Washington State

Places to visit in the state of Washington

Through Anacortes and La Conner, the Long Way Home

After four days exploring Whidbey Island, it was time to go home. However, we didn’t want to just drive straight home. This was an opportunity to spend a little more time exploring some of the towns in this region. We would take the long way home. If you remember, we took the ferry coming over to Whidbey Island. For our return trip we would go around the north end to catch the freeway going south. People leave Whidbey Island when…

Continue Reading “Through Anacortes and La Conner, the Long Way Home”

Forts and Nature converge in North Whidbey Island

Friday turned out to be a beautiful day on Whidbey Island. It was a great day for hiking which is what we spent most of the day doing. After getting ready in the morning, we headed back down to Fort Ebey State Park. While yesterday we spent time there on the beach, today we would spend most of our time in the woods. Fort Ebey was built in 1942 to help protect the Puget Sound region. Its purpose was to…

Continue Reading “Forts and Nature converge in North Whidbey Island”

Exploring the Unique Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve

Last week I mentioned that the central part of Whidbey Island was part of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve. This is truly a unique situation in terms of the National Park System. 85% of the land within this reserve is privately owned. Nevertheless the national, state, county, and city of Coupeville have worked together to make this a place where the historical, cultural and geographic uniqueness of the region is preserved. Visitors won’t necessarily know they are in a national…

Continue Reading “Exploring the Unique Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve”

From a Park, a Garden, and a Farm to Coupeville

The weather forecast for Wednesday had predicted gloomy weather, but much to our surprise we woke up to mostly clear skies and a sunny outlook. After eating breakfast at our hotel, we were readyfor the day. We would travel back south, but be in more of the central part of the island ending up in Coupeville. Our first destination was South Whidbey State Park. While this park is on the water’s edge, the focus of the park is more hiking…

Continue Reading “From a Park, a Garden, and a Farm to Coupeville”

Relaxing in South Whidbey’s Tranquil Beaches and Woods

With summer finally arriving in the Northwest, we looked around for somewhere to go for a week of vacation. However, as everyone knows, travel during the summer of 2022 has been a challenge. Everyone seems ready to travel after two years of pandemic mode. The result has been high airline prices amid flight cancellations. We weren’t interested in that. So we considered a road trip, but with the price of gasoline, that didn’t seem very practical so we looked around…

Continue Reading “Relaxing in South Whidbey’s Tranquil Beaches and Woods”

Cherry Blossoms Beckon to the University of Washington

One of the spring rituals one hears about in Seattle is the blooming of the cherry trees at the University of Washington. In an area known as the Quad, cherry trees line the four sides. When they bloom in mid-March, locals enjoy the spectacular display. My wife and I had never visited the University to see this show so when the clouds seemed to be clearing on a Tuesday afternoon, we decided this was the day we would check out…

Continue Reading “Cherry Blossoms Beckon to the University of Washington”

Climate Pledge Arena: Seattle’s Newest Wonder

On a recent newscast in the Seattle area, the newscaster referred to the newly opened Climate Pledge Arena as Seattle’s newest wonder. While I don’t normally think of sports arenas as wonders, I thought it was an interesting comment on this renewed arena. Seattle has had a football field, a baseball field, and now is excited to have a hockey and basketball arena. The opening of Climate Pledge Arena has been a big deal for the city of Seattle. For…

Continue Reading “Climate Pledge Arena: Seattle’s Newest Wonder”

Olympic Peninsula: Seabrook, Beaches, and Sunset Clamming

Our last day on the Olympic Peninsula was originally supposed to be a trip back north to explore Ruby Beach and other beaches in that area. However, on our way down the coast on Wednesday, we realized how long that trip was. After such a busy week, we just didn’t have the energy to drive back. We decided instead to just hang out along the coast near our hotel. It turned out to be a decent and interesting day in…

Continue Reading “Olympic Peninsula: Seabrook, Beaches, and Sunset Clamming”

Olympic Peninsula: Quinault, More than just a Lodge

Early in our marriage my wife and I spent a night at the Quinault Lodge. What I remember most about our time was dinner. During dinner we were suddenly told that we needed to evacuate the dining room because of a fire in the kitchen. We all went out onto the back lawn standing around until the staff finally instructed us to return to our tables. Now over 40 years later we would return to the area to see what…

Continue Reading “Olympic Peninsula: Quinault, More than just a Lodge”