Homage to Taylor Street

The other night at the Silverwater I thought about how nurturing it is to go there to my favorite-for-special-times restaurant. The Silverwater is two-stories with pumpkin-hued and brick walls. Upstairs is cozy, with low ceilings and a tapas bar, but I love downstairs right on the activity of Taylor Street. The Silverwater’s window boxes are filled with flowers in summer and kale and chard in winter.

We go there for celebratory dinners – New Year’s Eve or when we have company from out of town – or just because. This time we dined to cheer on my niece – off for her senior year at college and full of plans and excitement for the coming years. (In the way of left-behind adults, we’re thrilled – and aware of how just yesterday she came to visit and work on college applications.)

Last September at dinner with friends of our younger son and their bouncing baby boy, I went outside to give the parents a chance to finish. The baby and I walked right into the Port Townsend Film Festival’s outdoor movie. Viewers sit on hay bales in the street and watch old movies on a huge blown-up screen. (The full moon sometimes rises over the water, right behind the screen.) The baby and I bounced to a bit of “Singin’ in the Rain.”

Next-door is the best little theatre in the world – the Rose. Two screens (the littler one is the Rosebud) show current hits, but also small and interesting films you might miss. The Rose has comfortable seats, old wooden floors, and a concession stand like a great coffee bar with real butter for fresh popcorn. Audiences get welcomed with a brief word – why the director made this picture or some story of interest about the stars. (Also a reminder to turn off cell phones.)

On Taylor Street three-story old brick buildings house a photographer, hair salon, bank, music store, noodle restaurant, clothing shop, and more – businesses for regular life. Across from the Rose is the gallery Artisans on Taylor. I was proud to fill its adjacent, tiny exhibition space a couple of springs ago (with the books I use here in the header). Next to the gallery is an old-fashioned stationery and art supply store. No cavernous warehouse with 12-packs of tape but a functional selection of paper, printer ink, bulldog clips in every size, pencils and pens, erasers and envelopes – and the willingness of friendly clerks to order anything.

Taylor Street turns into a set of stairs to connect uptown and downtown. The Haller Fountain’s statue at the bottom of the steps is the sprite of Port Townsend. (She’s often decked in hearts or flowers or a Christmas boa).

Taylor Street is full of the good things that raise spirits in small town life.