Whitbey Camano PNT: Port Townsend

On the day we would leave Washington State, we finally got in a walk along the Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT) on the Port Townsend side.  My original plan was to walk ~12km from town to Four Corners, then take the #8 bus back (or, if Colin didn't want to join me, potentially walk the ~10km directly back to Zoe's Cabin from Four Corners -- in the HERE map below, you can see Zoe's Cabin is the lone "dot" in the upper left quadrant).

However, since we had spontaneously chosen to walk the very unique Dungeness Spit the day before, we ended up short on time for walking the PNT.  So, sadly, we only managed about 2.5km through town to Kah Tai Lagoon and back again (bout 5km total), before hopping the ferry back to Whidbey Island and driving North to the Canadian border. I still think it was an interesting walk, with a few surprises.

That morning, we had awoken in Zoe's Cabin to pouring rain. It seemed like we were getting ALL of this renowned "sunny" area's annual 16 inches of rain on our short trip. I was NOT looking forward to the outdoor shower. But then Colin made us some decaf coffee, and the rain seemed to slow down, so I ventured out to the shower. Again, the lovely hot water was great. Again, I came back inside talking about how we could have an outdoor shower at our place in the Cowichan.  (If you haven't been reading the other entries, we were still discussing the possibility of buying a vacation cabin in the Cowichan Valley.)

After finishing our coffees and saying goodbye to our hosts, we packed up and headed out to Port Townsend. The plan was to tour the town before doing a bit of the Pacific Northwest Trail, but the weather was still poor. Of course, by the time we arrived in turn, the sun had come out, and we were overdressed.

After parking a couple of blocks from where we ate in Point Hudson the day before, we stopped in at Elevated Ice Cream & Candy, to buy a locally-made chocolate thank you gift for the people who had been watching our dog this past week.

We continued through the town, pausing to admire the beautiful buildings. It was all very "old-timey," like a well tended museum town.  Below is the red N.D. Hill Building on Water Street (now home to the Waterstreet Hotel), the blue Hastings Building, the yellow-accented red Captain Tibbals Building (now home to the Palace Hotel), and the cement  Eisenbeis Building, named and built after Port Townsend's first Mayor. They were all built in 1889-1890, and wonderfully restored.

We ducked down some stairs in the sidewalk at the corner of Taylor and Water, to find several shops in an underground tunnel.  On one end, the tunnel appeared deserted, and reminded me of the spooky "Underground Seattle" tour we had taken on a previous year.

Back up at ground level, we stopped at Better Living Through Coffee to grab some more decaf.  It was perched on the water, and had some pretty amazing-looking desserts, including a blackberry pie I was really hard-pressed to pass up.  But I needed some "real food" in my belly before I could eat sweets.  I very nearly bought a slice to-go, to eat later.

We continued along Tyler Street, towards the Ferry dock. The bluffs across the street were impressive. The flag of the Post Office peeked above the ridge.  The iconic red bell tower was not visible from this angle, but we had seen it earlier, when driving to Fort Worden.  Here is a shot of it that I took from the ferry.

Signage at the entrance to the ferry told us about Port Townsend's "Bicycle Past," starting around 1900, when the town began creating bike paths and built a cyclodrome.  In modern times, they were still completing the Larry Scott Memorial Trail that we were standing on, as part of the Olympic Discovery Trail. It seemed to me that it followed precisely along the PNT in this area.

Just past the ferry, we strolled beach-side. The first building past the beach was the Bayview Restaurant, and we embarked on a path labelled "Water Walk" (to which someone had added a descriptive adjective). It led between the restaurant and the water. Someone had also added a small carved wooden sign announcing "Shirley Browning Park."

Although several official-looking signs reassured us that this was indeed a public walkway, it did feel at times like we were walking through people's balcony areas-- and in some cases, their buildings! Colin noticed that a little row of suites each had a tiny hot tub on their decks... one of which had a couple soaking in their birthday suits!

The path rejoined the road by Tides Inn, right where Water St became E Sim's Way.   Looking up at the bluff, which was now dropping down towards the road, I snapped a couple photos of a lovely white building that looked like a lighthouse.  I didn't notice until later, that I also snapped this perfectly poised bird in the frame!  :D

We followed E Sim's Way a couple of blocks to Kah Tai Lagoon Park.  At the intersection of E Sims and Kearney St, a string of traffic lights swung like Christmas-tree lights.

After that intersection, the sidewalk split from the road, and felt like a real path again, as it followed alongside the park.

At the park, we strolled around its many and varied trails, ate some perfectly ripe blackberries, and spied a heron doing some fishing.

After enjoying the park, we returned along Water St to El Sarape Mexican Restaurant, where I had a fantastic shrimp fajita.  I think Colin ordered huevos con chorizo (I am sorry, I can't remember for sure--I was very focused on my fajita).  I wanted to take some photos of the neat murals they had inside, but felt shy for some reason.  Fortunately, you can see them on their website. The waiter was very attentive to us the whole time, and quite considerate when we told him that we were rushing for the ferry.

Colin was worrying quite a bit about getting to the ferry on time. Almost to the point of spoiling our dining experience. We were supposed to arrive 30 mins early for our 1pm reservation, and pulled up to the ferry ticket booth at 12:27pm.  Just like on our trip over, the attendant waved us onto the 12:30pm ferry.  Sigh.

As the ferry pulled away from the deck, I got a nice shot of the Port Townsend shoreline, featuring the Post Office (at left) and the red bell tower (about 1/3 over from the right edge).  If you look closely, you can also see the yellow Better Living Through Coffee, plus the beautiful historical buildings I mentioned earlier, peeking out over the nondescript box stores lining the water.

In the other direction, we could see where we had walked along the ocean below the bluff, and were surprised that the red clock tower of the Jefferson County Courthouse dominated the landscape, when we couldn't see it from below. Or maybe I was just too enamoured with the little white "lighthouse" to notice it??

Here I am on the ferry, with our entire Port Townsend PNT walk in view!  You can even see the yellow Northwest Maritime Centre complex and the white Doc's Marina Grill (both near my head), where we stopped for coffee and lunch on the day we hiked Fort Worden.

I also got a nice view of Fort Worden, with the white Coast Artillery Museum (on the left) and the white Lighthouse (at the rightmost tip) flanking Artillery Hill. 

The ferry chugged merrily along, and soon we were facing the now-familiar bluffs of Fort Casey, where our journey began.  It seemed I had walked nearly every shoreline I could see!  :D   That felt very satisfying.

By the time we arrived back at Fort Casey, the rest of the family had all departed, so we didn't stop by the Inn, but rather just kept driving North.  As we stopped for a red light, Colin reminded me that I wanted to get a photo of the Whidbey Island Gate Guardians, so I got him to lean back and took these out the window.  It was the best I could do.  Not exactly postcard-worthy, but still kinda dramatic I think.

On Anacortes, we stopped at the famous Shrimp Shack, even though my stomach was too full of Mexican to eat another big meal of fried seafood. Still, I just could not stop thinking about it, ever since had passed it our way to Whitbey Island at start our trip. Looking online at their gigantic fried shrimp, I got even more encouraged.

Although most days, one should expect fairly lengthy lineups, on this day, there was surprisingly no lineup at all. Still unsure about how much I could fit into my stomach, I spied "shrimp cocktail" on the menu, and thought it would fit the bill perfectly. Well, let's just say I would not be overly full afterwards....

Colin ordered a chocolate peanut butter ice cream in a waffle cone, and it was outstanding.  I was surprised to also see a decent amount of local microbrewed draft beer on tap there.  But of course, we abstained, since we still had a fairly lengthy drive ahead of us.  

The rest of the trip back was pretty uneventful.  Even the border crossing was relatively quick.  And so ended our PNT adventure... for the time being.  ;)  I would definitely enjoy going back and walking more of that amazing trail in the future.

If your interest was piqued by the Port Townsend area, I can recommend another good blog about the town and its various attractions http://www.realfoodtraveler.com/2011/12/real-quick-getaway-port-townsend-washington/