin board...
At one end of the shoreline are all these wonderful sculptures...
I love this one with the heart...
After a relaxing stroll along the docks, we headed back towards The Harbour Public House...
What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.... We had a delicious meal followed by a leisure walk along the docks...
We enjoyed seeing the Seattle skyline, the boats, the kayaks, the geese, the ripening blackberries...
but, most of all, it was just great to spend the day enjoying some special time with my husband. Talking and walking with my love and my very best friend. After admiring the flowers near the restaurant again, we headed to our car and drove back to our home in Poulsbo...
What a great day! I hope you have an opportunity to visit The Harbour Public House if you are ever in Bainbridge Island. I would love to say thank you to our friends, Brandon and Eva Gibson, who first introduced us to the Harbor Public House a few years ago. I know you loved to visit this restaurant and now live far away....so this post is for you! Hope it brings back some great memories of Bainbridge Island...
To my readers, thank you so much for spending time with me today. Hope you enjoyed the posting today and have a beautiful day! xoxo Kim
Please click on this link to read some interesting history about The Harbour Public House, view their menu and much more... The Harbour Public House