Normally my vacations are spent in Rockaway Beach Oregon. It’s a beautiful town, small and unassuming with highway 101 dividing it into two.
A few things kept me going back there. It has a hotel a few miles outside of town for under $100 (during the off season) with two rooms, a kitchenette and full size refrigerator and gas fireplace, and partial ocean view. And they have a store in town that stays open till 10pm. That’s a big deal to me. Anyone who goes to the coast often, you know you have a window between 10am-5pm to do your shopping. That is of course if you want to drive all the way to Seaside for the 24hr Safeway.
It's in a central location, near Tillamook Oregon, (roughly 15 minutes away) and there is great thrift shopping in Rockaway itself, as well as in the surrounding beach towns.
It's also close to Hug Point State Park. If you've never been to Hug Point, I highly recommend it. You can see starfish and sea anemones hanging out in tide pools and clinging to the rocks right up close. There is also has a natural fresh water waterfall. It's truly a beautiful state park. One of my favorites.
However, I was ready for a change of scenery. With the power of Google maps, I chose Port Townsend, Washington. It’s a coastal town, 3 ½ hours north of Vancouver. And to add a little flair, I decided to book a bed and breakfast. I’ve never experienced a B&B before.
Thanks to Google again, I found the lovely Blue Gull Inn. My sister Christine and I looked it over and decided that it seemed like a nice enough town to explore. She was looking for a small town to observe for her new book, and I wanted experience something new.
Thanks to Google again, I found the lovely Blue Gull Inn. My sister Christine and I looked it over and decided that it seemed like a nice enough town to explore. She was looking for a small town to observe for her new book, and I wanted experience something new.
One of the nice things about the drive to Port Townsend is the straight shot up 1-5 to Tacoma. If you have more time, you can drive HWY 101 most of the way up there. The drive was beautiful. We were lucky with sunshine the entire trip. I feel I must mention that there is a long stretch of HWY 101 on the way to Port Townsend that is four lanes. FOUR LANES. You can’t begin to fathom how much joy this brought me. Hwy 101 south of Washington can be horrendous, especially during warmer weather. We flew down the highway, keeping a steady speed over 60 mph!
Christine and I both had lunch at 123 Thai Food. Both of us were unsure of where we wanted to eat. And I knew wherever we stopped needed to have a vegetarian option. This place did not disappoint. I went with chicken slathered with peanut sauce. In retrospect, this picture does not make this meal look that appetizing. However, it was quite delicious. A few years ago after briefly being introduced to peanut sauce, I wanted to put it on everything. Imagine how my dream was realized when I saw this chicken peanut sauce-o-rama.
It was good. I plan on trying to duplicate it!
Christine's was a veggie tofu spicy, er... I don't remember.
Shortly after driving around for a bit, we saw a beautiful structure that was very Victorian looking. We had time before check-in, and went to find it. Christine is quite the navigator, which made it easy for me to rely on her.
This is on the shoreline. Notice that it's rocks and not sand.
Christine and I on the pier.
Looking at the bay from the penthouse at the Swan.
We'll take the mystery box!
Christine & Maude in front of Blue Gull Inn.
The view from the bell tower.
Everything was within walking distance.
The post office. I took to calling it the Mailery.
We saw so many deer! I believe we saw 4 all together.
My bed. Christine was gracious to let me have the queen. She took the day bed.
Okay. I'd never seen toilet paper folded like this before. I was very excited, and told Christine to come in and check it out. My dad said that most nice hotels fold the toilet paper. Guess it means I need to get out more.
I'll post day two shortly.
Mahalo for reading!
-Laura Borelious
Places mentioned in post:
Surfside Hotel and Resort Rockaway Beach Oregon http://www.surfsideocean.com/
Larry’s Market Rockaway Beach Oregon http://tiny.cc/0hprd
Tillamook Oregon http://www.tillamook.com/
Hug Point Oregon http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_191.php
123 Thai Food http://www.yelp.com/biz/1-2-3-thai-food-port-townsend-2
Blue Gull Inn http://bluegullinn.com
Directions from Vancouver WA http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=vl
I am glad that you took a picture of the toilet paper. When I stayed at the Hilton in Anchorage they folded the paper. Fancy. Looks like you two had a good time. Is most of the town older buildings? It looks like a town lost in time, very cool.
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