Meal at a Movie — the brainchild of meals writer Bethany Jean Clement and film critic Moira Macdonald — has been looking out movie theaters that provide actual, or authentic-ish, foods and consume for 5-furthermore decades now. (Most just lately, we drank margaritas with “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” at Cinebarre and endured “Cocaine Bear” with the enable of the posh recliners at IPIC. And sure, we have consumed the macaroni and cheese balls at AMC Theatres, and lived to explain to the tale.) And when we’re even now pursuing that intention, summer season breezes termed us to test a thing different this thirty day period: a Meal at a Motion picture road journey, showcasing a historic theater, a close by cafe and the miracle that is ferry popcorn.
The Journey
Bethany: We’d been which means to go to see a film at the Starlight Room in absurdly scenic Port Townsend for literal many years. I believe that my marginally cavalier mindset toward the vagaries of the Washington State Ferries schedules panicked Moira a little bit, but just after checking the redundantly named Vacation Alert Bulletins for delays (and beware, they are myriad, notably in the summertime — be positive to seem at st.information/WSF-bulletins), we modified our departure to an hour previously than we’d prepared. Shortly we’d set sail across glinting Puget Sound for the glorious Olympic Peninsula.
Moira: On a new sunny Thursday, cars and trucks experienced about an hour’s wait around midday at the Edmonds terminal (you’ll require to push to arrive at Port Townsend). Not also poor! And enable us doff our at present nonexistent hats to the ferry worker who was NOT about to permit some dude to get absent with reducing ahead of us in line.
Bethany: I could have HAHA’d by our open up car windows as we handed by this miscreant. All aboard for non-line-cutters! The crossing requires just a 50 percent-hour, but it behooves one to pop up topside for a bit of summertime sea air — on a warm day, it is exceptionally wonderful and awesome out there — and, also, ferry popcorn. Ferry popcorn is remarkably fantastic popcorn.
Moira: Ferry popcorn is magic! How is it attainable to make popcorn that superior without an adjacent film display screen?
Bethany: They have to deploy the film-theater-magic orange powder known as Flavacol! The drive upon docking in Kingston also rates as basically supernatural, with the highway winding by captivatingly picturesque farmland and the marginally Stepfordian nonetheless highly charming old-timey village of Port Gamble. Our jazz radio station faded in and out as we oohed and ahhhed at trees, llamas and lifetime on the Olympic Peninsula in standard.
Moira: It is about an hour’s generate from the ferry dock to Port Townsend, which is just enough time to catch up on gossip, recognize the landscapes and get started to truly feel hungry for popcorn all over again.
Bethany: Even though Moira, getting extremely smart, visits this minor seaside spot on the frequent, I could not feel of the past time I’d been, and I uncovered Port Townsend completely lovely, with a gorgeous small late-1880s downtown set proper on the drinking water. The architecture knocks one’s socks off, and the spot operates rife with eateries, drinkeries, bookstores and outlets for all your dreamcatcher and windsock requirements. Also, ice cream — all people in town would seem to be going for walks about feeding on ice cream, several of them opting for the inclusion of gummy candies on top, which we agreed should be served independently. Who needs hard, chilly gummies with their ice cream? We also necessary to conserve home for each more popcorn and our post-matinee dinner. Following some leisurely strolling, we produced our way to …
The Theater
Moira: … 1 of my beloved sites on Earth: the enchanting Rose Theatre, in a former 1907 vaudeville household proper smack in the center of downtown. It’s under new management: Rocky Friedman, who lovingly restored and reopened the Rose back again in 1992, offered the a few-monitor theater previously this yr to Port Townsend locals George Marie and Michael D’Alessandro — who, at minimum so far, appear to be to be properly holding factors just as they had been, which includes the attractive 3rd-floor Starlight Room.
Bethany: We climbed the 55-step, ornate-wood-trimmed stairway with mounting pleasure. A sky-high (for Port Townsend) theater in a historic building is pretty substantially the definition of Supper at a Movie’s cup of tea — or glass of prosecco, as the case might be. We obtained these and popcorn, of system, in the amazing lobby and proceeded to the theater, which gave every single visual appeal of staying an true ballroom, with 7 majestic crystal chandeliers and sights of Admiralty Inlet and the Cascades by means of huge home windows of wavy antique glass.
Moira: A notice for those viewing the Starlight Area: Arrive early, so as to decide your most loved sofa or squishy armchair! The theater doesn’t have the classic rows of seats, but an eclectic array of antique furniture, each piece of which I could have happily transported to my possess living home promptly.
Bethany: As we sank into our velvet couch with its financial institution of toss pillows, noting the great ambient temperature and gazing out at an unbelievably quaint very little white church on the close by hill, we died of happiness.
Moira: Without a doubt. These are our ghosts producing now. We almost didn’t require a motion picture — we could have contentedly sat at the Starlight until finally we expired of outdated age, or got kicked out by management — but we watched a person anyway.
The Motion picture
Bethany: We’d selected, for highest inner thoughts, to see “Past Life,” for which a courteous Starlight consultant gave an enlightening and not overly lengthy introduction — a nice contact.
Moira: Which he concluded with, “Thank you for your interest and for joining us less than the chandeliers these days.” Like we weren’t currently in appreciate with this place.
Bethany: The volume of fabric associated in the curtains that change the ballroom aerie into a motion picture theater is spectacular! As the gentleman drew them, the area grew completely dim apart from for these chandeliers glowing faintly previously mentioned and a little candlelight on our prosecco-holding desk — equally matters you never ever realized you deeply wished in a moviegoing practical experience, but turns out you certainly do.
Moira: It’s just a ridiculously charming way to observe a film. And “Past Life,” appropriately, is a gem, about like and time and streets not taken. Prepared and directed by Celine Tune, it is about two childhood buddies who reconnect several decades later 1 is now married, the other nevertheless carrying a sensitive torch.
Bethany: The literary high-quality right here — Tune was initially a playwright — somehow in shape this working day and this environment like a glove. The contemplation of all the things in existence that consider a beloved just one absent from you, or you absent from a cherished one — of everything that, in the conclude, is not to be, at least not in this everyday living … this movie is like pressing carefully on a bruise. It is also shot in a quietly lyrical way, rendering the mundane — two stairways diverging, reflections in a puddle, the steel of the subway — poetic.
Moira: The puddles in this motion picture are complete performs of artwork. And I beloved how gently Song’s script explored the idea of how Nora, the key character, could be in love with a person person, and yet have one more person signify household to her.
Bethany: I cried a smaller puddle.
Moira: Me much too. Which manufactured us each hungry. Soon after the film, we reluctantly still left the Starlight Room — we shall return! — and headed to …
The Evening meal
Bethany: Strolling uptown in Port Townsend is an work out in elevation, with the peaceful streets lined with sweet, period-piece homes and several, several deer. Deer just meander about right here, and even though they’re apparently a menace to nearby yards, it undoubtedly would make for a cute encounter for the visitor. We pushed our way by way of them to Finistère, which homeowners Scott Ross and Deborah Taylor opened in 2017, serving “end of the land — at the source,” as their motto goes. The gray-on-gray wainscoted dining room is quite enjoyable, and so, way too, looked the outdoor patio on these a great summertime’s evening.
Moira: Finistère is relatively extravagant as Port Townsend goes, by which I signify a bit expensive. But it is quite quite and the services is warm, and even though my fettuccine seemed like it really should have had a several additional clams …
Bethany: … my scallops ended up completely seared, nevertheless plush within just. We feared cocktails would enweary us for the travel and ferry dwelling, but a glass of wine was in purchase, as befits a working day journey. Then, espresso!
Moira: And a certainly scrumptious ice cream for dessert — vanilla with area-raspberry ripple, manufactured in-property. Ideal. Then time to wave goodbye to Port Townsend and head again to the ferry, which we managed to pass up in relatively magnificent style. To start with in line for the up coming 1, while!
The Overall Impact
Bethany: The only point that tempers my comprehensive infatuation with the Starlight Area is the pale quality of the popcorn — the ferry does it improved. And as far as Port Townsend goes, I’d go back in a heartbeat, rain or shine, and would really a great deal choose to remain for a longer time. Possibly forever.
Moira: I feel the Rose popcorn was owning an off working day. I have experienced it before, and I’ll have it once more, and to me, it’s always ideal. As is a Working day Out, with a mate and a motor vehicle and a sunny afternoon-fading-superbly-into-evening. At one stage, as we walked to meal, you just turned to me and reported, “How lucky are we?” In fact.
Bethany: Without a doubt! Take a close friend on a day excursion to Port Townsend, and quickly — in this existence, it is far too good to move up.