Forks Washington

I have no shame in my game. Two years ago, we took our oldest daughter to Forks Washington because she loves all things Twilight... I mean really loves all things Twilight. Now honestly, I was never a fan myself, but her pure love for it reminds me of my love for all things Star Wars... So her excitement is infectious and fun. Before the whole Twilight craze totally dies, we wanted to take her and the rest of the kids to the place where it all takes place one more time, Forks Washington. I mean who am I to tell her what to like and not like, if she likes it, then I'm going to support her happiness.

For all the hype that surrounds the town, it's a tiny place with a few hotels, one primary road, a few diners and a smattering of essential shops. But packed in this three thousand person town is a myriad of tourist destinations made famous by the books and movies. For those in the know, there's the Swan's house, The police station, the high school (sign), the hospital, Bella's workplace, and the Native American Indian reservation of  La Push, to name a few.

We went with all three kids, Liz's sister, Jen, her daughter Autumn, and her son, Noah. Oh and we brought Luna. So everything was crazy, all the time. But you know, for all the craziness that went on, it was a great time and no one had any issues or problems... it was somehow a pretty stress free trip (yes with five kids and a puppy) and we had a wonderful time seeing the cheesy landmarks, shopping for the last hold outs of Twilight souvenirs, and eating at the places that were either in the movie or had Twilight themed food. (I will say that the Bella Burger and Twilight punch at Sully's is the best thing to eat in town.)

So in short, our trip went like this: We arrived on Friday around dinner time, we ate at the diner where Bella and Charlie ate in the first movie, Liz and I went to the Grocery/Hardware store where Bella apparently worked to get some snacks and beer. The next day was Twilight mania day. We visited and  took pictures at Bella's truck at the Chamber of Commerce, visited Dr. Carlile's parking spot at the hospital, back to both of Bella's apparent workplaces, the high school, the last two remaining Twilight-esque stores, the police station, the "Cullen's house" (which is a B&B) lunch at Sully's Burgers, then to First Beach in La Push where Jacob is from. We spent some time at the beach then went to the "treaty line" where we had dinner. By Sunday, we were pretty worn out but went to Port Angeles to have lunch where Bella and Edward had their first date but sadly it was only open for dinner, so we went to the apparent bookstore where Bella got vampire books and had lunch at a surprisingly pretty good spot called Smuggler's Landing. A whirlwind of a mini-vacation but a great time had by all. And we have pictures to prove it!

 

The Grown Ups in front of Bella's Truck

 

Luna Running on First Beach at La Push

 

The kids at Dr. Cullen's parking spot at the hospital. Noah is doing his own thing.

 

Lizzie, Luna and I at First Beach

 

At the "Treaty Line"

 

The kids at Bella's truck

 

There are two hardware stores in Forks. Both claim that Bella worked there... This one had her vest, so naturally, Kaya posed for a picture.

 

Trystan at First Beach in La Push.

 

The view at first beach. I think it looks like a scene from The Goonies.