​Farmer markets are all the rage, and they should be. They provide a great place to buy local and healthy food, they are a great place to gather, and they bring a community together. 

Local Farmers bring the best of their crops to the Anacortes Farmers Market each Saturday from May to October. Fresh, delicious, and a bounty full of goodness.

You will find just about everything you need at the Anacortes Farmers Market. A diverse variety of healthy options.

The Anacortes Farmers Market is located at the historic Anacortes Depot Arts & Community Center. You will find the Depot at 611 R Ave, just two blocks from Commercial Ave in the lovely historical downtown Anacortes, and two blocks from Cap Sante Marina, a boater's haven.
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A little about the Depot
DEPOT: The “new” Great Northern Depot was built in 1911 at Seventh Street on R Avenue, more than 20 years after Seattle and Northern Railroad Company ran the first passenger train to Anacortes on August 5, 1890.

Hungry? There is usually a nice variety of food vendors and great bakeries at the Anacortes Farmers Market. Get some lunch, sit down in the Depot Plaza, and enjoy the music while you fuel up from shopping.

This well-run farmers market is comprised of some of the best volunteers around. It is their support, which has made this one of the best farmer markets in the state. 
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By Karla Locke
Author of The Blood Stone Queen and other ebooks, Freelance Writer for Stories from the Front Porch and other publications. Karla shares her passion of the arts and artists, photography, writing, small businesses, and people who live, work, and play with passion.

Nestled in the foothills, just off the scenic Pintler Veterans' Memorial Scenic Highway, is Philipsburg, Montana. Founded in 1867, this small town is rich in history, gems, and candy. At first glance it sort of looks like any other small western town; old buildings, dirt roads, like something time may have forgotten. But you should never judge a book by its cover; the same can be said about small towns.
 
The scenic countryside alone is worth the trip. Surrounded by hills and valleys and expansive views of mountains, Philipsburg is a great place to hang out for a while. The National Trust picked Philipsburg as one of America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations for Historic Preservation and for a good reason. This small community of around 950 has a big heart and a warm welcome for the thousands of visitors coming through each year.
 
In the late 1800s Phillipsburg was prosperous and a part of the mining boom. It was around 1892 when mining for sapphires were first mined, today mining is still a big draw for visitors who travel from all over to sift and dig in gravel in search for a gem they can call own. The Sapphire Gallery, Montana Gems of Philipsburg, and Gem Mountain brings the miner out of its visitors, or is just a great place to purchase gems already mined and made available in a variety of ways.
 
Another sweet draw for visitors is The Sweet Place, the world's greatest candy store. The Victorian era decor, dressed in pink and white, takes visitors back in time. Hard candies, Jelly Belly, and over 72 varieties of salt-water taffy in jars attract visitors who fill their bags with yummy sweetness. In the middle of the store is sweet heaven with exquisite and enticing handmade chocolates and caramels too tempting to ignore and so many choices for visitors to enjoy. But it is the checkout line where visitor’s taste buds go into full swing… mouthwatering fudge that melts in your mouth and takes you to a sweet paradise you may never return from. The Sweet Place is a sensory overload of absolute deliciousness, a must for all visitors.

The day started early, the sun was just starting to peek over the Cascades. We left Anacortes at 5:30 a.m. Fog shrouded the foothills and early morning light brightened the Skagit Valley farmlands. We had an 8:00 a.m. seaplane to catch in Renton and two-hours of morning traffic to get through, there was no time to dawdle and take photographs. 

We were providing taxi service for a 93-year-old woman who was flying on a seaplane to Princess Louisa Inlet in British Columbia with friends. We arrived at 7:30 and waited for the captain and the other passengers to arrive. It took four of them to help board the 93-year-old, but once onboard and everything was secured they taxied out on Lake Washington and ascended to the sky at 8:30 a.m

This was the start of our 9 hours to kill.

Tired from not much sleep and getting up so early we decided the daycation needed to be mellow, easy, and not much driving involved.

How to kill 9 hours in Renton? Here is what we did...
 
1. Eat Breakfast. First order of business…food. Thanks to Yelp we located a breakfast place that was close by, The Countryside Cafe in Renton. With the help of SIRI we got directions and we were there in no time. Located in a Strip Mall, outside the place didn’t look like much. But we were hungry, the reviews on Yelp were good, their website was helpful, and we didn’t want to drive around.

Inside was homey and bustling. All the booths were full so we seated ourselves at a table. The friendly owner whizzed around, greeting people, talking with regulars, and making sure everything was in order. Tony ordered the California Benedict and I ordered 2 eggs, 2 links, 2 bacons, hash browns, and 2 pancakes. The food came in large portions, you would think we were starving.
 
OMG was it delicious. Believe it or not we ate almost every bite. The hash browns looked like regular hash browns but they were soooo good. And the pancakes were so light and fluffy it was hard to control myself. The scrambled eggs were good, but not something to write home about and the links and sausage were good.
 
An hour killed… only 8 more to go!

2.  Too full to do much, our next event needed to help digest all that food. We went to Cedar River Park, just off I-405 on Hwy 169. The park has a water park and swimming pool, community center, theater, and the Cedar River Trail. The trail follows a historic railroad route goes from Renton to Maple Valley. Since we were on foot, and full from breakfast, we only did 2 miles of the 17.3-mile trail.
 
Another hour killed… Only 7 more to go.

3.  It was morning, the sun was shining, and it was already heating up to be a hot day in Renton. For our next event we went to the 11:00 a.m. showing of Transformers: The Last Night. Inside a dark and air-conditioned theater we could stay cool and get our adrenaline high from a action-packed, blow-em-up, Michael Bay movie. The movie itself was okay but the newer Regal Cinema at The Landing in Renton had comfy seats to spend some time in.
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2 ½ hours killed… Only 4 ½ hours left
 
4. Since we were being lazy, we just hang around The Landing for the next few hours. Around 3:00 p.m. breakfast started to wear off and we looked for a someplace to get a small snack. We found Happy Hour in the bar at the Wildfin American Grill. We ordered:

• COUGAR GOLD FONDUE Alderwood smoked chicken, Washington apples, toasted croutons, broccolini, cambozola, Cougar Gold and WildFin IPA white cheddar fondue and WILDFIN STREET TACOS Smoky Chipotle Wagyu Beef.​​

This was a most delicious way to spend an hour and half. The fondue dish was addictive and enticing. You could not get enough of it. The Wagyu Beef in the Wildfin Street Taco melted in your mouth and had just the right amount of flavoring to tantalize your tastebuds. The atmosphere was relaxing and invited us to just hang out for a while, which we gladly accepted the invitation.
 
3 ½ hours killed… 1 hour left

​5.  We killed the last hour at the Renton Municipal Airport watching the small planes take off and land, eagles, great blue herons, turtles, and other wildlife. A cool breeze wafted off the water keeping us comfortable in the hot sun.
 
Finally our little old lady returned… happy and very tired. She had an exciting trip to Princess Louisa Inlet by seaplane, an adventure she will cherish. We had a comfortable and relaxing daycation in Renton. Time flew by and we managed to stay entertained, enjoy great food, and stayed awake.

by Karla Locke