Port Townsend, Olympic Peninsula, Washington

The Harbor

Boondocked overnight at Port Townsend Visitors Center.  Last night we went for a walk to the nearby Port Townsend Harbor.  This is a large harbor and is known as a Maritime Center for Independent Boat Builders.  Ann’s maternal grandfather was a maritime master carpenter so this was of particular interest to her.   Every September, the Wooden Boat Festival is held in Port Townsend and people come from all over the world to attend.

Upper and Lower Old Town Port Townsend

The Shuttle Bus for all of Port Townsend starts at the Visitor Center.  For the cost of $1.00, seniors can take the hop on/hop off shuttle bus around the area.  The buses run on the hour or the half hour depending on your chosen route and they’re quite comfortable.

In the morning we took the bus to the Old Town area and poked around there most of the morning meeting lots of the locals and enjoying ourselves.  Also spent some time in the upper old town were there are lots of old Victorian houses to see.   Caught the shuttle back to the visitors center (where we’re boondocked) and were happy that the bus was right on time.  Made some delicious Clam Chowder for lunch and planned our afternoon.

Fort Worden

This afternoon, took the shuttle to Fort Worden located on Puget Sound.  Now a State Park with a lighthouse, campgrounds and a couple of miles of beach, it is an interesting place to explore.  This was an active US army fort poised to defend Puget Sound from 1902 to 1953.   We went to see some of the bunkers and gun emplacements on the bluffs above the Fort.  We’re drawn to Military History so this trip was perfect for us; a little hiking in the hills, a beautiful environment and lots of history.  A hostile shot was never fired from the guns here and they were removed during WWI for use in Europe.  It was raining lightly and the temp. was about 40 F when were were there but we were not alone.  There were two other couples exploring the sights here.  Rather impressive to us; one of the men looking at the bunkers was wearing shorts.  OK, raining and 40 degrees F. does not usually indicate touring weather but wearing shorts in this weather (!), amazing.   We were cold just looking at him but to each his own.