Port Townsend, Part 2


 

We went back to Port Townsend. It’s just not the same without our friend Max, but Ann had a training to do there to keep up her arborist certification, and Mary and I went along for the ride.

While Ann was in the training, Mary and I did the same little hike that Max took us on, but in reverse,


starting at the waterfront, going up the beach, then up and over the hill and back into downtown. Port Townsend had gone from bustling to sleepy – unexpected, since I assumed some place as tourist-friendly as it is would become increasingly busy with summer coming on. At first I attributed this to the day of the week – we were there on a weekend before, and this was a Monday morning.

I learned that it was the time of day. We were there at 8 a.m. Downtown was mostly quiet at that time, except for the coffee shops. There wasn’t a seat in the house at Velocity, so when Ann was in her meeting, I tried Better Living Through Coffee, which was also busy but had seats at the bar. The coffee was excellent, and the day-old spinach Danish  was worth more than the dollar I paid for it.

I then went over to the local library, a 100+ year-old Carnegie library perched high on the hill. It’s clearly a source of pride for the community, and its historic architecture and features are well preserved and maintained, but it also has a nice computer lab and great wifi. It’s a good place to kill some time on a rainy day.


For lunch I went to Sirens, a tavern in one of the big, historic waterfront buildings downtown. The sign on the sidewalk beckons you inside, then up a flight of stairs, then up another flight of stairs, then around a corner and down a long hallway. It’s worth the climb. It’s a nicely appointed historic pub, with both an open social area, quieter booths and a room with a pool table. I don’t know how they got it up there.

I had the clam chowder. It was excellent as advertised, but not as good as Ann’s. It’s hard to beat clam chowder made with clams you dug yourself, especially when Ann’s the one making it.

https://www.sirenspub.com/

https://www.bltcoffee.com/

https://ptpubliclibrary.org/library

https://www.facebook.com/velocityporttownsend/

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