Port Townsend

Ok, everything's put away and back in their place. We just came back from a camping trip to Port Townsend. We had a great time and Heather was able to come and enjoy some time with us. We like to stay at Point Hudson, it's a marina that's right at the end of town and is a wonderful place to stay. We've been there now about 6 times and each time is better than the last. We love that the RV park is right in town and right on the water. Our RV spot was right by the water - literally 20 feet from the Pacific Ocean, it was great to hear the water lapping on the rocks. Because it's fall, we really weren't sure what the weather was going to be like. We were hoping for very little rain and that's what we got. Apparently, we just missed a small rain and wind storm the night before. The weather for the rest of the days were perfect, and of course, the humidity was high.

There is an awesome restaurant right at the park called T's Restaurant - it's become a favorite for us whenever we are in town. It is casual, fine dining at it's best. The menu is great and because it's right there at the park, you don't really have to dress up. A lot of the patrons are campers, but there are many who come eat there because the food is great - customer service is great too.

You know when you go camping, sometimes, it's either the place that's interesting or the people that are interesting? This time, it was the people. Out of the entire RV park, our side of the park ended up with 4 RV's in one spot. Our neighbors were very nice. Soon after we got settled, we got a neighbor. It was a couple who had 2 cute little pugs. The man's name was Mike and I am sorry to say that we forgot his wife's name. They were very nice people and it turns out that they were on there way back from Oregon. They went to pickup the motor home they were it. We thought they were from Oregon because of the license plate, but they're from Sequim!

We thought this was so cool - after dinner on Tuesday, we went for a walk on the beach. As we're coming back, we meet the campers that are in the 2nd spot next to ours - next to Mike's motor home. Their names are Patty and John. We start chatting about camping, when Patty asked if we were there in May (we were actually, with our oldest daughter Dawn). We told her yes and she said she remembered talking to one of our daughters (it was Dawn). In May, they had a spot that was across from us - this time, they were 2 spots away from us. Turns out Patty and John are from California and they love to come up here, they were going through Oregon after leaving Washington. When they do come here, they don't make a reservation, they just show up and take what they get - how ironic that they were in a spot by us and it May we were both there at the same time also. I didn't remember them, but Jim did - I bet Dawn would remember them. Isn't that neat? We've met so many nice people camping.

On Wednesday, we went to do some downtown shopping. I love going to Wynwood Beads, they have an awesome array of beads and charms - many of my creations have come from this fabulous store. While at Wynwood Beads, Jim starts chatting with the owner. That day, there was a strong odor of sewage permeating the town and Jim was asking what might be causing that odor. The owner said that it was coming from the sea gulls. The sea gulls are a huge problem in town and it get exacerbated by the food businesses who throw out leftover food for the birds to eat, and what goes in has to come out and it causes a large problem, so the food businesses have been told to not throw out their leftover food.

We also found out that back in the day, Port Townsend was designated to be the original Seattle. There is an underground, but not the kind of underground that we think of. Port Townsend is one of several towns on the Pacific Northwest to have Shanghai Tunnels. Now I've heard of the term "shanghai" and I've known it to mean to get taken by someone. Well it's true, it was called shanghaiing back in the 1800's where men were "taken" from saloons forcefully and forced to work on ships. That's why a lot of saloons back then had trap doors. These doors led to tunnels built to take kidnapped men to ships and they were forced to become part of the ship's crew. Here is a pic and history of shanghai tunnels. Here is a another pic of a larger tunnel in Tacoma.

Apparently, the tunnels under Port Townsend flood frequently and river otters travel through them to come and land and have their babies. River otters are said to be the the size of a medium-sized dog and can be seen coming onto land.

So, that was our adventure in Port Townsend. We go every year and we always learn something new - this time, we learned about some of its past history. Next time you go vacationing, ask about the area you are visiting and you might learn something you never knew before.

Thanks for reading!!