Just in the summer, though I was promised room 17 right after the Labor Day weekend was over. ![]() Room 14 on the third floor as it turns out, a view off the back parking lot. I got my own room and wondered which one I’d get after we moved up, as the owner apartment only had one bedroom. We stayed at The Orcas Hotel next time up. Worked for me! That got me out of school for a couple days. They announced that we were coming back up in two days for further discussions. Just as the ferry was unloading, here came Dick and Shirley with very changed expressions on their faces – hopeful, jubilant even. That trip usually took fifteen or twenty minutes. The ferry was at Shaw and blew its horn telling everyone on Orcas to go find their cars. The white building, as it turned out, was called The Orcas Hotel. I went for another walk to check the place out. They both looked at each other, shrugged, and headed across the street. Like the ones you would see on a used car on a vacant street corner somewhere. There was a pause in the action and I told Dick, “Hey, did you see that ‘for sale’ sign in the window over there?” In a small window on that larger white building a plastic ‘for sale by owner’ sign was taped there. Dick and Shirley were pretty disappointed in how the day went and were commiserating. I was looking out the backseat window toward the larger white building. In those days the ferry line was just the right hand shoulder of Orcas Road, and we pulled up just above the Island Vista and next to the Cottage Gift Shop. I went for a walk around the village checking the place out, and when I came back I saw on their faces things probably hadn’t worked out, and I was right.Ī long, quiet ride back to the ferry line ensued. I was 12 and it seemed like the meeting was taking forever. Dick made the call and we came up the following weekend. The Bungalow was what is now the White Horse Pub. We were the only ones out of the group that hadn’t found what we were looking for. Finally one day the realtor called and said the Bungalow Restaurant was for sale in Eastsound. Not sure as to the exact timing, but Bob and Georgia purchased Eastsound Dry Goods, and George and Eleanor purchased the Olga Store. During that year or after, two out of the three had made commitments. In 1967, all three loved the San Juan Islands and wanted to figure out a way to move there. In late 1967, if memory serves, they made a sort of pact, in that all three were going to purchaseand run a business on Orcas Island. These three families got together weekly and were very close. My family (Dick Cundy and Shirley Cundy and myself) moved to Orcas August 1, 1968, on that day we took over ownership of The Orcas Hotel. We had a white 28’ Trojan wooden power boat with flying bridge named Dick’s Fifth, and they would come to the San Juans in the summer for vacation for two weeks, hitting all the normal stops – Blakely, Fisherman’s Bay, Roche, etc. Normally, as far north as they would get was Salt Spring Island.Īlong with us there were two other boating families with their own boats – Bob and Georgia Nelson and George and Eleanor Lyons. I have been a full-time resident about 20 years off and on. I think that’s important to document a lifestyle that many may not have experienced or understand. ![]() ![]() Enjoy!… Clark and his parents Clark todayġ. How many years have you lived on Orcas Island, and how did your family end up living here?įirst of all I’d like to thank you for this opportunity to share memories. I learned just the tip of the iceberg about what it was like to grow up here, and especially what it was like to grow up inside The Orcas Hotel. I asked Clark if he would recount some of those memories for you to read. Several months ago, I had the most fascinating conversation with Clark Cundy.
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