Feeling Melancholy

After nearly 50 days, I am boarding a flight back to Alaska on Tuesday, May 18th. I am feeling rather melancholy at this point and for several reasons. First and foremost is because of the most enjoyable time I have spent with my sister-in-law, Gretchen; her husband, John; and their fearless protector, Kellogg, a 55 lb Labradoodle. We have shared many laughs, meals and memories not to mention accumulating more memories for years to come. Second, for the spectaculor beauty this country holds. I don't have the necessary vocabulary to describe the magnificent vistas I observed. I feel fortunate to have covered the miles of the Pacific Coast I traveled and to have had the time to do so. And, last, because DABL Ramblings will become silent for awhile.....at least until I embark on another adventure.

Port Townsend - Last stop on the Olympic Peninsula

Port Townsend is an amazingly beautiful place and is situated at the apex of Admiralty Inlet and Port Townsend Bay and across from Whidbey Island. The buildings are of Victorian architecture and cover both the uptown and downtown districts. We were camped at the marina at the end of Water Street. There we watched many fishing boats as they left in the early morning and returned at dusk. Sailboats scurried about the surface and were entertaining to observe....especially when the sailing lessons were in session.

We were there from Tuesday, May 11th until Friday, 14th. We would have stayed longer, but the RV park was booked for the weekend because of the Rhododendron Festival. Besides that fact, a parade was scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm. Trying to negotiate the narrow, winding and steep streets in a 40' motor home pulling a 25' trailer while avoiding the parade route would have been quite a challenge.

Port Townsend was most likely the most charming of the places we visited, but the weather in Sequim cannot be beat!

Nathaniel Davis Hill Bldg - 1889

In 1888 at the age of 65, Nathaniel Davis Hill undertook the ambitious development of the corner of Quincy and Water Street. The building was complete in 1889 at the cost of $25,000.

In 1928 the building changed hands and was renovated into the DeVillo Hotel where rooms rented from 75 cents to $1.25 a night. A tavern moved into the corner storefront the next year and the space has been a tavern ever since. Today it is called the Water Street Brewing Company.

The Hastings Building

This building was constructed by the Hastings Estate Company consisting of widow, Lucinda, and the children of Loren B. Hastings. Lucinda was the first non-native woman to settle in Port Townsend.

The cost of this elaborate building consisting of three stories and a basement cost $35,000-$45,00 to build in 1889. It was considered the handsomest building in Port Townsend with a 38' inside courtyard reaching to the roof. When the top floor business left during the depression a house of ill repute was said to have moved in.

The Hastings Estate Company and the Port Townsend descendants of the original family still maintain ownership of the building.

The Terry Building

I couldn't resist snapping a picture of this building because it bears the name of my sister. The shop on the first floor is a Yarn store.....imagine that!

A saloon was torn down at this site in 1890 and Fred Terry built the current one. It originally housed a print shop, served as a boarding house and contained a Chinese laundry in the basement. In 1903, the first phone company in town moved in followed by Citizens Electric, Pacific Telephone and Telegraph and a tailor shop. It then stood vacant for many years and then purchased and restored in 1981. The basement has been occupied by a tavern/restaurant for 20 years. The building's recessed doorways are flanked by cast iron from Port Townsend Foundry which protected the wooden doors from the weather.

St Paul's Episcopal Church

Besides the busy downtown area of Port Townsend there is another shopping/business district on the bluff known as the Uptown district of this city. St. Paul's Episcopal church is located here and is a short distance from the heart of downtown.

Construction began in 1862 and took three years to complete. St. Paul's was the third Episcopal congregation in the state of Washington and the first to build its own building, which makes St. Paul's the oldest Episcopal church building in continuous use in the state.

In 1882, the congregation, finding its church in the path of an impending street regrade, placed it on rollers and moved it to the present location and is across the street from the historic Bell Tower.