Port Townsend Family Camping Trip

I have been going to Port Townsend with my family for weekend trips since before I can even remember. We have lots of history up there on both sides of my family. My Grandma Sally grew up at Fort Worden during WWII while her father was stationed there, and Grandpa on my dad's side also grew up in Port Townsend and went to high school there. My family still has quite a bit of property near North Beach, but it's still undeveloped, so this weekend we were camping at Fort Worden State Park.

The weather forecast looked super dreary and rainy, but the trip was already planned so Stew, my sister Erin, and I caught an early ferry over on Saturday morning to meet up with the rest of the family who had arrived the night before. Ironically, we also ran into some of my aunties on the ferry! They were also heading over to Port Townsend to check the progress on my aunt and uncle's retirement home they are building just outside town.

We arrived just in time for some of my mom's famous biscuits and gravy before we headed downtown for some tourism. I absolutely love wandering around Farmer's Markets, and even though this one was fairly small it was still lots of fun. Stew and I ate some delicious pastries and I got sucked into sampling and purchasing some all-natural hippie skin exfoliant.

My parents are so cute!

From there we decided to wander in and out of the shops downtown, grabbing lunch at one of my favorite pizza places of all time, Waterfront Pizza. This tiny little pizza joint has some of the best slices I have ever eaten. There is a tiny seating area upstairs, but we prefer to just order by the slice from the displays right off the sidewalk and eat them on picnic benches overlooking the water. Yum!



Stew loves bubble gum ice cream; it's a pretty rare find!

The weather on Saturday was absolutely tragic. Cold and gray all morning until the afternoon when it started to absolutely pour down rain for several hours. We did venture up to the old war bunkers where my cousins were playing capture the flag, but standing in the cold looking out at the rain wasn't fun for long so we headed back to camp. Hanging out in the motorhome was equally exciting, even though Stew tried to spice things up by drinking a 40-oz beer. The rain didn't show signs of letting up so we decided that instead of barbecuing we would head into town for dinner.

Extended family on my dad's side.

The Public House on water street is one of my favorite places for a sit down meal in Port Townsend. They always have enough tables to accomodate a large group, everyone is super friendly, and the tables are covered in white butcher paper so you can draw masterpieces in crayon while you wait for your food. The food is also pretty yummy but a little pricey so be prepared.

Branded buns!

That evening the rain let up enough for us to take a walk along the bluff and get a campfire going. There's not much I like more than sitting around a campfire chatting until late into the evening.

Gorgeous views on our little hike up to the bluff.

Gotta love Washington State camping!

All bundled up making the best of it!

Glowing frisbee... great for games in the dark.

Loving my husband.

Cousins! Why am I so short?

On Sunday we awoke to sunlight streaming in the windows! Of course by this point a lot of people in our group had already headed home, but we were still able to get in some beach time with my family before we had to head home and face the upcoming week.

The clouds over the water were absolutely gorgeous.

Teaching Roxy not to fear the ocean.

With my little bro and sis.

It was such a great trip and reminded me so much of my childhood. I loved spending the weekend in this tiny little town and it was so awesome to catch up with my cousins because it's rare that we all get to spend time together in a big group.

How was your weekend?