By Karen Schaler

Karen Schaler （Author， “Travel Therapy” ）：When youre talking about getting 1）off the beaten path， its great to travel half way around the world. But dont forget those hidden gems that are right in your own backyard. I grew up in Washington State， and wanted to share three of my favorite finds thatll show you small-town charm.

When we talk about special small towns in Washington State， some of my favorite “off the beaten path” picks are right on the water， and it doesnt get much prettier than Port Orchard on a sunny day. And， yes， there are sunny days in Washington. Port Orchard has around 11，000 people， and the town is located right on the Puget Sound， 13 miles west of Seattle， with 2）ferries connecting the two cities.

凱倫·謝勒（《療愈系旅行》作者）：當(dāng)談到遠(yuǎn)離常規(guī)熱門路線，能夠走遍半個(gè)地球當(dāng)然不錯(cuò)，但是也別忘了隱藏在自家后院的風(fēng)水寶地。我在華盛頓州長(zhǎng)大，想跟你分享我最喜歡的三個(gè)地方，那里足以體現(xiàn)小鎮(zhèn)的魅力所在。

當(dāng)我們談到華盛頓州的特別小鎮(zhèn)，我最喜歡的一些遠(yuǎn)離常規(guī)路線的選擇就在水上，沒(méi)有比在奧查德港度過(guò)陽(yáng)光明媚的一天更愜意的了。是的，華盛頓有不少陽(yáng)光燦爛的日子。奧查德港人口大約有11000，就位于菩及特海灣上，距離西雅圖西部13英里，通過(guò)渡船就可把兩座城鎮(zhèn)連接起來(lái)。

One of the things I love about Port Orchard， Washington， is just coming down to the 3）waterfront.

Thats because the waterfront is almost picture-perfect. Almost everywhere you look its like a postcard， so its no wonder this is a favorite place for locals to hang out.

Man 1： I actually like to come down and walk the waterfront， clear my head， and the salt air is amazing， and the Puget Sound area is…just smells great and looks great. Karen： Port Orchards main street is only a few blocks long， but here youll find some great little antique shops filled with all kinds of treasures. Youll also find some fun restaurants and my favorite sugar stop， an old-fashioned candy store with more than four dozen kinds of salt-water 4）taffy. And 5）movie buffs， youll love the Dragonfly Theater， where VIP tickets are just five bucks.

Woman： I love coming down to the old theater. They have old movies playing； old Bogart movies， etc. Love it.

Karen： Another thing to love is the decades-old 6）foot ferry.

Man 2： We like coming down here because theyve got a foot ferry that we can go over to our neighboring city in Bremerton to the nice restaurants， or we can have nice food at the local restaurants. Karen： Taking the foot ferry is also one of my favorite things to do. Just like its name， its a walk-ononly ferry. For two bucks it takes you across the water to the larger town of Bremerton， where theres a big 7）navy yard and 8）revitalized 9）marina. Whether you want to do a tour of an old 10）warship or just relax at the popular Anthonys restaurant， where， for happy hour， you can score a five-dollar drinks [sic] and seafood， youll get this amazing view of the waterfront for free.

To check out another of my favorite small towns in Washington， youll want to head north， almost to Canada to La Conner， a town of around 900 people， that the 11）Chamber of Commerce calls， “Washingtons hidden treasure”. Its on the water and its known for its famous rainbow bridge， built in 1957. My dad， an 12）avid boater， has always loved coming here， and introduced me when I was just a kid.

Man 3： Theres a variety of great restaurants， museums and its just an old town on the water. Across the 13）canal theres fishing boats， commercial fishing boats that go out for crab and salmon； a lot going on here all year long.

Karen： I love how this town 14）packs a cultural punch with cool art galleries， museums and shops， and some of the best seafood. Try the La Conner Pub 15）Tavern， where theyre known for their fish and chips and scenery like this. There are cute places to stay， like The Heron Waterside 16）Guest House and Channel 17）Lodge. And just about 15 miles north of La Conner， youll find some of the best Dungeness crabbing and salmon fishing in the entire northwest.

For my third favorite small Washington town youre going to have to leave the waterfront and drive over the Cascade Mountain Range to the town of Leavenworth. From the moment you arrive you feel like youve stepped back in time to a 18）quaint Bavarian village. And thats exactly the plan. In the 60s， when Leavenworth was almost a 19）ghost town， the locals decided to recreate the entire community of around 2，000 people as a Bavarian Village， hoping it would bring tourists. It worked， and the tourists are still coming today， charmed by the beautiful buildings painted with magnificent 20）murals and shops filled with unique collectibles. Even the pets that come to visit are cool.

Hungry？ You can fuel up for a day of sightseeing at Leavenworths legendary restaurant， Gustavs， where the sandwiches are always delicious. This towns incredible story and “can-do” spirit make it magical.

我喜歡華盛頓的奧查德港的原因之一，就是來(lái)到海濱一帶游玩。

那是因?yàn)楹I一帶擁有幾乎無(wú)敵的美景。放眼看到的幾乎任何地方都像一張明信片，所以它能成為當(dāng)?shù)厝肆鬟B忘返的最佳地方就不足為奇了。

男游客1：我確實(shí)喜歡來(lái)到海邊走走，理清我的思緒，帶著咸味的空氣很不錯(cuò)，菩及特海灣空氣清新，風(fēng)景宜人。

凱倫：奧查德港的主要街道只有幾個(gè)街區(qū)那么長(zhǎng)而已，但在這里，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)一些很棒的古董小店，那里琳瑯滿目地?cái)[放著各種各樣的寶物。你還會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)一些有趣的飯店，而我最喜歡的是一家糖果店，那是一間老式的糖果店，里面有超過(guò)48種鹽水太妃糖。如果你是電影迷，那你就會(huì)喜歡蜻蜓電影院，那里的貴賓票價(jià)只需五美元。

女游客：我喜歡來(lái)這家古老的戲院，他們會(huì)播放老電影，比如鮑嘉主演的老片子等等，很喜歡。

凱倫：另一件喜歡的事情就是搭乘具有幾十年歷史的腳渡輪。

男游客2：我們喜歡來(lái)到這里因?yàn)檫@里有腳渡輪，我們可以去到布雷默頓跟我們鄰近的城市找到不錯(cuò)的餐廳，或者我們就在當(dāng)?shù)氐牟宛^享受美食。凱倫：坐腳渡輪也是我最喜歡做的事情之一，顧名思義，腳渡輪就是只用腳驅(qū)動(dòng)的渡船。只需兩美元就可以帶你跨越水域，到達(dá)布雷默頓更大的城鎮(zhèn)，那里有個(gè)很大的海軍船塢和新修的碼頭。無(wú)論你想?yún)⒂^舊軍艦，或是在很受歡迎的安東尼餐廳休憩（歡樂(lè)時(shí)光期間，還可以在那里買到五美元一杯的飲料和海鮮），都可以免費(fèi)欣賞到海邊優(yōu)美的景色。

為了找到華盛頓里我最喜歡的另一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)，你要一路北上，將近去到加拿大才能到達(dá)拉康納鎮(zhèn)，該鎮(zhèn)人口大約有九百，商會(huì)稱它為“華盛頓的隱藏寶藏”。該鎮(zhèn)建于水上，因1957年建成的彩虹橋而聞名。我爸爸是個(gè)劃船愛(ài)好者，他總是喜歡來(lái)到這里，并帶當(dāng)時(shí)還是小孩的我來(lái)過(guò)。

男游客3：拉康納鎮(zhèn)是個(gè)古老的水上小鎮(zhèn)，這里有各種各樣很棒的餐館和博物館。海峽對(duì)面都是漁船，那些商業(yè)漁船出海捕捉蟹和鮭魚，很多船整年都待在這里。

凱倫：我喜歡這個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)，因?yàn)樗岩槐姾芸岬乃囆g(shù)畫廊、博物館和商店，還有最好的海鮮強(qiáng)有力地融合在一起形成了自己的文化。到拉康納酒館品嘗一下那里最出名的炸魚和炸薯片，還有這樣的美景。另外還有些很有趣的地方可以駐足停留，比如赫倫濱海旅館和海峽小屋。就在拉康納鎮(zhèn)北面大約十五英里處，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)在西北地區(qū)可以捕捉到最好的鄧杰內(nèi)斯蟹和鮭魚。

要去我最喜歡的第三個(gè)華盛頓小鎮(zhèn)，你必須要離開海邊，開車跨越喀斯喀特山脈，來(lái)到萊溫芙絲鎮(zhèn)。到達(dá)的那一刻，你就會(huì)感覺(jué)自己穿越到了一個(gè)精巧的巴伐利亞風(fēng)格村莊（又叫德國(guó)村），這正是此行的目的。在上個(gè)世紀(jì)六十年代，萊溫芙絲鎮(zhèn)幾乎成了被遺棄的小鎮(zhèn)，當(dāng)?shù)鼐用駴Q定重振整個(gè)社區(qū)，會(huì)聚人口大約兩千形成巴伐利亞風(fēng)格的德國(guó)村，希望能帶旺旅游業(yè)。結(jié)果成功了，這里美麗的建筑描著精致的壁畫，商店滿是獨(dú)特的收藏品，吸引游人絡(luò)繹不絕地前來(lái)直到今天，連來(lái)觀光的寵物都是那么酷。

肚子餓了嗎？在萊溫芙絲鎮(zhèn)的傳奇飯店——古斯塔夫餐廳，欣賞一整天風(fēng)光的同時(shí)飽餐美食，那里的三明治總是很美味。小鎮(zhèn)那令人難以置信的故事和“開拓進(jìn)取”的精神讓它自身充滿了魔力。

凱倫·謝勒（Karen Schaler）是三座艾美獎(jiǎng)得主，旅行過(guò)三十多個(gè)國(guó)家，尋找最有啟發(fā)性的旅行療愈地，著有《療愈系旅行》（Travel Therapy）一書。她的作品在美國(guó)全國(guó)性電視臺(tái)播放，除了美國(guó)境內(nèi)還在國(guó)際上發(fā)行，擁有在線出版物。曾發(fā)表過(guò)的知名園地包括ABC電視網(wǎng)、《紐約客》（The New Yorker）雜志、《波士頓環(huán)球報(bào)》（Boston Globe）、《鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)旅游》（Town & Country TRAVEL）雜志、《精英旅游》（Elite Traveler）雜志、《島嶼》（Islands）雜志、《高峰傲》（Gafencu）雜志、《車與旅游》（Road & Travel）雜志、《沙漠生活》（Desert Living）雜志、《美國(guó)航空》（US Airways Magazine）雜志、《南北半球》（Hemispheres）雜志、《我的中西部》（My Midwest）雜志。

電視新聞?dòng)浾叩谋尘?，使得謝勒的寫作筆調(diào)活潑犀利，帶有流浪精神。2007年她曾隨阿帕契攻擊直升機(jī)小隊(duì)深入阿富汗戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)；1995年，她是第一位派駐波斯尼亞的隨軍記者。她曾以自由電視通訊記者身份為CNN工作，也曾擔(dān)任美國(guó)ABC、NBC、CBS電視網(wǎng)的記者、主播，并且擔(dān)任福斯（Fox）在全美各大市場(chǎng)的營(yíng)銷伙伴。

謝勒成長(zhǎng)于美國(guó)華盛頓州西雅圖外圍，居住過(guò)十三個(gè)不同的州，她說(shuō)現(xiàn)在她的家就是“我放下行李箱的地方”。