Nobody, darnit

Here's a pic from Crappy Taxidermy from the Museum of Sea and Shore in Port Gamble. We used to go there all the time for our Sunday Drive. It's the biggest private shell collection, and is where I amassed my own collection. Clearly I need to go back, because based on that picture, they've rearranged everything. (and put in some huge skylights. It always used to be dark and creepy) That hideous shark used to be part of a display tucked into a dark little nook under the stairs (visible immediately behind the thing.) Down below is the general store, then the shells on the second floor mezzanine. The third floor is split into two side balconies. On one side is an ancient barber shop that I don't think they ever actually opened to the public--you could just see it from across the atrium. It had one of those torture device style perm machines. On the other side was a Victorian style natural history collection. Bugs, gorilla skulls, all kinds of stuff.

Before they remodeled (the first time), you had to go up this dark little stairway in the back to get to the museum. Then you walked around the mezzanine, looking at the shells and that creepy dried skate hanging from the window, and then you arrived at the area where they sold seashells and Serendipity books. A parrot squawked in the back room, behind a beaded curtain. For some reason, as a child, I always assumed you had to go all the way around to get to the store, instead of just turning right at the top of the stairs. So I'd rush around the circle, eager to get the sea shells in my tiny little hands. It was a magical little journey.

Hee hee, they have a website.