Traveling Red Chair Arrives at Harrison House Suites

The Traveling Red Chair in line for the ferry - Diana Mancel photo

Sto­ry by Diana Mancel

Fri­day Har­bor is known for being a bit eccen­tric, but even long­time Islanders took a sec­ond look on Sun­day when a lone wood­en red chair took its place in the fer­ry line.

This Chair is a sea­soned trav­el­er: it was involved in a Ver­mont wed­ding, hiked up a New Hamp­shire hill, and hung out with the Coast Guard in Ore­gon. There is a rumor about a brief affair with a Blue Chair in Cal­i­for­nia. This week, Har­ri­son House Suites in Fri­day Har­bor is the Red Chair’s offi­cial home.

Anna Maria de Fre­itas & Dave Pass, own­ers of the Tuck­er House/Harrison House Suites Bed and Break­fast (www.tuckerhouse.com), have many plans for the Red Chair before it departs on the Fri­day morn­ing fer­ry to its next accommodations.

Red Chair visits the Whale Museum - Diana Mancel photo

So far, the Chair has been to the Whale Muse­um, checked out some Island Road­side Odd­i­ties, has signed up for a whale watch­ing tour with Lega­cy Char­ters and a Scoot Coupe ride with Susie’s Mope­ds. All along the way, there will be pho­tos and diary entries for the Chair’s expe­ri­ences, and these memen­tos will become a part of the ongo­ing blog the Chair began record­ing in 2011.

The idea of hand­ing off the Red Chair to var­i­ous bed and break­fast estab­lish­ments began four years ago with the Innkeep­er of Woods Hole Inn in Cape Cod, who post­ed a pho­to on Face­book of the same red chair sit­ting on a frozen pond. A Cal­i­for­nia pho­tog­ra­ph­er saw the post and asked to bor­row it, then passed it on to a Cal­i­for­nia Innkeep­er. Since then, the Chair has been to San­ta Fe, has gone geo­caching, and had more than one glass of wine along the way. You can fol­low the Red Chair online at Red Chair Trav­els.

Why a chair? It is said that the Red Chair is an invi­ta­tion to explore your­self in a qui­et and beau­ti­ful place. It is an open seat at the table of relax­ation. It is the dia­logue between artists and innkeep­ers, between lost trav­el­ers and those that wel­come them to sit down by friend­ly fireplaces.

Red Chair meets Cow and Pig - Diana Mancel photo

If you would like to pro­pose a unique set­ting for the Red Chair dur­ing its brief vis­it to San Juan Island, please send an email to am [@] tuckerhouse.com and we will do our best to include your sug­ges­tion in the Chair’s trav­els. In the mean­time, look for the Red Chair as it makes its way around Fri­day Har­bor and San Juan Island this week!

Dave Pass gives the Red Chair a great view of the harbor - Diana Mancel photo

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