Sequim’s Movie Stars

 

A lot of people can't stand touring but to me it's like breathing. I do it because I'm driven to do it.

 

Sequim is a special place.  Even John Wayne thought so.  He often hung around the area and anchored his boat in the harbor.  He thought it so special in fact that his family even donated land for a marina.  It is now a popular marina and named the John Wayne Marina.  At times he would hang around the area when he wasn’t off filming.  Well, sometimes he even hung around the area when he was filming. 

John Wayne wasn’t the only actor to frequent this area. Walt Disney also spent a little time in Sequim as did many of the animals that starred in the Disney films.
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We had never visited the Olympic Game Farm which is located a short distance from the center of town. This trip I knew I wanted to go and check it out. Most of the animals on the property are descendants of the Disney movie stars. My cousin also worked at this location, trained several of these animals and transported them to movie locations. John Wayne became a sometimes visitor to his home and we used to hear a few of the stories. We also got to meet the BEAR on one of his trips through southern Washington.

The animals from the game farm are no longer used in Disney movies. The demand for the movies slid and the farm was eventually opened up for public tours. It is not supported by public funds so only the funds collected by the tourists are available for feeding and taking care of the animals.

We expected to see quite a display of information about all the Disney movies and the history of their association with that. There were many newspaper clippings in the gift shop but this display was pretty poor. The barn was supposed to be where the movie paraphernalia was located. Even though there were a few movie posters there were also a lot of them just on typewritten sheets of paper and put on the wall. I think the game farm is certainly missing out on additional revenue by not offering information for sale about the movies and the animal stars.  The only book for sale was about the owner and not the animals. There were no brochures for sale or much information. However, the animals were fun. We enjoyed the feeding and driving through the park.  It would have been nice to know the history of some of the animals during the drive.

The Dungeness River runs through much of the Sequim area. It’s a mighty swift river.  We stopped at one of the pullouts to check it out but certainly wouldn’t want to get caught in the current.  It's also not a place we'd want to put a kayak or canoe in either.

When we were here last year Terry and I ate at the 3 Crabs restaurant.  The restaurant sits right on the edge of the Straits.  We loved the food and loved the view.  We thought maybe we’d take Sandi and Michael for dinner there but also know Sandi isn’t a real lover of seafood.  We made a trip to check out the menu.  She let us know she’d just as soon eat at the new Black Bear restaurant in town. So, that's what we'll do.

Lighthouse on Dungeness Spit

The Old Dungeness School House

When you’re this close to the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge you just have to make a stop.  We did.  It’s a protected area and is rich in marine life.  Wildlife find a place to rest and protection from the winds and pounding surf.   From the shore and the boat ramp you also have a view of the lighthouse which is at the end of the Dungeness Spit.  It is one of the world’s longest natural sand spits. There are no roads but there are horse and hiking trails.  It’s a little over a 5 mile hike to the lighthouse.

That wasn’t it for the day but the rest will be in another blog.

‘Tis life on the road.