The Olympic Peninsula's Northeast Corner By Car

The Olympic Peninsula is vast, taking days to explore even the basics. But you can get a satisfying taste of the area's wonders in just a day or two by driving out to Kitsap and Jefferson counties, a short distance from Seattle. Port Townsend, the ultimate destination of my suggested road trip, is just 55 miles from The Emerald City (plus the ferry ride), 91 from Tacoma or 216 from Portland, OR.

From Seattle, however, I suggest a somewhat longer route, of about 80 miles to Port Townsend, leaving the city on the Fauntleroy-Southworth Ferry (a 35 minute crossing, $10.25 or $13 for car and driver, the latter price for peak season), additional passengers $2.90; less for seniors). The routing I like takes you to two charming villages and along pristine waterside roads with views of cooling waters, combined with draughts of oxygen-enhanced air from the proliferation of trees all around.

From the ferry landing at Southworth, take Route 160 west a few miles to the Port Orchard turnoff, leading you directly into the town. When you finish with this village, take the road to Bremerton and Highway 3 north to the exit for Poulsbo. Then, after you've had enough of Norwegian kitsch, leave again on Route 3 and cross the Hood Canal Bridge on Route 104. Turn off for Port Ludlow a few miles on, but instead of following Route 19 north to Port Townsend, I suggest you take Oak Road (which becomes Oak Bay Road), merging with Route 19 later on, thence via Bethel Avenue into Port Townsend.

Highlights

In addition to the real highlights, the glorious eye- and soul-healing infusions of sunlight, greener-than-green trees and bluer-than-blue water and sky, I like the contrasting villages of Port Orchard and Poulsbo, the former really folksy and down to earth, the latter somewhat contrived but still fun. Port Orchard, while still a genuine working-class village, is on the cusp of gentrification, as a few New Age shops now huddle between bars and clothing stores. One example is the Radiant Energy shop at 738 Bay Street, featuring yoga, numerology and herbal health classes, tai kwon do, mantra meditation, a healing drum circle, and a course in "animal intuition", not to mention chair massages at $15. Phone 360/895-9095.

Further north, Poulsbo is a genuine Norwegian-American community, with a cute main street, a nice waterfront park (where I suggest you eat your picnic), a famous bakery on Front Street and a Scandinavian grocery store. But a certain kind of Boomer generation sophistication is at full throttle here, with cell phones ringing in shops and restaurants, and the deadening presence of a Thomas Kincaid "art" store indicates that genuine has been replaced largely by artifice.

However, at the end of the road, is a town that seems to me a kind of air-conditioned-by-nature Key West, the very artsy-crafty community of Port Townsend. This town boasts the presence of two National Historic Districts (on the waterfront and up on the bluff), hundreds of opulent Victorian mansions, and the winning last year of the title "Great American Main Street Award" from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Port Townsend is to be praised for keeping strip malls outside its borders, but there are now a few too many high-priced shops with cute names, including art galleries and spurious souvenir outlets. Typical of the many New Age establishments here is the Mind Over Matter Center for Well-Being, featuring meditation, crystals and stones, feng shui, life path profiling, aura color counseling, and "angels, mermaids & fairies." It's at 1012 Water Street, phone 360/385-3851, e-mail mom@olympus.net, Web site www.mindovermattercenter.com.

You can enjoy whale-watching from Port Townsend, looking for the Orcas in the San Juan Islands on full day adventures (8:30 to 6) costing $47 to $52.50 (less for children). Along the way, you call at Friday Harbor for four hours, and have two wildlife stops plus time in the whale watch zone west and south of San Juan. Phone P.S. Express at 360/385-5288 or see the Web site, www.pugetsoundexpress.com.

Guided hiking, camping, snowshoeing, backcountry skiing, and naturalist trips throughout the vast Olympic National Park can be arranged by Olympic Mountain Outdoors in Port Townsend (PO Box 1468, Zip 98368), phone 360/379-5336, Web site www.olympicguides.com. A typical day trip costs $49 (under 13, $29), including transportation, guides, permits, etc.

For more information on Port Townsend itself, go to the Web site, www.ptguide.com or phone 888/385-6978.

The area abounds with special events, especially during summer, and in Port Townsend in particular. Among the highlights of the year are these few examples, chosen for their variety and popular appeal:

Olympic Music festival (Concerts in the Barn) on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 from now through September 9, featuring the Philadelphia String Quartet, $22, but less for students, seniors and young people, phone 206/527-8839 or go to www.musicfest.net.

Port Townsend Film Festival, September 28-30, a few tickets for $7 available 15 minutes before each of the 20 films shown, phone 360/379-1333, Web site www.ptfilmfest.com.

Wooden Boat Festival, September 7 to 9, free to watch, at Point Hudson Marina, tickets for boat admission and symposia through Wooden Boat Foundation, 360/385-3628, e-mail festival@woodenboat.org, Web site www.woodenboat.org.

Lodgings in Port Townsend

The "Best Bargain" accolade goes to The Waterstreet Hotel, where rooms with bath go from $50 to $125 in summer, $45 to $100 in winter. You'll be staying in a Victorian building, in the heart of the historical downtown district, on the second and third floors, with a pub downstairs. Each room has cable TV, and some have kitchens. There are suites with private decks overlooking the bay, and non-smoking rooms are available. 635 Water Street, Port Townsend WA 98368, phone 800/735-9810 or 360/385-5467, Web site www.waterstreethotelporttownsend.com.

You are right down on the water at the Point Hudson Resort & Marina, where a room with private bath and two single beds goes for $79, a queen bed for $89, and the "Officer's Quarters" (upper floor with views) for $99. If you don't mind sharing a bath, the double bed room or queen go for $59. You can also get a two-room suite with bath for $99. There are three restaurants on site, one serving breakfast and lunch (the Otter Crossing Cafe), one serving all three meals (the Landfall) and one, Chinese, serving lunch and dinner (see Shanghai Restaurant in the Dining Out listing below). The facility also has an RV park, with rates from $17 per day. One of the joys of this place is the presence of wild river otters, which may be scrounging around in the RV Park, lunching on the beach or idling about on the docks of the marina. The motel contact is: 103 Hudson Street, phone 800/826-3854 or 360/385-2828, fax 360/385-7331, e-mail pthudson@olypen.com.

The nicest place to stay in town is the Baker House Bed & Breakfast a beautiful house atop the hill looking over the bay. Two of the four rooms have gorgeous views, so be sure to request those when booking. The rooms are done just as those in any upper class home in Victorian times, but with marvelous added touches such as piles of books in the hallways, family photos strewn around, and ceiling fans in the bedrooms. Cozy lounge, classic dining room, and the affable and intelligent proprietors (Herb and Jean Herrington) on hand will make you feel truly at home. Rates start at $85 and include a highly-praised three-course breakfast. It's at 905 Franklin Street, Port Townsend WA 98368, phone 800/240-0725, or 360/385-6673.

Some folks might not like the location of the Aladdin Motor Inn, though it sits on the water, because it's in the commercial district down in the Port area itself. You can, however, sail a small dinghy from the shore here, and the view across the bay is as nice as anywhere else. A modern building, the Aladdin features in each of its rooms private bath, phone, microwave, fridge, cable TV and king- or queen-sized beds. Non-smoking rooms are available. Free continental breakfast is included in the rates, which range from $85 per room in summer, $50 in winter. Contact the inn at 2333 Washington Street, Port Townsend WA 98368, phone 360/385-3747.

Back on the main drag in the historic district, you'll find the Belmont (1885), where waterfront double rooms run $89 in summer, $69 in winter. There's a good restaurant on the ground floor (with a terrace on the water), and rooms (formerly offices) are upstairs. They say, probably correctly, that they are the town's "only remaining 1880's waterfront restaurant and saloon." Expect the usual Victorian decor, high ceilings and brick walls in this case, with queen beds and private bathrooms. 925 Water Street, Port Townsend WA 98368, phone 360/385-3007, Web site www.porttownsendvacations.com.

If you are really into saving money, big time, you could consider the Olympic Hostel out at Fort Worden State Park, where beds go for just $12 or $15. The Fort was used as the locale for filming much of An Officer & A Gentleman. Contact the hostel at 360/385-0655.

Restaurants in Port Orchard

At the heart of local social life here (since 1928) is Myhre's, "under the light" (easy to find--it's the only stoplight in town, at the junction of Bay and Sidney streets), where breakfast is served from 6 am, and there are daily dinner specials, such as Sunday's Southern Oven Fried Chicken for $8.95, including gravy, mashed potatoes and vegetable, as well as (on weekends only) choice of homemade soup or salad. The regular breakfasts start from $3.50 (large stack of pancakes) and $5.95 (ham, eggs, hash browns, and toast or biscuit). At lunchtime, a burger goes for $4.95, spaghetti with salad and garlic bread the same. Richard & Patricia Rylander are the proprietors. The phone is 360/876-4634.

Also on Bay Street is the Harborside, "the oldest bar in Port Orchard," which isn't on the harbor at all, but is atmospheric as all getout. They've just added on a new verandah on the side, and there's an outdoor patio with gas firepits to barbecue the ribs they serve. They have micro beers, too, and burgers run from only $4.95. Open for lunch and dinner from 11:30. Located at 714 Bay Street, phone 360/874-9575, Web site www.biteout.com.

In Poulsbo

Reliable and popular, J. J.'s Fish House, like many of its rivals, straddles the block between the waterfront/parking lot and Poulsbo's main drag, Front Street, with an outdoor terrace as well as a big and cheerfully busy dining room inside. A hamburger here goes for $5.95, including fries or coleslaw, with a kid's menu featuring adult choices at only $3.25. For dinner, you might want fish and chips at $7.95, a dollar more than they cost at lunch. On the Waterfront, phone 360/779-6609.

Typical of the gentrification that is taking place in once-quaint Poulsbo is the Gazebo Restaurant at 18830 Front Street, in the heart of downtown, "behind the magnolia tree." Once the restaurant of the ancient (by US standards) Olympic Inn, it is now a friendly, yes, charming, spot, featuring an outdoor terrace in front, and two cheerful dining rooms inside. The owner-chef features three soups and three salads daily at lunch, the former at $4 a cup, $5 a bowl. When we visited, the special was chilled daiquiri soup. The soups, salads, and pasta are served with "rustic organic bread." The panini (grilled organic focaccia bread) sandwiches come with Gazebo Chips, and each (e.g. provolone chicken), costs $6.95, though baguettes (e.g.. Black Forest ham) are just $5.95. The restaurant expects to open for dinner starting "sometime in July." Phone 360/697-1447.

If you have room after a meal, belly up to one of the last real drug store soda fountains in the country at the Paulson Pharmacy (Apotek, the Norwegian word for drug store, is the sign on the Front Street facade), where prices are not nostalgic, a single scoop ice cream cone costing $2.22.

Port Townsend

Yes, it's another real soda fountain in Don's Pharmacy at 1151 Water Street, and it's open daily from 9 to 4, serving breakfast and lunch. Sit at the counter and have a basic breakfast (two eggs, bacon, toast and coffee) from $3.50, or at lunch, a deli sandwich from $4.50 or chili burger at $5.95. Ice cream floats are $2.95, sundaes 3.50, cones $1.50, or (dream on) a banana split at $6.50. Phone 360/385-2622, but there are no reservations at the counter!

The best Chinese restaurant in town is the Shanghai, out at the Point Hudson Resort, featuring Hunan and Sichuan cuisine, and promising "no MSG" in the food. Main dishes, such as mu shu pork, start at about $6.50, but luncheon specials cost just $5.25 or thereabout (e.g. garlic chicken, served with egg roll, a chicken drumette, and fried rice). If it's your birthday, they'll serve a cake, free of charge! Open daily. Phone 360/385-4810.

Fixin's for a picnic can be found at supermarkets, but I suggest The Cellar Market, in the basement of Victorian Square, at 940 Water Street. It has specialty foods, groceries, a deli and wines on hand. Open daily (but closed Tues. & Wed. from Nov. through April), phone 360/385-7088.