Remembering a Wild Car Ride on Vashon Island
by Joe Perdue
August 9, 2021
We had a golf cart to deliver to Vashon Island recently, which reminded me of the last time I’d been there, sometime around 1984.
Now if you’ve never been to Vashon Island, the only way to get there is by the Washington State ferry system. You really have to pay attention to the schedule, as the route involves the boat going between Southworth, Vashon and Fauntleroy (south Seattle). The system is well designed, you just have to understand it.
On our trip to take the cart over, it took us six + hours round trip because we weren’t paying attention to the schedule, and we didn’t know exactly where we were going. A coffee stand and the Sunday paper helped make the time go a little more quickly while we were waiting for the next boat. The following week we planned things a little better, as start-to-finish was three hours to retrieve the cart and get it back to the yard.
My last trip there was when I was a basketball referee. It was the only time I made the trip, and if memory serves, it was with Ron Burley, Ed Fein and Jim Rye.
Back in those days, nobody was begging to call a game at Vashon High School. There was nothing wrong with the school or the team, it was just a pain getting there and back. And it cut into our post-game activities at the Cloverleaf Tavern. However, the onion burgers at the school were unbelievable, and always made the trip worthwhile.