Things to Do in Port Townsend

Welcome to Port Townsend

No matter where you have lived or traveled in the world, you'll soon discover Port Townsend, Washington is a great place to be! The town offers a variety of activities and opportunities.

If you choose, you may want to explore Port Townsend’s parks and beaches.

You may want  to dance to live music,

wander through a museum,

or have fun at a festival.

Perhaps skateboarding is your "thing".

Or you can sit back and relax and do absolutely nothing.

It's totally up to you!

No matter how you want to spend your time with us, we hope your stay will be memorable.



So as you leave the hustle and bustle of city life behind you...

you know you'll be going to a place where time seems to slow down a bit.

Perhaps you will want to watch sailboat races in Port Townsend Bay.



If so, pack a picnic lunch, and grab a beach blanket! Don't forget your binoculars!


You may want to stop by a coffee shop for a cup of coffee or herbal tea and a freshly baked pastry.

Perhaps you'll have a friendly chat with the residents...

or visit with the other "locals"

And at the end of the day, you may want to walk the beaches and watch the sun slowly sink into the horizon.

When you visit Port Townsend, you are in for a wonderful time.

Below you will find information of some places you can visit in Port Townsend.

Farmer's Market

http://ptfmhome.blogspot.com/

I love the Port Townsend Farmer's Market. I can spend hours there. Wonderful produce fills the booths. Simply walking up and down the aisles will turn any vegetable hater into a veggie lover! There are fresh cheeses and jams, and bread, and pastries! Oh my! There is art and jewerly for sale and live entertainment. It seems like the market is where people go to gather. The Port Townsend Farmer's Market has a great hometown atmosphere. Don't miss it!

Whale Watching Tours
http://www.pugetsoundexpress.com/



                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

At some point in your life, you need to go on a whale watching tour. It is an experience you will never forget. Below is information from Port Townsend's whale watching company. One tour actually goes to Friday Harbor, a small town on the island of San Juan. You can watch for whales and then browse the shops at Friday Harbor. Check out the website for the best package for you. If you want to go whale watching, it will pretty much be an all day venture. You'll need a warm jacket and hat because out on the water it can be quite chilly. You also may want to take along some binoculars and a camera of course.   http://www.pugetsoundexpress.com/

Sea Glass

I have discovered the love of looking for sea glass.  I am building my collection. Sea glass or beach glass are small pieces of glass that has been tossed and tumbled on the rocks and in the sand until they are smooth and translucent. The glass comes from items that have been lost ( or simply tossed ) at sea. Usually the glass comes from bottles but glass from lights and other glass objects makes its way overboard as well.

When I find a piece of sea glass I wonder who owned the glass object. I wonder where they were going. I also think about how the piece of glass used to be something they owned and, through the passages of time, a piece ended up in my hand. This connection intrigues me. Some of the glass is very old indeed. Sea glass will excite your imagination.

Going out to the beach for a walk when the tide is out, is relaxing. I can comb the beach for hours looking for rare glass to add to my collection. ( Jade, amber, lime green, forest green, sea foam, soft green, and soft blue are difficult to find. Purple sea glass is very rare as is citron, opaque white, colbalt and cornflower blue. Extremely rare colors include gray, pink, teal, black, yellow, turquoise, red and orange. )

If you want to look for sea glass, you'll need old shoes. Beach shoes would be good. If the weather is cool, you'll need a jacket. North Beach would be a good place to begin but, you can also find some sea glass downtown just below Nifty Fifties ice cream parlor. I doubt the glass downtown is really old but one never knows!

Shopping in Port Townsend

Port Townsend does not have Target, Walmart, Macy's, Kohl's or any other big box store. The shops in Port Townsend are owned and operated by the local town's people. The town is known for its historical architecture. Many of the Victorian buildings were built in the late 1800's. The shops are unique and charming. Take your time and enjoy yourself.

There are plenty of small cafes and tea shops in case you need a bite to eat. The street that runs along the waterfront is Water Street.

Check out all the little side streets as well. There are treasures everywhere!

A short drive from Water Street is Lawerence Street. It is up the hill overlooking the water. There are more shops and cafes. You will also find many of the old Victorian houses in this area. If you feel like walking, you can walk the steps up to Lawerence Street.

On Lawerence Street, stop by Alrich's Market a quaint small hometown grocery store. Upstairs at Aldrich's Market is a little coffee shop and bank.

Kittycorner from Aldrich's Market is the Pane de Amore Bakery.

http://panedamore.com/

They make the best bread and cookies in town. Actually it's probably the best bakery on earth!

The Rose Theater

http://www.rosetheatre.com/

Feel like seeing a movie? The Rose Theater is a step back into time. Even if you don't like what movies that are showing, watching a movie at the Rose Theater is a great experience. No, there are not large rocking seats with cup holders. In place of all the modern trappings, you will feel cozy and at home. Usually the manager will walk to the front of the screen and introduce the movie. The popcorn is great and you'll be glad you bought a ticket to see a movie at the Rose Theater.

Hiking and Biking

There are several hiking and biking trails in the Port Townsend area.

Grab a picnic lunch, a camera, and have an adventure! A map or a GPS would be good too.

Here are some links to help you determine which trail will be the right one for you.

http://www.ptguide.com/recreation/hiking.html

http://www.ptguide.com/recreation/bicycle.html


Kayaking

Would you like to try kayaking for an afternoon of fun? It seems to be a popular sport. If you would like to rent a kayak and spend the afternoon on the water, below you will find some helpful links.

Fishing

You can go fishing in Port Townsend and the surrounding areas. We haven't done any fishing yet. But there is a great deal of fishing to be done around Port Townsend. You can even fish by our house. There are some fishing charter companies in town who would be glad to take you out for the day. Or you can go low tech, grab a fishing pole, get a license, find some water, and fish. I can't promise you'll catch a fish like the fellow in the picture but, I can promise you'll enjoy yourself. Here are some links to check out to help you decide what kind of fishing experience is good for you.

For more information, check out these links.

http://www.ptangler.com/guidedtrips.htm

http://washingtonflyfishing.com/guides/littlestone

Visit Fort Worden

http://www.parks.wa.gov/fortwordenwa.gov/fortworden

Fort Worden was an active military base from 1902 until 1953. It became a state park in 1973.

Built as an artillery installation to help protect Puget Sound from invasion or attack, it never once had to fire a shot in defense.

This fort was the setting for the movie "The Officer and the Gentleman". Currently it is used for conferences and festivals. There is housing available for rentals throughout the year. A hostel is located at Fort Worden.

When you drive into Fort Worden, you get a feeling of going back into time.

The Beach at Fort Worden

The beach at Fort Worden is nice and sandy and that's where most people go when they want to swim. The water is VERY cold so no one stays in the water for long but, the sand is warm and clean. It generally isn't crowded.

This beach is a good place to take children. Adults enjoy this beach also.

Adventures at Fort Worden

There are some old bunkers in the sand dunes of Fort Worden. These were used to defend the area from naval attacks. You can climb on the bunkers and explore them.

The Point Wilson Lighthouse

The Point Wilson Lighthouse is also at Fort Worden. There are tours of the lighthouse. If you go, you must know the climb is steep and tight. If you don't like steep and tight places, I suggest you stand at the bottom of the lighthouse and look up. The view is interesting from that perspective as well.

The beach at the Point Wilson Lighthouse is a good spot for finding shells and strolling. You may find some sea glass.

The Marine Science Center

http://www.ptmsc.org/exhibits/marine.html

I love visiting the Marine Science Center. This small marine center has tide pool tanks for visitors to reach in and touch sea stars, clams, and other sea animals. It's a good way to see up close what magnificiant animals are swimming beneath Admiralty Bay. It's a whole new world we rarely see.

I once saw one of these sea creatures in "real life" on the beach by our house!  It is absolutely beautiful!  It moves like a fairy in an organdy feathers.

Old Fort Townsend State Park

As of this writing, we haven't been to Old Fort Townsend and it is close by us too! I can't tell you much about it at this time. From the pictures, it looks like this fort has the same kind of bunkers as Fort Worden. If you want to go to Old Fort Townsend, check for the times it is open.

Old Fort Townsend State Park

1370 Old Fort Townsend Road

Port Townsend, WA 98368-9777
Get Directions (360) 344-4400

Whatever you decide to do while you are visiting us, we want you to have a relaxing and enjoyable time.

Give us a call.

Heaven will be under your feet as well as over your head.
(Source unknown)

Our House

If you would prefer to not listen to the Point of View Tunes, simply mute

the music by sliding the arrow to the right at the bottom of the player. Near the top of the player is a volume control. If you slide that down, the music will be muted.

The Summer of 2009 at Bill and Sue's Point of View

Bill and I spent 30 glorious days at our house in Port Townsend, Washington. We worked almost every day. Each morning we would compile a "to do" list. Most days we completed all the items on the list. However some tasks took several days to complete.

I considered listing everything we did but I figured you'd become exhausted simply by reading the list. Plus, I didn't want to give you the impression that we're super human.

Bill's brother Stan stayed with us for about ten days, and without his help I doubt we would have accomplished all our goals for the summer.

Here is Stan. He doesn't look very busy in this picture but he really put in long hours helping us.

So let's give Stan a big round of applause!

Thanks so much, Stan!

And I promise we won't make any more guests work as hard as we worked Stan. (Well, if you show up on a work day, we might hand you a rake. We have a lot of landscaping to do.)

Let me tell you a bit about the house. It is has 3,908 square feet of living space. We have a large double garage and 40 feet of deck on the upper level. We plan to add a lower deck next summer.

We have a living room/dining area, kitchen, four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a large laundry room, a great room downstairs, a game room , and a large entry hall.

The upstairs is finished. We still need to get more furniture. We purchased more furniture than the pictures show but I broke my camera lens and I had technical difficulties with my backup camera.

This is the master bedroom. We have a small wall mounted fireplace in the corner for chilly nights.

Each morning all we had to do was open our eyes to see the view outside. We could see Protection Island and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Of course if we didn't see anything, we knew fog had rolled in. In the evenings we could see the twinkling lights of Victoria, Canada. When it was foggy, which wasn't often, we could hear the ships blowing their foghorns at each other. To me it was a comforting sound.

Below are pictures of the master bathroom.

After whacking blackberry bushes and overgrown shrubs, soaking in this deep tub is a luxury.

The walk-in shower has two shower heads. One shower head is higher than the other one.

This is the living room. We still need to have a fireplace mantle made and we could use an end table or two.

The floors are South American pearwood. South American pearwood is a sustainable wood which is twice as hard as white oak. The floor has not been stained. A clear finish highlights each board's individual color variations.



And here is the kitchen.

I love my walk- in pantry.

The countertops are made of recycled paper. The product is called Paperstone. It is a very durable material. If you will notice the counter top has no support for the overhang because Paperstone is very strong.

I can watch ships coming and going from my kitchen window and watch deer nibble the clover. Apparently, the waterfront outside our house is a favorite fishing spot for the local fishermen. We see people tending their crab pots and fishing for halibut and salmon.

This is the upstairs guest bathroom. It is part of a bedroom suite. We don't have any furniture in the bedroom yet.

Because of the technical difficulties with my cameras , I don't have pictures of the powder room, the downstairs bathroom, and the downstairs floors. We stained the concrete floors downstairs brown. They resemble the floors at Starbucks.

This is a ledge above the staircase landing . I guess the seagulls and crows impressed me enough to purchase artwork of them. The piece of wood at the base of the picture frame is actually a replica of a slug. Slugs are as big as the one shown. The neighbors hate them but, since I'm new to the neighborhood, I still find them interesting enough to add to my art collection. I have never asked Bill how he feels about slugs. I suppose I should ask. He does most of the yardwork.

Some Rest For The Weary

Not every day was a work day.

Jenny and Victoria arrived in July and stayed for about nine days.

After picking Jenny and Victoria Violet up from the airport, we took in some Seattle sights.

Our first stop was the Space Needle. The Space Needle is a must see stop for new visitors. From the top of the tower you can see for miles and miles in all directions. And of course the only exit from the Space Needle is through a huge gift shop which awaits visitors when they come down.

Bill and Victoria Violet are looking at the houseboats on Lake Union.

Then we went to Pike Place Market. It's a wonderfully busy and crowded farmer's market. Fruits, vegetables, flowers, jewelry, and art can be purchased at Pike Place Market. There are also wonderful restaurants. If you're a fan of the movie "Sleepless in Seattle", The Athenian restaurant was the setting for one of the scenes in the movie.

Victoria Violet is posing in front of sweetpeas and violets!

After having lunch, we left for Port Townsend, via the Bainbridge Ferry. It is about a two hour drive from Seattle to Port Townsend and the ferry ride adds another thirty minutes.

This is the countryside outside of Port Townsend. A long valley stretches between forested rolling hills. There are only two lane country roads that lead to Port Townsend.

Every week I went to the post office to collect my mail from General Delivery. "General Delivery" isn't an officer in the military. It's a location where folks get their mail when they don't have a mailbox.
(I knew you knew that. I'm just playing around.)

The post office in Port Townsend is a grand old building. Every window has a wonderful view of Port Townsend Bay. Even the upstairs bathroom window has a gorgeous view. I mean how many public bathrooms can claim to have an exspanive ocean view?

Waiting in line to get may mail was a delight. Not only could I look out the windows but the people in line were friendly and often engaged me in conversation. I met a few local writers while waiting for my mail.

Victoria is mailing a letter for me and Jenny is buying stamps at the window. The walls are lined with wooden mailboxes and the floors are made of marble.

If a customer brings in a dog, the postal clerks will offer the pooch a doggie treat.

We had a great Fourth of July in Port Townsend. As per tradition, the fireworks were set off from a barge in Port Townsend Bay. The barge wasn't in place when we arrived at the beach. We waited and waited and finally a tugboat pulled the barge into the bay and the fireworks began! The firework display was held on the beach just below Fort Worden. Fort Worden was the setting for the movie "The Officer and the Gentleman".

Sailboats were moored off shore and the people on board were watching the fireworks from their boats. Some people on some of the sailboats were setting off their own fireworks. Personally, I thought that was a tad dangerous. Can you imagine what would happen to those on board if a firework ran amuck and went below deck?

Prior to the firework display, we played on the beach. It didn't get dark until 10:00 PM.

Yes, it was chilly. We had to wear jackets and by the time the fireworks started we were wrapped in blankets and drinking hot cocoa and coffee.

The atmosphere was festive and exciting.

Each day during Victoria and Jenny's visit were filled with fun activities.

On some days we enjoyed collecting shells and sea glass from the local beaches. No, that is not a boat that was washed up on the old pier. It actually is a boat that is on a trailer in the parking lot of the Nifty Fifties ice cream shop.

Here is the ice cream shop.

We wandered among the vendors at the Port Townsend Farmer's Market on Saturday. We bought fresh manila clams and steamed them for dinner. They were yummy! There was a young couple who sold cheeses they make. I can't begin to tell you how delicious their goat chevre was. I plan to go back next summer and seek them out! I also bought some artwork by some local artists. Victoria purchased some knitted jewerly.

One day we drove to Sequim to see the vast fields of lavender.

Did you know there is lavender flavored ice cream?

Every July Sequim has a huge lavender festival. It's a laid back festival filled with booths selling art and food, tours of the lavender farms, and live music.

Sequim also has a resident herd of elk that wander about. Bill and I have seen them near the lavender fields in the past but, we didn't see any of them this summer.

Sequim is a forty-five minute drive from our house. It is where we go if we need supplies from Home Depot or Cosco. Port Townsend does not have chain stores.

Outside of Sequim is the Olympic Game Farm. This nonprofit rescue farm is the home to animals who have been used in the entertainment business or for some reason or another can no longer live in the wild. Gentle Ben used to live here before his death.

The enclosures are very poor for some of the animals. The lions, tigers, and wolves live in small pens but, the other animals roam about and seem happy. The management had a written statement that explained "The reason some of the enclosures were not up to their standards was because in their fifty years of being in operation, they wanted to take things slowly in order to get everything right."

One day we took the Port Townsend / Keystone Ferry to Whidbey Island to shop. The ferry had just left Port Townsend in the picture below.

As an educator, I have learned children draw about things they know. I was expecting Victoria to paint flowers, cacti, her dog, and family. But Victoria Violet painted sky, the sun, the ocean,and pine trees.

Sometimes watching TV on the sofa was a good way to pass the time.

And at the end of each day, we enjoyed the sunsets over the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

We had good times with friends. Here is my long time friend Mechele and her granddaughter Shannon. Mechele lives in Mount Lake Terrace, a Seattle suburb. Shannon was visiting her grandparents. She lives in Florida.

We were having lunch at a restaurant in Edmonds. Michael, Mechele's husband is sitting on the right.

It was Mechele and Michael who told Bill and I about Port Townsend. They said it is a nice little town in an area that only gets 17 inches of rain each year. I'm glad we took their advice and checked out the town. We never would have found our Point of View!

To learn more about Port Townsend, please read my June 1st blog entry.