|
Written by Sharlene Minshall
|
|
Monday, 01 August 2011 00:00 |
|
 Labor Day in Port Townsend, Washington, was dreary. Looking for some cheer, I stopped in the Lighthouse Café on Water Street, a pre-1880 building, for a quiet breakfast in a warm, gentle atmosphere. Fifties music played softly in the background. People crowded in out of the rain. Others walked dogs under drippy flower baskets. RVs glided slowly through town, on to the great unknown. People leaving historic downtown hotels dragged their luggage behind them. Trucks parked in the center lane to bring goods to merchants busy unlocking their shops. A biker pulled a really long trailer behind him, perhaps all his worldly goods. As I ate, I thought about the summer places I shared with three friends during my stay in Port Townsend.
There are so many activities, you would never need to leave town but Grace and I laughed our way through Mark Twain’s The Diaries of Adam and Eve, part of an outdoor concert series at nearby Fort Flagler State Park. Lynn and I drove to the Sequim lavender farms and found everything fragranced with lavender, including bread and dip. All the farms were gearing up for the start of the Lavender Festival. Chris and I drove from Port Angeles to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. This time it was unusually clear and as we hiked, we could actually see beyond the ridge to the strait.
Grace and I also spent several days visiting the west side of Olympic National Park. We admired the magnificent colors of mountain-surrounded Lake Crescent and continued on to Hoh Humm Ranch, a 200-acre, historic, family-run llama (and other animals) bed and breakfast farm. We met interesting guests from many places during the two enormously large and enormously delicious breakfasts.
I urge you to allow a whole summer for hiking, biking, or lounging and scrounging the Olympic’s many beaches. Its exploration isn’t something you can experience thoroughly in a week and because it is somewhat out-of-the-way, I think people generally do not allow enough time. Perhaps that could be said of any and all of our magnificent national parks. This very short trip included the Hoh Rain Forest, the ocean beaches I had experienced on previous RV trips, and a few other “roads less traveled.”
Over the Water
You go very few places from Port Townsend without running into water, so you schedule your life around ferries. Grace and Lynn and I caught the ferry to Whidbey Island. Immediately off the ferry, we boarded a bus that travels throughout Whidbey Island for free. The routes, schedules, and stops were very convenient and took us directly to the Coupeville Arts and Crafts Festival. It was a perfect warm, sunny day to enjoy good friends and a great combination of artisan booths, entertainment, and the inevitable food vendors.
Does it read like I ate my way through the summer? Well, to confess, I managed to taste-test most of the local hole-in-the-wall cafes.
 Chris and I took the free tour of the 107-foot gaff schooner, Merrie Ellen, and they proudly filled us in on its history. This wooden tall ship, built in British Columbia in 1922, spends its free time down at the end of the deep water pier, where you can sign up for sailing. Abundant charters offer fishing for halibut, salmon or shrimp, as well as sightseeing tours for puffins and whales, and dinner cruises. Biking, sea kayaking, sailing, rowing and sculling or just riding the ferries throughout the islands are all part of Port Townsend fun.
If you go straight at the north end of Water Street, you’ll find a campground at Point Hudson; however, you would get your wheels wet. Turn quickly onto Jackson, then Jefferson, then right to the Port Hudson Marina & RV Park and be right on the water (not in it). While the campground is pricy, you can see all the action from there. The RV park isn’t open when the Wooden Boat Festival takes over the grounds. The festival will be held this year on September 9 to 11.
The Decrepit Look
When Lynn and I attended the Wooden Boat Festival, the sponsoring Wooden Boat Foundation and the Northwest Maritime Center were celebrating the completion of a new year-round facility at the entrance to the Point Hudson Marina. The organizations promote maritime education and marine activities, i.e., a working multi-use waterfront.
Although Lynn had become an avid RVer through the years, she always said, “The ultimate freedom is being on a boat.” She loved talking with the various boat owners and asking questions. One lady told us, “Part of the charm, beauty, and quaintness is the old decrepit look.” We didn’t know if she was referring to the old boats or us.
We had perfect weather, but Lynn was having a little trouble getting in and out of the boats. One fellow reached up to take her hand. Then he turned to me, “Do you need help?”
 “No,” I said, grabbing his hand before he could change his mind. “I just like to hold hands.” He laughed. Everybody was in a good mood. We bought tickets for all three days. Although parking was limited in the immediate area, shuttle buses ran every ten minutes from the Visitor Center parking lot.
A whole roster of classes, demonstrations, presentations, and exhibits awaited us. The festival is as educational as you want it to be, and there are activities for the whole family. The kids were getting a big kick out of making tiny boats in one area and having a Captain Pirate’s Treasure Hunt in another.
Most boats posted histories of how they were made or where or with what. A comprehensive Wooden Boat Festival guide listed each boat, its history and which ones were for sale. It also offered great maps, which were indispensable. Something that disturbed me was that it was made very plain that “No dogs or other pets are allowed on festival grounds,” and yet many owners ignored that instruction. With so many people around narrow piers, leashed dogs were very much a nuisance and a danger.
If you tired of boats, the nearby Arts & Crafts Fair offered everything from hand carved masks to pottery to photography and more.
I had never heard zydeco music so we combined our evening meal with watching this spirited dancing. One lady wheeled a walker on to the floor and danced around it. Think you can’t dance…think again. She had a great time! A teenage girl danced in Ichabod Crane fashion, throwing her arms and legs every which-a-way in wild abandon. An interpretive dance enticed one person to get down to the floor (and back up) in an amazing show of grace.
Port Townsend has something going on all months of the year. I’ve always said that RVers should spend enough time in one area to see and experience all that is there, but I have only followed my sage advice on rare occasions. Were I to do it over…
By the time I took my leave, Chris had already gone on to other adventures. Lynn and Grace produced a farewell dinner that included Lynn’s luscious blackberry cobbler for which they both collected the fresh berries hanging off the bushes everywhere in typical Northwest fashion. It was a great summer with great friends in a great place. Go and enjoy. God Bless.
Autographed copies of 2009 fourth edition RVing Alaska and Canada ($19.95) and Adventures with the Silver Gypsy ($14.95) are available through Amazon.com. Follow Sharlene Minshall’s blog, “The Silver Gypsy,” at rvlife.com
Trackback(0)
 |
|
Subscribe to RV Life Print
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
