“Travel gives you a new perspective…and lets you meet some great people along the way.”
—Richard Tinkler
Who better than our guest speaker throughout our cruise, Brian J. Walsh, to give us a brief overview of our next port of call,
Poulsbo, where he and his wonderful wife Gayla call home. Brian is an environmental policy expert with a passion for nature photography dating back to his early childhood in Pennsylvania. Cecile and I, and our friends, Nelson and Susie Bye had the pleasure of having them join us for dinner one evening and connected with them several times throughout our cruise.
Poulsbo, a small town of over 10,000 is nestled in between the Olympic and Cascade Mountain ranges and the Puget Sound in Washington State. Historically, it was inhabited by the Suquamish people, many of whom moved to the Port Madison Indian Reservation. Poulsbo was settled in the 1880s by a group of Norwegian immigrants led by Jorgen Eliason who felt that the shores of Liberty Bay where our cruise ship—the American Spirit was docked—reminded them of the fiords of their motherland. Because of their Nordic roots Poulsbo is referred to as “Little Norway,” or “The Norway of the Pacific Northwest." It holds an annual Viking Festival and has a prominent "Sons of Norway lodge" of which Brian and his wife Gayla are members. Front Street is the center of a colorful historic downtown district where many of the shops sell Norwegian goods. Smack in the center of Poulsbo’s Front Street lies Sluys Bakery, which has become a staple of Poulsbo life since 1966.
We were told it was the best place in town to satisfy our sweet tooth with donuts to die for. It didn’t disappoint. This would be our breakfast along with a cup of coffee at the Coffee Haus that has a big mural facing their front patio that read: Velkommen [meaning welcome] til Poulsbo.
As we were ready to make our way back towards our ship, Nelson and I noticed Brian walking towards us with a big smile. We were happy to see him too. He wanted to say goodbye. Nelson took a photo of Brian and I in front of a mural before we all bid each other farewell. In the short time we had come to know him, it brought to mind a quote by Jim Henson: “There’s not a word yet for old friends who we’ve just met."
Postscript: A bronze statue of Viking King Olaf was installed at a small grassy park at Muriel Iverson Williamson Waterfront Park after a visit by King Olav V of Norway in 1975. Critics felt the statue with the mangy coat and pot helmet didn’t fit the fantasy of a Hollywood heroic Viking figure however historically accurate it maybe, so in 2012 Poulsbo erected a second more satisfying 12-foot-tall concrete Viking statue with the familiar horns was installed at the edge of town.
