We Be Trippin': The Great DIS-nee Road Trip

[FirstTimeCaller]

Let's continue our journey down the island to historic Coupeville. This town is the county seat of Island county and this is where you'll find the courthouse and civilian hospital (not that we will be needed that, I hope).

This art town has been used at the setting for several motion pictures including Practical Magic (starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock); it also briefly doubling for a New England coastal town in War of the Roses (starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito).

Say, let's stop for lunch and get some fantastic local Dungeness Crab at the Mad Crab.

Oh look! We're in luck and Coupeville is having one of their many festivals featuring local arts and crafts.

The Sea Dogs are always a popular bunch (and one of the guys is my kids' pediatrician).

While we are here, we can check out the gray whale skeleton exhibit. This is Rosie, a young gray whale that sadly died and washed ashore onto Whidbey Island.

 

[catotigger]

FTC -- Wow! Everything looks so beautiful!

I was lucky enough to spend 2 weeks of training in Seattle, and I managed to do a little sightseeing on the weekend in between. I saw lots of neat sites, and I've always wanted to go back for a longer visit. You are giving me all kinds of places to go when I manage to take a "non-Disney" vacation!

Seriously, nice job - can't wait to see more!

Cat

 

[Marshay]

Let's continue our journey down the island to historic Coupeville. This town is the county seat of Island county and this is where you'll find the courthouse and civilian hospital (not that we will be needed that, I hope).


Say, let's stop for lunch and get some fantastic local Dungeness Crab at the Mad Crab.

This town looks so quaint!!

The crabs were delicious!! I need to get some more!

You are giving me all kinds of places to go when I manage to take a "non-Disney" vacation!

Cat

What's that??

 

[FirstTimeCaller]

Here's our journey so far:

Time to leave Coupeville... but not before we grab some Kettle Corn!

It's a nice day (and we gotta take advantage of what few of those we get around here!) so let's head west to Fort Casey (yes, another state park).

This park is home to the Admiralty Head Lighthouse.

This lighthouse was featured on a US stamp back in 1990:

Kids, that was back when you could mail a letter for 2-bits!

Just down the hill from the lighthouse is a fascinating place -- the disappearing gun battery. These guns were built to protect the waters of Puget Sound. The guns would be hidden from view to any ships at sea... unfortunately, the development of aircraft put an end to their stealthiness. The guns are surrounded by a maze of tunnels used to move ammunition around. These tunnels are positively creepy as most parts are pitch black!

As a special treat, if you get out your Red/Blue 3D glasses, here's a closeup of one of the guns I took and made into a 3D image:

It's worth mentioning that this park is also a great place to fly a kite!

 

[DSNY4ever]

Oh Washington is so beautiful so far! My husband and I dream of moving there someday. I'll take one of those nice victorians that you showed us

 

[FirstTimeCaller]

Right below Fort Casey is the Keystone Ferry Dock. This ferry will take you over to the Olympic Pennisula (it's about a 35 minute crossing) to the town of Port Townsend. If you like Victorian houses, you'll love Port Townsend.

Here's a picture of the dock. The water is not so deep here, so the ferry run gets canceled from time to time if the tide gets too low (it has been known to get stuck in years past).

There's an RV campsite right next to it.

And there's an underwater park for any of you SCUBA divers out there. The breakwater affords an excellent opportunity to spy octopus (octopi?). I have yet to dive here, but it is on my list (if I can just get my sinuses to cooperate).

We'll continue heading south to the small town of Greenbank (town motto: "Just barely big enough to have a Wikipedia page").

There's a little scenic overlook to the left of the highway... let's pull over.

Now, if you look closely at the trees across the road... Yes! There he is. A bald eagle. Aren't you glad we brought the binoculars?

Now continuing on just a little bit... we come to the Greenbank Farm.

This used to be a working winery (when we first moved here) that grew Loganberries. They made Loganberry liquor, Loganberry wine and Loganberry pie.

Sadly, the winery changed hands several times and most of the Loganberry vines wilted from neglect. Now the farm raises Alpacas and has a tasting room full of fine Washington wines (Washington has a similar climate to France and rivals California for great wines).

Say, we better gas up the RV, it's running on vapors! Grab some chips while you're in there.

 

[Marshay]

Right below Fort Casey is the Keystone Ferry Dock. This ferry will take you over to the Olympic Pennisula (it's about a 35 minute crossing) to the town of Port Townsend. If you like Victorian houses, you'll love Port Townsend.

Here's a picture of the dock. The water is not so deep here, so the ferry run gets canceled from time to time if the tide gets too low (it has been known to get stuck in years past).

And there's an underwater park for any of you SCUBA divers out there. The breakwater affords an excellent opportunity to spy octopus (octopi?). I have yet to dive here, but it is on my list (if I can just get my sinuses to cooperate).

So what's the water temp??

Sadly, the winery changed hands several times and most of the Loganberry vines wilted from neglect. Now the farm raises Alpacas and has a tasting room...

OK, I thought you were going to say a tasting room to taste Alpacas!!

 

[FirstTimeCaller]

So what's the water temp??

Cold! Typically around 50 to 55F.

OK, I thought you were going to say a tasting room to taste Alpacas!!

 

[Marshay]

Cold! Typically around 50 to 55F.

Yeah, I think I'll skip that!!

 

[FirstTimeCaller]

I'll try this again... (first attempt got lost).

Ok, lets' head to Freeland for some dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Gordon's of Blueberry Hill.

I recommend the duck or lamb, but it's all fantastic (here's a video by Chef Gordon).

Now that we've all found our thrill, let's head down the hill to Freeland Park on Holmes Harbor.

This is absolutely the best place to go clam digging. You might even dig up a geoduck -- the largest clam found only in the waters of the Pacific Northwest (I'd post a picture, but I'm afraid it might get mistaken for something obscene). Unfortunately, the beach is currently closed to shellfish collection due to, um, bacterial concerns. Hopefully, this will get resolved and the beach will reopen to harvesting soon.

Ok, before it gets dark, how about a boat ride in one of the inlets at Sunshine Beach at Useless Bay (so named because it provided inadequate protection to ships during storms). Oh, I'll need some help peddling.

 

[FirstTimeCaller]

Let's head east for a change and check out the town of Langley by the Sea. You will notice a close resemblance to Coupeville and indeed, Langley is also an art-centric community.

Be sure to stop in the Dog House for a glass of ale or a great pork-and-slaw sandwich.

It's still early, so we might want to stop and catch a movie at the Clyde Theater. Looks like the new Mummy movie is showing on the one lone screen.

Be sure to stop and have your picture taken next to this statue by our own Georgia Gerber.

I'm not sure why every tourist feels the need to take a picture with this statue, but they do... so go with it.

The statue overlooks Saratoga Passage, which, if it were spring time, we might see migrating gray whales go by.

Ok, I think it's time to say goodbye to Whidbey Island. Let's head down to the Clinton ferry dock and catch a ferry over to the mainland.

We can grab a latte or burger at Shirley's.

Ok, back to the RV everyone... here comes the ferry. All aboard!

Don't worry if you missed getting a bite at Shirley's. There's a snack shop on the ferry.

Let's sit back and enjoy the view over to Mukilteo.

What luck! The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is pulling into it's home port of Everett.

Well, I guess this is where we part company... for now. Before you head off out of Mukilteo you'll want to check out the lighthouse (there's a festival this weekend):

or grab some great seafood at Ivar's:

or go SCUBA diving at the T-Dock (this is where my son and I got our certifcation):

If you are longing for a warm comfortable bed to rest up on... you might want to check in at the Silver Cloud right on the water.

If you got time... drop in for a tour of the Boeing plant -- where they make the latest commercial jetliners.

 

[FirstTimeCaller]

Thanks everyone for indulging me in my tour of Whidbey Island. We traveled about 70 miles.

Please be sure to pick up your complimentary souvenir slideshow.

One final thing... Eloise and Baxter insisted that I post a picture of them that presents their better sides:

 

[DSNY4ever]

Okay bald eagles, yummy food, scuba diving, clam digging - that's it, I am moving! Great job FirstTimeCaller, I can't wait to see the rest of Washington! And the obscene geoduck gave me a good laugh

 

[catotigger]

Amazing tour, FTC! I loved it!

And you are right - Cat loves the paragliding!

 

[FirstTimeCaller]

Amazing tour, FTC! I loved it!

And you are right - Cat loves the paragliding!

You are quite the daredevil! Or at least, your avatar is.

 

[catotigger]

You are quite the daredevil! Or at least, your avatar is.

Yeah, that cat-o-tar is a WILD woman! Cathie is actually quite the couch potato!

 

[Marshay]

Amazing tour, FTC! I loved it!

And you are right - Cat loves the paragliding!

Terrific!! What's next???

 

[catotigger]

Terrific!! What's next???

I think I still owe Circusgirl a safari...not sure the Texas thing counts!

After that, I'm not sure. Any ideas?

 

[Marshay]

I think I still owe Circusgirl a safari...not sure the Texas thing counts!

After that, I'm not sure. Any ideas?

White Water Rafting
Scuba Diving (meet Nemo!)
Dancing with Wonder Fleagle
Riding all the Mountains of WDW
Trapeze (maybe over Niagra?)
Zip Line (think Tinkerbell)

How's that for a list?

 

[FirstTimeCaller]

I think the bus is stuck again. I'd offer to push, but I'm in Japan...

And we're getting so close to our destination too...