Mom and I spent a afternoon together today in Gig Harbor. The weather cooperated, it was 60 and mostly sunny, and the daffodils were blooming everywhere.

While we bought our boat in Gig Harbor a year ago, we have never explored the town, and it’s well worth poking around. There are art galleries, jewelry stores, antique malls, gift shops and great little restaurants all on the downtown waterfront.

My favorites – the ones where money disappeared from my wallet – were:

• Wild Birds Unlimited, bird-oriented yard and garden decor, plus bird houses, feeders and bird feed
• The Keeping Room, a really fun wine and gift shop with weekend wine tasting and a friendly and knowledgeable proprietor
• Gallery Row, a co-op art gallery that had very high caliber art – painting, sculpture, fused and stained glass, and amazing jewelry. The gorgeous glass piece on the right came home with me.

It was great to catch up with my perpetually young mother between her swim meets, dog agility competitions and volksmarches – she’s good company!