Who Let The Girls Out!? 2009

Newport, Washington is a quaint little town of 2,015 on the border between Washington and Idaho just west of the Pend Oreille River. It was a river port town that started booming in the late 1800s with public docks, a ferry, a general store, a post office, a dry goods store, a hotel and several saloons.*

These days, Newport boasts some of those same things plus seven very special shops that have joined together to create a superb shopping experience (see below passport for full list of shops)...Who Let The Girls Out!? premiered in September of 2007. The second annual event was hosted this past weekend.

Since I’ve helped with the event marketing both years (and have been working closely with Shanty) but couldn’t make it last year, I decided there was no way I was going to miss out on the fun this time around. So we packed up and headed out to Newport bright and early Saturday morning with our cameras and credit cards close at hand. (Wink, wink.)

What we found was just charming. Each shop was open and bustling with ladies chatting about the latest fashion trends, cooking gadgets and gardening tips. There was coffee, champagne, cookies, cinnamon rolls, cucumber water and oh my goodness. It was all cute, cute, cute.

These ladies are redefining Newport. Cheers to all of you with entrepreneural spirits, good taste and drive to work hard at what you love. (And what we all love, too: shopping!) I’m sure the 19th century Newport business owners would be proud. I think they might just say, “Who in the world let these girls out!?”

If you squint can’t you imagine what it might have looked like in the 1800s?!

The ladies are staying busy and we’ll have more to show for it very, very soon. Stay tuned....

*Historical info from www.newportoldtownchamber.org