“Seen any vampires lately?”
I didn’t need to see the waitress’s face to catch the slightly exasperated tone of her response. After a few days in Forks, the setting of Stephenie Meyer’s teenage vampire romance, even I’ve heard that line one too many times.
Whether you come to Forks seeking the ultimate “Twilight” adventure or not, you’ll be hard-pressed to avoid the vampire-werewolf mania that has swept over this small town that sits in the shadows of the Olympic Mountains.
With the movie based on Meyer’s second book, “New Moon,” hitting theaters Friday, the town of Forks undoubtedly will see another spike in visitors — the human kind.
The good people of Forks have tried hard — sometimes a little too hard — to accommodate the throngs of fans who come to see the center of the “Twilight” universe.
They’ve designated a local bed-and-breakfast “the Cullen home” for fans of vampire Edward’s family. And one residence serves as Bella’s house. Bella is the human object of Edward’s affections. Some of the restaurants offer the characters’ favorite dishes, such as Bella’s berry cobbler.
Downtown Forks retailers claim to be “Twilight” central or “Twilight” headquarters. Inside the Dazzled by Twilight gift shop, the cashier, wearing a Forks High School 2007 T-shirt, exuberantly pointed to the “New Moon” scenes painted in each corner of the store. He was equally enthusiastic as he pointed another customer to the “Twilight” salt-and-pepper shakers.
Outside the visitors center is parked a red truck, like Bella’s red Chevy, complete with sun-faded photos of the Bella and Edward actors from the movie taped to the windshield.
In fact, it’s hard to turn anywhere in Forks without seeing the “Twilight” actors’ faces, which is why I see no need to pay an extra $30 per night to stay in a “Twilight” room at the Pacific Inn Motel to have Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart staring down at me.
Fifteen miles west of Forks is the Quileute Indian reservation and the oceanside town of La Push. Meyer’s Quileutes, including main character Jacob, turn into werewolves as a means of defending the tribe from vampires.
I can’t say whether the tribe likes Meyer’s characterization, but La Push is considerably less overrun with “Twilight” fever than Forks. The convenience store has a few posters and “Bella’s Bulletin Board” where Twi-hards post notes declaring their allegiance to Team Jacob or Team Edward. The sole espresso stand bears the name “Jacob’s Java.”
If I had come to Forks strictly for “Twilight,” I might have been disappointed. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not a “Twilight” hater, though I find almost as much to criticize — the overly idealized vampire Edward and the underdeveloped object of his affection, Bella — as to admire about Meyer’s novels.
Most of the “Twilight”-related hot spots can be visited in an afternoon … a day, tops. That wouldn’t be worth the eight-hour round trip from Everett, at least not in my book.
But Forks makes a fantastic base for checking out the natural — not supernatural — splendors of the Olympic Peninsula. I sprinkled “Twilight”-related stops in between day trips to Kalaloch Beach, the Hoh Rain Forest and Sol Duc hot springs, all within an hour’s drive of Forks.
But it’s near La Push where I spent the most enjoyable afternoon of the trip at Second Beach, which is worth the roughly milelong trek to the water.
After making my way down the nearly empty beach, I notice the waves coming up to wash away writing in the sand: the name Edward, circled by a heart and coupled with “Twilight 2009.”
Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com
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