Category: Day Trip

Further explorations at Bloedel Reserve

A walkway zig zags through a marshy bog at the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island. I didn’t consult my guide while I was there but later discovered that a healthy cluster of nearby plants was, as I thought, carnivorous. They are in the middle crook of the walkway and you might make out their oval heads.

While not exactly a rain forest, parts of the Bloedel Reserve resemble rain forests in Western Washington and are rich in lichen, mosses, and ferns.

The forest walk opens onto the first of several ponds created by Prentice Bloedel as he developed the reserve. Although his fortune came from the timber industry, Bloedel initiated conservation practices in the industry and carefully created water features at the Reserve only where the natural high water table permitted. He was an interesting man. Read more about him here.

The nearby Bloedel Residence is used for exhibits, cultural events, and administrative offices. It is on a bluff that overlooks Port Madison Bay and Puget Sound. A lawn in the back opens onto a gorgeous water view.

Bloedel Reserve

Last week I spent several enjoyable hours exploring the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island about an hour from Sequim. The Reserve is the vision of lumber magnate Prentice Bloedel who resided there with his wife Virginia in his retirement from 1951 to 1986. Open grasslands, forested areas, ponds and wetlands, and even a formal Japanese garden can be viewed in a walk through the property.

The Reserve is 150 acres of woodlands and gardens which reflect Bloedel’s vision and developed in collaboration with several landscape architects. Interestingly, Bloedel was colorblind; the Reserve reflects his deeper interest in varied textures and shapes rather than floral displays.

Ponds draw wildlife and reflect the surroundings.

I’ll show you more of the gardens over the next several days.

Street trees in Port Townsend

I read several months ago that underground utility work in Port Townsend had required removal of street trees along Water Street, Port Townsend’s downtown main street. I’ve known the street as a leafy concourse which, for me, has been a blessing and a curse. The trees are beautiful and shady. And they’ve partially or completely hidden the fascias of Port Townsend’s beautiful Victorian buildings, as shown here.

Looking along Water Street here you can see the mature trees on the right, and the newly planted street trees further left. Work is still ongoing.

The new trees are big enough to make a statement but have a ways to go before they shade the sidewalks as before. In the meantime, Port Townsend’s Victorian buildings are looking good.

Waterfront scenes

In Port Townsend this week we glanced down to the water to see Lady Washington sailing into town, obviously under power. The original Lady Washington had a long history of maritime firsts in the 18th century, including the first flagged U.S. vessel to round Cape Horn, circumnavigate Vancouver Island, and reach Japan.

The replica shown here was built in 1989 and is the Washington State ship and the state’s “Tall Ship Ambassador.” Click here to see her under sail and to learn more about her interesting history.

Not far from Lady Washington the scene was filled with maritime activity. The Port Townsend-Coupeville ferry was arriving, as was a float plane. In the lower right is a small power boat. And in the distance beyond the ferry was a sailboat. All in all it was an assortment of just about anything that floats your boat.

The other courthouse

In yesterday’s post I showed you the Clallam County Courthouse. Coincidentally, yesterday I went to Port Townsend and passed by the Jefferson County Courthouse, above, so you get to see the grand courthouse of our neighboring county. Built in 1892, the building is Romanesque Revival and designed by W.A. Ritchie. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

The courthouse was built during a booming, optimistic era in Port Townsend. Its natural deep water harbor at the mouth of Puget Sound made it a perfect destination for sailing ships coming into the Pacific Northwest. Port Townsend was a key West Coast shipping center and its beautiful Victorian era buildings reflect its growing wealth.

The arrival of railroads at the southern end of Puget Sound bypassed the region and changed Port Townsend’s fortunes. Lumber and eventually shipbuilding and an arts community contributed to Port Townsend’s survival and today it’s a popular tourist hub.

Musical greetings

Yesterday’s subject was rock and roll. It reminded me of another musical interlude I experienced in August. This bag piper greeted arriving visitors at the hotel where we stayed in Victoria. Mind you, he wasn’t stationed at the door for us. I was told he was there for a tour group. That group, unlike us, paid the piper.

Alexander’s Castle

We camped for a night recently at Fort Worden State Park near Port Townsend. Fort Worden is a compound of former military buildings that now house a conference center, education partnerships, vacation rentals, and eateries as well as campgrounds and beaches. And in the midst of it all is Alexander’s Castle, shown above.

In 1883 the rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Port Townsend, John B. Alexander, acquired 10 acres of land in this area and built what came to be known as Alexander’s Castle. He and his intended bride would live here after he fetched her from Scotland. Alas, she married another and he returned a bachelor. He used the building as a temporary residence. In 1897 the property was acquired by the federal government and the construction of Fort Worden began.

In the 1880s and 1890s Alexander held posts in the region as Honorary British Vice-Consul and Her Majesty’s Consul. In his later years he lived in England and died there in the 1930s. During military operations at the Fort, Alexander’s Castle was used for family living, as an observation post, and a tailor shop.