Anacortes: Ferry town's salty heritage, scenery worth a dawdle

Editor's note: Take a day's vacation without going far. Welcome again to Super Saturdays, a recurring series that will offer ideas for a day away — away from home, away from the humdrum, somewhere around Puget Sound. Today we visit beautiful Skagit County.

The budget outing: If you've only ever sped through Anacortes on your way to catch a ferry, it's time to stop and smell the tidewaters.

This salty old town at the front door to the San Juan Islands has a rich nautical heritage, some of which is still a work in progress. At Dakota Creek shipyard, you can often get a peek at the underbelly of a drydocked Washington State Ferry, up where downtown meets Guemes Channel. Along nearby R Avenue, take a gander at the historic W.T. Preston sternwheeler, a "snagboat" once used to collect floating debris from Lake Washington and Puget Sound — sort of a Dustbuster of the seas. And off Highway 20 as you approach town, you can't miss the workscape of oil refineries and tankers at March's Point, where gas-burnoff towers serve as the community's unofficial Torches of Welcome.

But along with calluses born of hard work, Anacortes of late has been gussying up with a growing number of art galleries, downtown cafes and bookstores, along with some pretty nice parks.

For a pleasant introduction, clamber to the top of Cap Sante, the rocky promontory that guards the town like a little Gibraltar. Park at the north end of the Port of Anacortes' Cap Sante Boat Haven (east of Safeway) and follow the waterfront walkway that skirts the marina alongside woods of fir, wild rose, salal and snowberry. Near the point, look for two giant, gnarled madronas rooted almost impossibly in the side of an undercut bank and leaning over the beach like trapeze artists.

At the point is a shelter, plus half a dozen delightfully situated picnic tables that will beckon you to return in warm weather.

Follow a trail upward. Near the top, woods give way to an emerald rock garden of spongy moss and compact ferns. Climb carefully to the top rock and do a full turn for views of the Cascades, Mount Baker, most of Anacortes, lots of water and a full crew of islands: Guemes, Saddlebag, Cypress, Blakely, Decatur, James and the gang.

Or — for the mobility challenged or less energetic — you can actually drive almost to the top. From Commercial, turn east on Fourth Street to its end, turn right at the blue sign pointing to Cap Sante View Point, and continue a half-mile to a parking lot. (Keep a rein on kids; there are big drop-offs.)

Back on Commercial Avenue, park the car and dawdle northward from Sixth Street for those aforementioned bookstores, galleries, and, oh, don't miss the thrift shops and antique malls.

Shopping Op: But the real reason to go shopping in Anacortes is Marine Supply and Hardware, the last storefront at the north end of Commercial (8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday).

Step through the front door into a cocoon scented by oiled floors, smoke from a woodstove, and scratchy Manila rope fed from basement reels and up through holes in the floor. Tar and creosote might be part of the spice, too, from ancient marine gear in nooks and crannies throughout the store.

This is no Home Depot, and it has nothing to do with the 21st century; it was just barely born in the 20th. Efthimios "Mike" Demopoulos founded the business in 1913, and his son and grandson still run it.

KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES Kyle Messier, 49, with her dog Ruby, enjoys the scenery from Cap Sante Viewpoint. The Cascades are in the background.

The front room offers an eclectic mix of marine supplies — switches and wire and chain and caulking — plus a dazzling case of high-quality nautical knives.

But head back to the second and third rooms for the really interesting stuff, starting with Army surplus trousers scratchy enough to take the hide off a bull elk (but it would be a really warm elk) for $15. Or pick up some Dutch Harbor Gear wool socks with dayglo-orange tops and toes.

And Saturdays, everything's 25 percent off in the Surplus Tool Room.

Of course, you might not need anything from the Surplus Tool Room, but how will you know till you poke through the clutter? A used survival suit probably has at least one more life in it, for $50. A used marine toilet, for $95, is, well, maybe not today's best buy. Bins and bins of bolts, bushings and fasteners invite picking through.

And treasures there are! Giant blocks, as in "block and tackle," from huge ships, one as big as a pizza and so heavy it comes on its own handtruck (marked down to $50). Old bronze propellers have no doubt seen many San Juan channels, if not oceans.

Good eats: Gere-A-Deli, in the handsomely renovated 1926 Bank of Commerce building at Fifth and Commercial, offers a full menu of deli sandwiches by the half (they're big) or whole, $3.65 and up (7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday). Vintage advertising signs make interesting interior décor, and there's handmade clam chowder every weekend.

What'll it cost me? Gas for 150 miles roundtrip if you start from Seattle. Half a sandwich and a cup of chowder, $5.45. Enough left for a pair of polypro boating gloves from Marine Supply, only 99 cents, and you're still under $20 for your day.

Getting there: From Interstate 5 at Burlington, take Exit 230 and go west on Highway 20. Follow signs to Anacortes. At highway's end, turn right onto Commercial Avenue and proceed to downtown.

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