OPINION: Sparkling in the Pacific Northwest

Over the weekend, I finally took a trip I’ve been thinking about since my preteen years. Compared to the books and movies, there’s a surprising lack of vampires and werewolves in Forks, Washington, the place where “Twilight” is set. The town, however, makes up for that lack in plenty of homages to the series.

I left early Friday morning to fly from Des Moines to Seattle, where I met up with a friend from my time studying abroad. This was our third time meeting up after our return to the U.S. in 2021. Another friend was originally part of the plan but had to drop out for family reasons.

I’m glad I woke up extra early for my Friday flight because they canceled it at about 1:30 a.m. and rescheduled me for a Friday night flight. Considering the plan was to only be there from Friday to Sunday, this wasn’t going to work out. Luckily, Southwest Airlines’ customer service was very quick and helpful and I ended up with a flight arriving in Seattle only two hours later than originally planned.

When I finally got to the Des Moines airport that morning, everything was pretty easy. TSA was quick and it didn’t take long until I was on my flight. Unfortunately, my layover in Chicago was delayed and I ended up landing in Washington another two hours later than I was supposed to. With all the extra airport time, I ended up finishing both physical books I brought and the e-book I downloaded.

Due to the delay, we had to adjust our plans a little bit. We were supposed to do most of the Twilight stuff on Friday, so I made sure to wear a sparkly shirt. This is the shirt of a killer, Bella. However, by the time we would have arrived in Forks, everything would have been closed, so we took our time, checking out Port Townsend’s Victorian-style downtown.

The next morning it was “Twilight” go-time. We got a map at the visitor’s center and took photos at all the classic spots - the Swan and Cullen houses, the high school, even a police cruiser that was designated for Charlie.

The town has a tiny but free museum of movie items donated to the city. Along with many of the costumes, there was the cut-out figure used as the wolf version of Jacob in filming and the beautiful Chuckesmee. I’ll let you look that up if you want more information.

At a local coffee shop, I got a Red Bull refresher called “Team Switzerland.” For dinner the night before, my friend got the “Bella” mushroom ravioli. I enjoyed the campiness and theming, though these were the only themed items on the menu at each location.

After all the things in Forks, we headed to the Quileute reservation. They had a sign for the treaty line the vampires were supposed to follow and some fun items in the main restaurant, but they stayed mostly away from the silliness. Though the iconic La Push beach is on the reservation, we decided to go to Rialto Beach.

The beach featured massive driftwood and cool rock features. We also found plenty of creatures amidst the rock pools, including sea stars, anemone and even an eel. The original plan was to then head to Hoh Rain Forest for some hiking, but with everything delayed from Friday, we were unable to do that. At least that gives me a good reason to come back!

We headed to Port Angeles for the night, playing darts and enjoying the hot tub at our Airbnb. I learned that I’m apparently really good at darts, somehow beating a guy that’s on the local dart league despite not having played in over a year.

Sunday morning we walked around the Port Angeles Wharf and stopped in a couple shops before making the drive back to Seattle. While TSA lines at Des Moines were fine, I was nervous about how long the wait would be at SeaTac. There was no need for the nerves, though, as the line was probably less than five minutes.

Though I left SeaTac before 3 p.m., time change meant I didn’t arrive back in Iowa until close to 11 p.m. Between that and the drive back to Creston, it was after midnight when I finally got home. And for those following my travels, Monday also was the 60-day mark before my Disney trip, which meant waking up before 5 a.m. to get dining reservations booked. Let’s just say, I was a little tired on Monday.

Though it was a short trip and one friend was missing, it was also magical. We’re already planning next year’s trip, likely somewhere on the east coast. I’m thankful that despite the time and distance, we still make an effort to get together.