The first day out, my brother and I drove from his home in Port Townsend to the town of Sequim. Here, we took various roads north to find the way out to New Dungeness Lighthouse. It was chilly and blustery, and neither of us was really up to the 5 mile walk out on the spit so we stood and stared at the small white spot. Here is a photo my brother took, so you can see how far it is out there. Maybe next time I'll make the trek! Optionally, I understand you can kayak out there as part of an organized group.
From there we went to Marrowstone Island, just across the water from Port Townsend, and hunted down the lighthouse there. Marrowstone Light was nothing like we expected; we came away calling it "the Night Light" due to its less-than-stellar bulb. But it was in a lovely beach setting and we enjoyed the walk. Here is the light and the keeper's house, now part of Fort Flagler State Park.
On the last day of my visit, we detoured through Hansville on the way to the airport and found the not-so-well-marked Point No Point Lighthouse. This is a real beauty! Still installed is the 4th order Fresnel lens. Not open on the day we visited, but the U.S. Lighthouse Society maintains an office inside one-half of the keeper's dwelling and they were delightful folks who love lighthouse seekers (of course.) This little beacon, the oldest in Puget Sound, is in excellent condition, well worth the drive over Kitsap Peninsula. By the way, you can rent the other half of the dwelling!
Point Wilson Lighthouse is located right in Port Townsend (and sometimes mistakenly called Port Townsend Lighthouse.) It's a classic tower and still in active operation. It wasn't open during the days I was in town, so will try again next time.
For fun, here is a shot of a Washington State Lighthouse vanity license plate. If we had these in California, I'd surely have one!
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Reminder: To celebrate the release of CAPE SEDUCTION, I'm holding a contest! All you have to do is read the CAPE SEDUCTION excerpt and leave me a relative comment--you'll be in the drawing for FIVE Echelon Press
eBooks of your choice, downloaded onto a really cool 2GB flash drive! (Or a $25 gift card to B&N, your choice.) Drawing will be on my last blog tour stop, which is tomorrow, 9/10/10. See schedule at my website!Pam Ripling, who also writes as Anne Carter, is a self-proclaimed Lighthouse Nut and the author of Beacon Street Mysteries CAPE SEDUCTION and POINT SURRENDER, in paperback or for your Kindle; also for your nook, iPhone, Sony eReader and other formats at Omnilit. Visit Pam/Anne at Beacon Street Books.
Pam
ReplyDeleteI am delighted to have you back as a guest blogger. Your tour of Washington state lighthouses looks like a lot of fun. Thank you for sharing your experience and photos with us.