Montlake - 2021 and Way Beyond by William Goodrich Bellman Chapter 36 - Summer Vacations, Especially Delano Beach

The memories of 1918, 19 and early 20's and the following several years all seem to be wrapped up in summer vacations. Our family traveled by automobile to the Olympic Peninsula with visits to Lake Crescent, Moro Bay and La Push. As a youngster I didn't care for the rainy days there but did enjoy visits to the Indian villages of the Makah, Ozette and Quileute Indian tribes. The advent of the automobile made these locations accessible to tourist traffic. My parents were appalled at the lack of facilities, the squalor of the Indian's tents, and living quarters. These things didn't bother my young mind and I overlooked them. However my mother wouldn't allow me to play with any of the Indian kids. She said they were dirty and probably had a disease.

Some of our summer vacations were spent in cottages at Long Beach, Rockaway, Washington, and other times at Seaside, Oregon. However, our favorite vacation location was Delano Beach located on a peninsula west and south of Purdy, Washington, which took us a day to reach by steamer.

The year 1918 was the start of my family's annual vacation at Delano Beach Resort and Hotel, on the Long Branch Peninsula (now called Key Peninsula) west of Tacoma. In early July mother would pack a steamer trunk with all the clothes that her three children would need for the vacation stay. The trunk had to be sent to Colman dock by hired dray as it was too large and heavy to get into our car. Dad would drive us to the waiting steamer (the SS Flyer) that would take us to Tacoma. She was a fast steamer for her day, being able to get up to 18 knots.

In Tacoma we walked a short distance to the docks of the Mosquito Fleet, who operated small steamers to outlying villages throughout the lower Puget Sound. Here we boarded the SS Thurow that would deliver us to Delano. It was a long four hour trip from Tacoma to Delano, as the steamer stopped at many towns along the way, discharging freight and passengers and loading others to continue on. If it was a sunny day we all stayed on deck, looking at the shoreline or watching the water traffic. Rainy days, we went below to the warmth of the engine room and watched the pistons go up and down.

I remember our first stop, after leaving Tacoma, was a place on Fox Island, then we sailed past McNeil Island, home of the federal penitentiary, and for many years the abode of Uncle Gerald Peabody. From there we went into Filucy Bay for a short stop at Long Branch. North from there, the Thurow made several more stops at the lumber camps scattered along the beaches.

Whenever the boat stopped at one of the many villages along the way, everyone would go on deck to see who was leaving and who would come aboard. And at every stop there were many of the locals on the dock to greet incoming friends and passengers, besides picking up mail and/or provisions that had been shipped to them.

Arrival at Hotel Delano's private dock was always a thrill as our pent-up emotions of anticipation had kept us in a tizzy all day. Mrs. Delano was almost always waiting at the dock to greet old and new patrons, as were the residents of the hotel and cottages. Our steamer trunks, containing our clothes and sundries, were unloaded to the dock, and delivered to our cabin. The dock at Delano was almost a 1/4 mile in length, because of the shallow water and extreme low tides.

The Delano complex was probably on a 40 acre site, with the three story hotel in the center, surrounded by 24 cottages, with pasture, barns, orchards and chicken houses on the outskirts. Most of the cottages contained just the bare minimum in the way of comforts. There was no running water, hand and face washing was done by water pitcher and bowl, which was replenished by the chambermaids. We took only one bath a week, usually on Saturday night. Hot water was carried to the cabin by the hired help and we took turns in the large galvanized wash tub.

The cabins were one or two room units - bedrooms for the adults, plus a screened in porch that had beds for the youngsters. In inclement weather we could roll down the porch canvas shades for protection. Toilets, except for two in the hotel, were pit type, placed here and there, close to the cottages. In case of needed use at night, there was a slop jar, under the bed. All lighting in the cottages was by kerosene lamps, which were cleaned each morning by the maids. Today, all this sounds primitive, however, in the 20's, it was not unusual in the outlying resort areas, and something we took for granted. For several vacations we occupied the same cabin north of the hotel, but later on were given one of the newer units closer to the waterfront beach.

The hotel was a wooden, 3 story structure, with rooms on the second floor for guests, with one shared bath. At each end of the hallway there was a window with a red sign above it saying "fire exit". Outside the window was a knotted rope, that served as the fire escape. Fortunately, the escape was never needed, although we kids used the rope to gain momentum in the two place wooden swing that was on the wide porch below. After dinner there was always a race to see who could get to the swing first. The third floor was where the hotel and kitchen workers had their quarters. Downstairs there were several rooms plus the owner's apartment, and another bath. A large fireplace stood in the great room and there was usually a cheerful fire going, regardless of outside temperature. During rainy days the great room was a haven and a place for the adults to gather and get acquainted.

The kitchen and dining area was a covered building, open on the north and east sides. The openness allowed the sparrows and pigeons to flutter around the dining tables and sometimes accidents happened. Each family had their own table, unless they wished to share one with friends. Except for breakfast, which was a la carte, there was no menu. Food was served family style and you could eat all you could hold. In those years I wasn't much of an eater, unless it was dessert or something else sweet. But I recall that mealtime was pleasant. Each evening, right after dinner, the candy shop, in an old root cellar, was opened for one-half hour, just for us kids. Everything was a penny each.

There were several families from Montlake that spent their vacations at Delano. One summer we were there at the same time as the Shaffer family from Interlaken Boulevard, the Brehms on Crescent Drive, and the Prices of Lynn Street. Norm Shaffer and I didn't seem to get along and we had several fights. I didn't like Norm because he always smelled of pee, as he always seemed to wet his pants, and his middle name was “Winton” (a popular car of the time) and I couldn't understand why his father sold “Marmon” cars instead of Wintons. Norm had a sister, Margaret, much older than he, and a brother whom no one ever saw, because he had a mental problem and was kept locked in an upstairs bedroom in their home. Bud Brehm and I got along fairly well. Another Lynn Street family, the Prices, with daughter Martha and son Oscar (he later changed his name to Henry), spent several summers with us at Delano because of friendship with my parents.

We all learned to swim at Delano. Mr. Brehm was our teacher. He had a different way of teaching. As we stood on the dock he would tie a light rope around our waist, then he'd get in a row boat, with the other end of the rope in hand, row out a distance, order us to jump in the water and swim to him. That's called “sink or swim”. We all learned the hard way.

My dad would come to Delano each Saturday afternoon and stay till Monday morning. It was always so nice to see him, he was such a great guy, and even then I thought, quite handsome and well dressed. By the time he got there my mother had forgotten many of the "I'm going to tell your father on you" threats she had made to me during the previous week.

Captain and Mrs. Delano had established the resort in the very early 1900's. The Captain was a merchant mariner and consequently was always at sea when we vacationed there. I don't recall ever meeting him. Most of our vacation days were spent fishing for crappie, digging clams or geoducks. Swimming was always in the afternoon when the tide came in over the warm sand and provided a pleasant water temperature. Some days we walked to Lake Bay, with some older kids as chaperons, for a visit to the general store, whose supply of candy was much better than that of Delano, besides having ice cream cones for 5 cents. It was a long, hot walk back to the hotel, especially with the memory of that cold ice cream cone that we had hurriedly licked away.

Once in a while we would walk along the beach trail towards Long Branch, but never got there. I think we got frightened along the way as the area was sparsely populated, with only a few summer residents. I recall one vacant cottage had a sign saying "beware of gun inside". It was rumored that there was a loaded gun inside pointing towards the door, if the door was opened, the trigger would snap, and you would be shot. Whether true or not, we sure stayed away from that house.

Mrs. Delano had a large open air pavilion type room built in the woods adjacent to the hotel. She planned to use this as a music room, where concerts would be held. However, I don't believe this plan ever bore fruit, as during our stays at Delano, it was used as a Saturday night dancehall. However, it was a great place for kids to play in if it was raining outside. On several occasions, costume balls were held there for the adults, kids peeking in from outside. Music was by fiddle and piano.

The hotel raised their own chickens for eggs and the fried chicken we had for dinner most Sundays. We liked to watch when the birds were being prepared. The guy that did the killing always did it by wringing there heads off, then tossing the bird aside, where it fluttered around, squirting blood, sometimes on us. I don't know why kids like such gruesome doings, but they do.

One vivid memory of Delano was the time the flag halyard became twisted in the pulley at the top of the flag pole. Everyone took a hand at trying to pull it loose, which only cinched the halyard tighter. After much effort, to no avail, Mrs. Delano hired a nearby farm lad to shinny up and release it. Everyone gathered around the base to watch his progress up the tall staff. Shortly, one of the women gasped "he's bleeding". Sure enough, there was a small trickle of blood running down the pole. However, the boy continued his climb to the top and released the line, mid shouts and hand clapping from those below. On his slide back to the ground the blood he left behind was smeared along the pole and it stayed there, giving us something to show to newcoming kids. The paint on the pole had become chipped and roughened from rain and winds, which chafed the boy's legs, causing the bleeding.

Several Jersey milk cows were pastured on the grounds, they seemed to have the run of the place. One had to be careful when walking in the dark - splat! Close to the cottages was the hen house and chicken run, with a rooster that crowed the morning in. He kept all his girls happy (50 of them). By the end of each day he was pooped, but smiling. I had a run-in with that rooster and almost lost my left eye. He jumped me in a flurry of anger and cut my eyebrow with his razor sharp spurs. The scar is still there.

Weather permitting, everyone at Delano went to the beach, water wings in place, and spent several hours throwing sand and water at each other, while the Mother's hollered and scolded us to desist.

With low tides we were able to dig for clams and geoducks and there were always perch and rock cod that we could catch from the dock. If the fish were large enough we could get the Chinese cooks to prepare them for dinner.