Port Townsend, Washington

Cindy drove us in over Hood Canal Floating Bridge. The Hood Canal Bridge is a floating bridge that carries Washington State Route 104 across Hood Canal and connects the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas. At 7,869 feet long, (floating portion 6,521 feet) it is the longest floating bridge in the world located in a saltwater tidal basin, and the third longest floating bridge overall. First opened in 1961, it was the second concrete floating bridge constructed in Washington. Since that time, it has become a vital link for local residents, freight haulers, commuters, and recreational travelers.

Port Townsend

A Victorian Seaport and Arts Community

Port Townsend is also called the "City of Dreams" because of the early speculation that the city would be the largest harbor on the west coast of the United States. By the late 19th century, Port Townsend was a well-known seaport, very active and banking on the future. Many homes and buildings were built during that time, with most of the architecture ornate Victorian.



Port Townsend boasts the Northwest's greatest selection of Victorian homes and buildings on the National Register. Because of its unique historic circumstances, the town has retained a fine collection of public and residential structures, many of which have been largely unaltered- except for recent restoration- since the 1890's

Bell Tower 1890

 For more than 50 years, the bell was used to call volunteer Fire Fighters to their posts.  It is the only known tower of its kind in the United States.

Mount Baker in the background behind Admiralty Inlet the and the San Juan Islands.

"Where there is a will there is a way"

Fort Worden State Park

Fort Worden and accompanying Fort Worden State Park are located in Port Townsend, along Admiralty Inlet in Washington. It is situated on 433 acres originally built as a United States Army installation for the protection of Puget Sound.

Fort Worden was an active US Army base from 1902 to 1953. It was purchased by the State of Washington in 1957 to house a juvenile detention facility. In 1971, use was transferred to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and Fort Worden State Park was opened in 1973.

Admiralty Inlet was considered so strategic to the defense of Puget Sound in the 1890s that three forts, Fort Worden, Fort Flagler, and Fort Casey, were built at the entrance with huge guns creating a "Triangle of Fire" that could theoretically thwart any invasion attempt by sea. Fort Worden, on the Quimper Peninsula, at the extreme northeastern tip of the Olympic Peninsula, sits on a bluff near Port Townsend, anchoring the northwest side of the triangle. The three posts were designed to prevent a hostile fleet from reaching such targets as the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett.

The forts never fired a hostile shot and the guns were removed during World War I for use in Europe. Subsequently, Fort Worden was used for training a variety of military personnel and for other defense purposes.

Construction on Fort Worden began in 1897 and continued in one form or another until the fort was closed in 1953.

Artillery Hill

 Battery Walker

 North Beach at Fort Worden

Look WHOO we found awake. We believe this to be a Barred Owl. We originally thought maybe a Spotted Owl. Cindy spotted this guy in a tree just above the trail we were hiking in Worden State Park.

Port Townsend wins so far for the most deer just wandering the streets like lost dogs.