Another Day in Paradise

We didn’t have specific plans today, so we took up Ron’s suggestions and headed over to the Rosario Resort to visit the museum on the second floor. Calling it a museum is a bit of a stretch, as there are lots of 8×10″ historical photographs on the walls but scant items to view, other than the house itself which is gorgeous. There was a model of the USS Nebraska (BB14), built by the Moran Brothers shipyard and the only battleship ever built in Washington state, and a model of the Moran Brothers shipyard. There was also a display case with gauges and buttons from the USS Nebraska in it as well as a large desk, from which I imagine Robert Moran contemplated his business empire.

The rest of the rooms are set up just as they were when they functioned as guest rooms at the estate. Large tiled bathrooms are between each guest room, each of which has windows with beautiful views of the landscape (or sound, depending on which side you’re on). Kelly and I had fun imagining the people who might have stayed in those rooms. Indeed, this was much easier to do than your typical museum, as these rooms were not roped off and remained fully accessible. I felt I could stretch out on the bed and nap if I wanted to and no one would have been any the wiser.

The real star of the “museum” is the music room, with its fancy pipe organ (the keyboard of which is hidden) and its beautiful antique Steinway piano. I read that Robert Moran did not play any instruments but instead had a player-piano type organ installed, which he would sometimes pretend to play to fool his guests. There is also a projector room on the balcony to show movies.

Mr. Moran built Rosario as his retirement home, and it was quite advanced for its time. The kitchens had refrigerators and electric ranges. The rooms have baseboard heat (DC powered, apparently). A swimming pool, bowling alley, and billard room was also built. Mr. Moran was also an amateur photographer and developed photographs in his own darkroom. I chuckled at the mass of decaying, unused electrical wires dangling from poles leading from the house to a generator room a short distance away. It was pretty advanced at the time.

The one thing the “museum” didn’t give me was a better idea of who Robert Moran was. I think I’ll have to check with the Wake County Public Library for that information.

Rosario Resort itself is a contradiction. There’s this fabulous, grand old house and lush landscaping overlooking the sound, and then there are the tackiest, ugliest, early 1970s-style, one-story block buildings containing the guest rooms. Seriously, they have all the charm of a FEMA trailer. There is absolutely no synergy between architectural styles, save for a coat of paint. The rooms (from the exterior, at least) look dumpy, even claustrophobia-inducing, and I wonder why guests would pay a premium to stay there. Rosario’s main house is beautiful to see and its restaurant offers promise, but as far as hotels go it ain’t all that.

After our Rosario visit, we headed over to Turtleback Mountain, the newly-opened nature preserve on Orcas Island. Turtleback has only been opening to hiking since January. Its trails are not fully completed even, and signs at the base warn to watch your step.

We drove up to the north parking area and found the place to ourselves. Wow. We then all hiked up the main road for about 30 minutes, hoping to reach an overlook before we got tired of hauling the kids on our shoulders. When we reached our first clearing we opted to stop there and enjoy a snack. Strange sounds danced above our heads as some kind of turkey staked out its territory among the evergreens and leafy trees. While I wished we could have ventured further up the kids just didn’t have it in them, so we made it back to our car about an hour after we left. We look forward to future visits, where we call all hike up to the summit. I’m glad Turtleback will be there for those future visits, too.

Now the kids are (hopefully) napping. Kelly’s relaxing with Harry, Chuck, and abundant sunshine on the back deck. As for me, I hope to get in a quick nap before the kids awake. Once they do, we may return to Cascade Lake or visit the Howe Art Gallery, which delighted Kelly and me on our first trip to Orcas Island years ago.