Playing Tourist in Port Townsend

It’s a running joke among those who live in Western Washington that summer begins on July 5.  For that very reason, we decided to book our Port Townsend sails and rigging trip the week after the unofficial start to summer in the Northwest.  Did we make the right decision?  You make the call.

- Seattle’s high on July 1: 62 degrees
- Seattle’s high on July 8: 95 degrees (the day we left)

Golden Gardens beach and all the sunbathers as we left the marina

Friday was busy with the business end of our trip (getting measured for sails and having the rig inspected), but we made up for the “work” with a good bit of “play.” Lunch and beers on the sunny patio of Sirens Pub, a walking tour of Port Townsend’s historic Water Street and a movie at the charming Rose Theater.  The original theater was built in 1908, and we can’t resist seeing a movie here whenever we’re in town.

After a stroll through the lovely farmers market on Saturday morning, we took advantage of one of the lowest tides of the year to walk along the beach from the Point Hudson Marina to Fort Worden State Park.

The sand looked solid enough, but some graceful leaps and bounds were required to navigate the soggy sand and streams. What, that’s not graceful?

We hiked all around Fort Worden, an Army base dating back to the turn of the century when there  was an overzealous concern about protecting Puget Sound’s waters from attack, and had a picnic lunch on one of the old gun installments with sweeping views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Whidbey Island. Climbing up a bunker to our picnic spot

What a view!

The Point Wilson Lighthouse was open for tours, so we took the tour from three cute little old ladies.  We got a picture of the lighthouse but not the ladies.

The spiral staircase to the top of the lighthouse. Aaron got scolded by one of the ladies for bringing his backpack to the top.  For shame, Aaron!

To avoid the wet-shoe fest that was our walk out on the beach, we pulled out our street map and walked back to the marina via the road.  Not quite as picturesque, but pretty darn close… 

What a difference a day makes.  We were socked in with fog when we left with the tide on Sunday morning.  Yay for radar! And for ferries with horns. As the fog started to break up, we saw a sailboat motoring north toward Port Townsend.  The guy at the helm started waving both of his arms at us, but before I could discern if he was in trouble, a “Bella Star, Bella Star, Bella Star this is Cool Breezin’” came over the VHF.  It was our friends Craig & Cindy and their son Alex on their way to the Gulf Islands in Canada!  Small world.