We visit Port Townsend to see relatives almost every year. It seems whenever we are in any port town, our legs walk us over to the harbor. In Alaskan harbors we see a lot of jellyfish, usually an otter or two and birds singing to us from various shrouds and lines. Down south, we go for the aquarium ‘touch tank’ experience. Anemone after anemone after anemone (we do also try to get the kids to say it ten times fast!). Mussels doing their feathery combing dance and a sea star if we’re lucky.
If you can take a boat out in the Puget Sound, it has always been glorious for us! Even in the rain. And she who gets seasick, has yet to in the waters here.
Heading back can be hard. The kids want to live on a boat. Who am I kidding. We do too.
This past year we decided instead of just free, unstructured days, the kids could learn something new, that they would have trouble accessing in Alaska. So sailing classes for the older boy,
And Messing About in Boats for the younger girls.
If you have never stopped into the Northwest Maritime Center in downtown Port Townsend, do. You will absolutely not be disappointed. The center is breathtaking and the working wooden boat building shop is incredible to watch. The kids were so happy with their personal adventures.
Downtown Port Townsend is so well laid out for touring, eating, and window shopping. Alas, usually with the kids we make it to the ice cream store and a few historical buildings along the waterfront before they want to play at the beach. Which we do, a lot.
But we visited Fort Worden this year. When are headlamps and a good game of sardines ever a bad pair?
We walked out to the bunker another day and after more sardines, shooting videos of kids ascending magically through the ceiling (we discovered a child sized circular opening in a room), and trying to scare each other, we settled in for an impromptu concert just outside the largest, darkest room. A woman practicing opera comes to sing for the acoustics. It was thrilling.
Living an Unfinished Adventure 