Fort Worden has been a favorite destination of mine for some time now and I was fortunate enough to be able to share it with friends this summer. Back in the 90s, before our time in both England and Tucson, we made summer trips up here with several other families to enjoy the beaches and explore the old abandoned military installations. We would rent a couple of the officers’ houses and split it up between the group’s families – usually holding about 2-3ish families per house.  As kids, we would take our bikes and walkie-talkies and roam the park while our parents would sit around and enjoy doing nothing, an activity that I’ve come to appreciate more and more.

Anyway, here’s some history about Fort Worden from Wikipedia.

Fort Worden and accompanying Fort Worden State Park are located in Port Townsend, along Admiralty Inlet in Washington.^[3] It is situated on 433 acres (175 ha) originally built as a United States Army installation for the protection of Puget Sound. Fort Worden was named after U.S. Navy Rear Admiral John Lorimer Worden, commander of the USS Monitor during the American Civil War.

Fort Worden was an active US Army base from 1902 to 1953. It was purchased by the State of Washington in 1957 to house a juvenile detention facility. In 1971, use was transferred to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and Fort Worden State Park was opened in 1973.

Wikipedia contributors. “Fort Worden.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 Aug. 2011. Web. 9 Aug. 2011.

I made an inquiry through the housing department of the park and was contacted by a nice lady named Janeen who told me that there would be an NCO’s house available for the night of the 5th. While a two night stay would have been preferable, as I really like to have a full day to sit around and have fun, the one night would have to do.

Taking I-5 north from Belleveue, we left at about 1:15 and were hoping to hit the 2:25 Edmonds-Kingston ferry but unfortunately, thinking that we might be able to sneak into the ticketing line through downtown Edmonds, we had to turn around and try to find our way to the end of the ticketing line which went back a ways down the WA-104. Oh well – they seem to know what they’re doing. Anyway, we waited in the line and enjoyed watching some hippies get chewed out for jumping into the line a couple cars behind us by another person waiting. They left shortly thereafter as, apparently in Washington, we take cutting in line seriously and provide a hotline to report folks who do so.

So after arriving in Kingston, Kir and I proceeded to figure out our way to the Hood-Canal bridge and then to Port Townsend. This was reasonably straight forward but we needed to make sure we took the right turn that would take us north to the bridge. A short hours’ drive later, we arrived at the fort and were able to check in, and move into the house by 6pm. Awesome! Looking back it seemed like it took a while (1pm – 6pm) but we really took our time and didn’t do the ferry thing properly. If we were to do it again I’d be willing to be we could get there in 2-3 hrs tops.

We knew it would be a while before Brian and Felicia would be there (Brian got offf work at about 5pm and they would still have to catch a ferry) so Kir and I took a walk down to Point Wilson to see Batteries Kinzie and Vicars and the beach. it was cloudy but not raining so it made for a very pleasant walk. We encountered a herd of Pagan Hippies at the kitchen shelter; I was disgusted by the wafting stench and off-key music emanating from their dwelling but Kir seemed no worse for the wear. The sad irony that filthy peace-loving hippies now inhabit this most awesome and venerable place of glorious battle is not lost on this guy. Oh well – next time I shall bring soap to melt their skin.

Anyway – we soon returned to the house to shower, relax, and turn on the oven for the Chicken pot-pie that Kir made for the trip. Unfortunately, Brian and Felicia arrived before the oven warmed up sufficiently and they had to wait a bit before it was ready. Between my shower and their arrival, I decided to pre-game the night’s festivities through the consumption of Red Stripe. A delightful decision if I do say so myself – and I do.

I think that’s all for now… More to follow including the night walk and the following day. For now – Pictures:

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