Giving the fast lane the slip in mellow Gig Harbor

On a warm summer afternoon, while sipping a microbrew on the deck of our rented houseboat, I watched this five-minute sampling of events on the Gig Harbor bayfront:

A big Catalina sloop ghosted into the harbor under sail, while a ketch with a bowsprit raised as haughtily as a Cape Cod nose circled to anchor. A couple paddled by in two kayaks, the plastic hulls a blend of color like a Tequila Sunrise. Nearby, a sleek 50-foot motoryacht in cobalt blue dodged a sprit-rigged dinghy with a mint-green sail tacking slowly to catch the day's dying wind. On the public pier just across from my perch, a couple in shorts walked a chocolate Lab to the dock's end, while a seagull swam solitarily past — perhaps a loner because of fishy breath? It's not the Southcenter Interchange at commute time, but on a summer getaway who needs more to watch?

We found plenty of other diversions on a recent "one-tank vacation" to Gig Harbor. My wife couldn't get away from Seattle, so I was the brave Bachelor Father chaperoning my 14-year-old daughter and two of her high-school girlfriends.

We had a good time, and managed not to sink the houseboat.

Boat-lovers' haven

Rental houseboats are a recent addition to the lodging choices on Gig Harbor, one of the prettiest and most protected harbors on the Sound. On a clear day, Mount Rainier looms over the harbor's entrance like a monumental scoop of vanilla on this slice of Puget pie.

Named by Capt. Charles Wilkes during circa-1840 explorations when his party sought a storm refuge here for their gig, or small open boat, the community grew into a center for fishing and boatbuilding (including giving birth to the popular plywood-kit Thunderbird sailboat). Now more of a retirement and tourism center, its saltwater setting keeps Gig Harbor firmly anchored in maritime traditions.

I left the girls to dangle their feet off the houseboat's bow while I soaked up some of that heritage on the self-guided Gig Harbor Waterfront History Walk. It's a well-done path of historical placards to which you can devote a few minutes or a half-day.

At Jerisich Dock, a marker told the story of Sam Jerisich, one of the first white settlers here in 1867, and one of many who would come from the region of Yugoslavia. He was a seaman who'd sailed around Cape Horn three times before marrying Anna Willits, a member of the Penelakut Tribe from Thetis Island, B.C., and bringing her here to raise eight children. She shot bear and deer and picked berries, while Sam caught and dried fish for sale, the first recorded commercial fishery on Gig Harbor.

A few fishing boats remain. And marinas and working boatyards still line the waterfront on one side, with showplace homes on the other.

The young and old of it

I decided to let the girls do an afternoon of research among the many quaint shops and boutiques lining the harbor, while I did research on sleep patterns from the houseboat's cozy couch.

They reported back:

Elinor: "There was a guitar store with banjos and mandolins. Two bookstores. Lots of little boutiques with interesting yet slightly frumpy clothes. Nice jewelry. One big building with a whole bunch of little stores, some the size of closets. The town is sort of like for older people on vacation."

Mandi: "And there were stores like for little kids, where grandparents could buy them things."

Lilli: "There was a store selling Scandinavian stuff. And the humongo gift store [Gig Harbor Gift Mall] was really ritzy — they had really cool hats!"

Lilli is my daughter. She likes hats.

I left them on the houseboat again, to play a board game involving pirates and treasure (a theme popular with their demographic, thanks to Johnny Depp), while I went to see for myself.

Next to the public dock, Skansie Brothers Park — named after a family of Croatian immigrant boatbuilders — offered a nice spread of picnic tables and a Frisbee lawn.

Harborview Drive had charming old clapboard houses overlooking the bay, and one of the biggest monkey-puzzle trees that could ever perplex a primate. I was drawn into Susanne's Bakery, where $4 slices of Tuxedo Cake (lots of black-and-white frosting) were a temptation. Nearby, windsocks, banners and overflowing flower boxes of red geranium, white snapdragon and blue lobelia drew my eye to the Harbor Peddler, a gift shop with a maritime theme. I wandered into The Beehive antique shop, which promised "guy stuff" (tools and the like) in the back, and stopped to admire a fabulous, many-drawered assayer's chest (which would have been mine for a mere $3,600).

I suddenly realized that I was, by AARP standards, an older person on vacation. And I liked this town.

Friendly natives

Gig Harbor

Houseboats

Pleasure Craft Houseboats are rented by the night at dockside only, not for outings. Moored at Pleasure Craft Marina, 3215 Harborview Drive, on the Gig Harbor waterfront. Five are under the roof of a covered dock, one is at the far end of the dock and is uncovered; ask for that boat if you want to enjoy the houseboat's rooftop. They range in size from 40 to 45 feet and sleep four to six. Galley with refrigerator, propane stove (no oven), sink and microwave. Bathroom with shower. Summer rates: weeknights, $170-$229; weekends $289-$400 per night. 253-640-8246 or www.pleasurecraftrentals.com.

Other lodging

The Maritime Inn, 3212 Harborview Drive, is in the center of town across the street from the water. 253-858-1818 or www.maritimeinn.com.

The Waterfront Inn overlooks the head of the bay, away from the center of town. 253-857-0770 or www.waterfront-inn.com.

The Inn at Gig Harbor is a pleasant hotel near the freeway, well off the waterfront. 800-795-9980 or www.innatgigharbor.com.

For more choices, see www.gigharborinns.com.

Restaurants

The Tides Tavern offers a full menu of food. 21 and older only. 2925 Harborview Drive; 253-858-3982.

Kayak rentals

We rented from Gig Harbor Rent-A-Boat. Double-seat kayaks were $20 per hour. $12 per hour for singles. Powerboats, too. 8929 N. Harborview Drive. 253-858-7341 or www.gigharborrentaboat.com.

Visitor Center

Pick up maps and brochures including a guide to the Gig Harbor Waterfront History Walk at the Visitor Information Center, 3125 Judson St., Gig Harbor.

Coming events

This weekend is the Gig Harbor Summer Art Festival, on Judson Street in downtown Gig Harbor. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. 253-265-8313 or www.peninsulaartleague.com.

The annual Heritage Row invites all sorts of human-powered craft to help people recall the days before steamboats, ferries and bridges. Routes include within Gig Harbor, or across Tacoma Narrows to Point Defiance and back. Aug. 26, Jerisich Dock, Gig Harbor waterfront. 253-858-8818 or www.gigharbormuseum.org.

Gig Harbor Folk Festival features musicians Stephen Bishop, Christine Lavin, Danny O'Keefe and more, Sept. 2-3, Skansie Brothers Park, Harborview Drive, Gig Harbor. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. 888-843-9444 or www.gigharborfolkfestival.com.

More information

888-843-9444 or www.gigharborguide.com

One of Gig Harbor's local legends is the Tides Tavern, which hangs over the waterfront with a sunny deck for drinking beer and dining on famed clam chowder, fish and chips, and good burgers.

There I met up with Dean Draeger, who at 51 helps run the locally grown Washington Renaissance Fantasy Faire, one of the Gig Harbor-area's biggest annual events, running three weekends in August on the Minter Creek Ranch a few miles out of town. It drew 80,000 people last year to watch jousting, eat roasted turkey legs and hear wandering minstrels, among other things.

Draeger, who sports a goatee and long ponytail and on this day wore a "Don't Worry, Be Happy" cap, grew up in the town of Home, on the nearby Key Peninsula. (Ask him about the time when he was a kid and got arrested because the guy he was riding with got pulled over and told a short-tempered sheriff's deputy that he lived "at Home" ... )

The best thing about life around Gig Harbor? Draeger lists the scenery, the fresh air "and people are friendly! You can still walk up to somebody on the street and start a conversation and they aren't going to draw on you!" He smiles and mimics someone pulling a gun.

What gets people hot? Ask anybody about the huge new span of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (under construction nearby, and quite a tourist sight in itself) for which they'll soon have to pay a $3 toll.

Out on the water

The next morning, with Rainier looking over our shoulders, the girls and I explored the harbor from rented kayaks. (No gigs were available.)

We paddled along the shore opposite town, ducking under dock ramps, slaloming between ancient broken pilings clustered with mussels and calling out "ahoy!" when a motoring sailboat didn't appear to see us. Shoreside, one sprawling white house had three towers for taking in the view.

But there was still some wildness about Gig Harbor. The girls in the other boat pointed out a bald eagle circling a cove. We watched as it spread its wide wings, stretched its talons and came in for a landing on a piling. There was another eagle — its mate? — and the two sat and rubbed necks.

On our drive home, we detoured to nearby Purdy, at the head of Henderson Bay, for a low-tide walk on the beach below a causeway. The girls overturned rocks and watched hermit crabs scuttle, and we counted the sand dollars — more per square yard than any of us had ever seen anywhere. If sand dollars were real bucks, we'd have been rich. Like pirates.

Kayaks, cool eagles and pirate "dollars." So we did find something to appeal to younger people on vacation, too.

Brian J. Cantwell: 206-748-5724 or bcantwell@seattletimes.com