PORT ORCHARD, Wash. — Nobody knows a place quite like the locals. That's why, when I visit a place like Port Orchard, I let the people who live there tell me where to eat, shop and visit.
When the day begins the only place I know for sure that I'm visiting is Revive Coffee in the bright yellow building on SW Sedgwick Road. A handwritten sign promises "espresso fuel for your soul." Inside, people gather in what feels like a living room.
"Revive is very family oriented," said owner Deseree Wheeler. "We get to know our customers names, their lives, what's going on. We usually know what coffee they want before they ever say it out loud."
I've got a Hazelnut latte and it's just what I need to stay sharp because only Deseree Wheeler knows where I'm going next.
"I think that you should go to Josephine's Mercantile down on Bay Street by the water," Wheeler said. "They're a really cool business and they have a bunch of different shops of repurposed items."
College students Melanie Dean and Kelly Williams enjoy shopping here during study breaks.
"There are so many things to look at from clothes to candles to jewelry," Williams said.
Each shop here has its own personality. They're all carefully curated. It doesn't take long before I'm thinking about lunch and Dean and Williams have a great suggestion.
"I think you should go check out the Olalla Bay Market," said Williams. "It just recently got bought by an author named Gregg Olsen and he revamped it and he made it so cute. It's so beautiful now with the deck and then you can kind of see a little bit of Mt Rainier if it's not cloudy."
I decided to order a green salad and sat down with Olsen for a history lesson.
"It used to be called Al's and it was kind of a convenience store with a little bit of beer on the side," Olsen said. "And we completely re-did it, trying to make it a family place."
There's even a one room museum dedicated to Olalla history.
So where should I go next? And do I really want a guy who writes true crime books to tell me?
"I think you should go to Banner Forest which is just down the road about a mile from here," Olsen said. "Its a heritage park. It's got miles actually of trails in it. You're gonna love it!"
My phone sent me to a rarely used entrance to Banner and as I began my hike I got the impression that I had all 636 acres to myself.
"Gregg where have you sent me?" I wondered aloud. "I'm going to need to run into some people here or this story ends with me lost in the woods."
Within minutes two cyclists came riding down the trail. Nate Micklos and Jonathan Knapp met on a ferry and decided to meet for a bike ride. Micklos had a good suggestion for how I should end my adventure in Port Orchard.
"I would go to a local independent bookshop called Salmonberry Books, grab something to read and then head to Holy Water and grab a drink and enjoy the book," Micklos said.
Holy Water A Heavenly Lounge is an 1895 church that had moved to Dekalb Street from Texas.
"We took a building that had been empty for many years and turned it into something special," said owner Suann Martin Smith. The family's former living quarters in the chapel is now an Airbnb.
"It's a beautiful open space with 25-foot ceilings," Martin Smith said.
There's a lounge to get dinner and a courtyard down below.
"Our bar is really comfortable," Martin Smith said. "We have art that is mostly beautiful women and we love that."
And now that I have a book to read and a cool drink, I've found a beautiful way to close this chapter on my visit to Port Orchard.
We visited:
Revive Coffee - 174 SW Sedgwick Rd, Port Orchard, WA 98367
Josephine's Mercantile - 701 Bay St, Port Orchard, WA 98366
Olalla Bay Market - 13965 Crescent Valley Rd SE, Olalla, WA 98359
Banner Forest Heritage Park - 6451 Banner Rd SE, Port Orchard, WA 98367
Salmonberry Books - 715 Bay St Suite 115, Port Orchard, WA 98366
Holy Water A Heavenly Lounge - 537 Dekalb St, Port Orchard, WA 98366
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