La Conner: The Difference Between 1876 and Now
by Gregory J. Robb



By car, bus or ferry, you can travel back in time 75 minutes northwest of Seattle, Washington. As you dart like an arrow through potato farms and dots of forestry by the roadside, La Conner, Washington welcomes you in the spirit of never forgetting the comforts of small-town American life. And La Conner will leave its artistic and natural impressions on you long after you speed by the tulip fields back to the Interstate 5 highway.

The buildings that mark this little port town exist very much in memory of its past. They are both huge and tiny. Part of La Conner's charm is to drive the lonely streets up on the hill overlooking the Swinomish River and find three-story Victorian-styled homes, most of which date back to the late 19th century. Even the town's two-story civic garden club headquarters is larger than most modern homes. Slide across the bridge, which links the Swinomish Indian Reserve with the town proper, and you'll divine at the quaint beauty of the art galleries, some of which cannot be any larger than 1,000 square feet. Parcels of memory; pictures of what once was.

Go ahead. Try to use the lane between the pumps and the store to gas up at the Shell station on Maple Street. Since the building and the pumps remain as they have been since the beginning, you will likely have to park on the other, more spacious side. The car, itself, is still fondly remembered in the La Conner Motor Centre building -- the centerpiece for the sales of Desotos or the repair of your small lawn mower engine (beginning in the 1940s). Now that's quaint.

La Conner, Washington is a marvel of modernity, too. It has one drive-through Automatic Teller Machine, a police station with one modern cruiser and the Skagit County Regional Historical Museum. In this town of 700, you can find all the various amenities you will need -- usually in one location within its six square downtown blocks.

The locals are very aware of the beauty they inhabit. La Conner is more suited now to the inquisitive ways of its visitors than the glory days of its fishing past -- though fisheries are still part of the landscape. In and around La Conner, you can luxuriate in the choice of 16 bed-and-breakfasts, 13 restaurants and 17 specialty shops -- antiques providing much of the town's overt attraction. Old and worn TEXACO and COCA-COLA signs are displayed on the side wall of one antique establishment; they are the first signs of their time. The people of La Conner are ready, in abundance, to help you sleep well and shop a lot.

But what really defines La Conner is its diversity. From May through October, visitors can cruise from La Conner to watch killer whales migrate off the Pacific coast. Camp or park your R-V just four miles from the Swinomish Reserve and hike the trails. An American naval base is a short drive away on Whidbey Island. A short drive in the opposite direction rings with the sounds of two casinos. After the din of New Year's 2000, look for eagles from a flotilla on the Skagit River. In fact, special monthly events are already planned for the next year in La Conner: call 1-888-642-9284 for a brochure.

Nature is largely responsible for La Conner's artistic character. Artisans began arriving in the 1940s and have grown as a community ever since. The best testament to that fact is the experience of walking (park your car at the marina) to and from each end of First Street. The town's peace and beauty give way to the arts and crafts trade. But the values of nature are everywhere in art -- something that the artisans of La Conner cherish.

I'm sure glad I spotted a natural refuge through the trees when I drove across the bridge. Pioneer Park: a parcel of wilderness on the eastern slopes of the Swinomish River. So deft are the people of La Conner to recognize a natural amphitheater and build benches on three sides of a glorified gazebo. Across from that sits a well-covered shelter for more picnic tables than I've ever seen in such a small park. If the land was any steeper, you'd watch minstrels and eat burgers at an unnatural angle. Any flatter and the amphitheater is history. Fitting, then, that the headstone for Louise A. Conner, after whom the town was named in 1876, would rest respectfully in the tranquil tree's shade.

Then there are the tulips. Smart, smart people -- these flower arrangers of La Conner. Little did I expect quite the answer I got to the simple question: "Where are the tulips from here?" "Well, that changes," replied the server at the Station House Grill (formerly the La Conner Auto Center). Each year, farmers rotate the placement of the flowers for bloom in different fields -- a move which assures that, no matter which direction you travel, you'll gaze on the tulips of La Conner. I drove by a field of them on the way in.

And as you turn towards exit 221 south on I-5 back to Seattle, your attention turns to the lessons of La Conner, Washington. This little fishing port turned heritage haven and craft shoppers dream is living proof of how small-town values can survive big-time challenges. Fix up that seriously old house, let strangers sleep overnight in the extra bedroom (or four) and fix them breakfast. Turn your art into a business in a town of art businesses -- a sure draw for the wise antique and crafts shopper. Farm the land and supply the Pacific Northwest with food. Fix up the boat and charter it to watch the whales. It's as natural as small-town life is: simple and direct.

For specific information on events and attractions, contact the La Conner Website:

http://www.laconner-chamber.com

No matter how you get there, you won't be the same when you leave La Conner, Washington.