One Coupeville man’s love for fish and chips hasn’t wavered, even when he’s spent the last year consuming the fried seafood fare probably more often than the usual customer at Ivar’s.
Just under a year ago, Eric Arnold was named the grand prize winner of Ivar’s “Where’s the Ferry?” contest. The Seattle-based seafood chain devised the artistic expression contest as a response to the shifting of the Mukilteo ferry terminal about 1,200 feet along the waterfront, which happened in 2020. What used to be a brief trot to the restaurant’s walk-up window from the ferry lanes is now a risky venture that might result in missing the boat bound for Whidbey Island.
Arnold composed a song wondering about the whereabouts of the ferry, which ended up winning him free fish and chips for a year. Now, he has about three weeks left to use the remaining five coupons; he received 52 in total.
“Deb and I set out to use them,” Arnold said of him and his wife. “We were a little intimidated at first.”
The couple found creative ways to use the coupons at various Ivar’s locations, from walking onto the Clinton-Mukilteo ferry to driving around and stopping in Marysville after a Costco run to visiting friends in Seattle.
With the two of them regularly using the coupons, you’d think that they’d have an even number left. This is not the case because of the time Arnold decided to run over to Ivar’s Mukilteo Landing for one meal when they were the second car in line at the ferry; he barely made it back before the boat set sail.
“I didn’t think I could carry two meals, and I was a little bit concerned about the time,” he said.
The No. 1 question friends ask is if he’s tired of eating fish and chips.
“I think I’m more hooked than ever,” he says in response.
When the coupons are all used up, Arnold said, they’ll be happy to pay for meals at Ivar’s once again, because he and Deb are “just complete fans of Ivar’s.”
A lifelong musician, Arnold jumped at the chance to record his song “What Happened to the Mukilteo Ferry?” through the GarageBand app on his phone.
“There was nary a ferry and getting more scary but I’m not the type to complain, I had to get to Whidbey Island but the ferry was now on the lam,” Arnold sang as part of the tune.
Other entries, of which there were more than 200, consisted of poems, posters, photographs and paintings. But it was Arnold’s ditty that ultimately rose to the top.
He was surprised with the news at the awards ceremony, which took place at the Mukilteo location. He brought his guitar along, and closed out the evening with a rousing performance of the winning song. The video of his performance can be viewed on the Ivar’s website.
“I’ve always really enjoyed music, and I’ve been playing guitar since I was in high school,” Arnold said.
Since then, he’s gotten more interested in songwriting and has performed all around Whidbey Island as Eric “Burblesbelly” Arnold, a name inspired by the ample tummy of his Devon Rex cat. Burblesbelly is also the name of his YouTube channel, where one can find songs like “Squirrels in Love,” “There’s a Frog Making Trouble in My House” and “What Exactly Does a Cat Do.”
“A lot of songs that I’m writing are sort of Whidbey themed, just sort of fun ditties that mention Whidbey landmarks and Whidbey businesses,” Arnold said.
He plans to perform his original music at Blooms Winery in Freeland at 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19.
Coupeville resident Eric Arnold with pet Devon Rex cats Lenny and Burble. (Photo provided)
Eric Arnold won free fish and chips for a year from Ivar’s for his composition of original song “What Happened to the Mukilteo Ferry?” in response to the restaurant chain’s “Where’s the Ferry?” contest. (Screenshot provided)
