June 3, 2014: Snug Harbor Cafe, Port Townsend, Elevated Ice Cream & Candy Store, Fort Worden and Point Wilson Lighthouse.

Today, I started out posting about the Fat Cat Garden and Gift shop. Then I went back to Port Townsend to finish taking photos of the historic town.

I stopped along the way for lunch at Snug Harbor Café in Maynard, Wa. I was greeted by a very friendly waitress. I asked for her recommendations. I was considering a Cobb salad or the bacon cheeseburger. She recommended the cheeseburger, because they make their own buns and the burger patty is grass-fed beef.  I took her recommendation. She did not ask how I wanted the burger cooked though.

In an appropriate amount of time, she brought me the platter with a huge burger and home-made fries.  The fries were very good and hot, but as I ate the burger I noticed it was cold and there was water on the paper under the burger. I initially thought it was juices from the burger, but I don’t think so. It appeared that the lettuce was wet and dripping.  I appreciate the lettuce being clean, but it shouldn’t drip water. The home-made bun was dry and the burger was well-done. I prefer mine med-rare, not dry. As I have stated in another post, I am not a food critique. Generally if it is food, I like it. This was very disappointing. It looked amazing, but wasn’t.

The café has an interesting history. It used to be the Richfield Tavern and was built around 1939. At that time it was a tavern with a café, gas station, store and motel. In the 1950’s the tavern building was relocated a cross the highway to its current location. The name was changed to Discovery Bay Tavern and the building was remodeled.  Around 1997, the current owner purchased the restaurant and the name was changed to Snug Harbor Café. The waitress said that the building may be the oldest tavern in the Northwest or western Washington that is still in business. The history available on-line is limited, so this can not be verified. This history was interesting and the decor was very nice, but I wish I would have continued onto Port Townsend and had lunch at one of the many interesting restaurants there instead.

I did continue onto Port Townsend, but the time I got there it was 3:30 pm. I found a parking spot that limited me to two hours. That is most of the parking spots in town.

I parked and headed off on a self-guided photography tour. I found the Rose Theatre which was opened in 1907 as a vaudeville house or a live entertainment theatre. It closed in 1958 and then re-opened again in 1992 as a movie theatre. Not your traditional current movies, but good old movies ( http://rosetheatre.com).

From there, I walked a crossed the street, I passed the Haller Fountain and then up the Terrace steps. Halfway up the steps was a sign, telling the history of the steps.  It stated that in the 1800 “Port Townsend was a rough and roaring place of sailors and roustabouts, bars and bordello, warehouses and wharfs”. In 1880, the steps were built to connect downtown to uptown where the Victorian houses, churches and grocery stores were. In 1901, the land was eroding around the steps. The steps were replaced with wider steps. Then in 1906, Theodore Hallor donated the fountain and statue of “Galatea”. It was a replica from the 1904 World’s Fair. This statue was damage and in 1994 replaced by the current sculpture.  The pool at the basin of the sculpture has also had an interesting history. In the 1920’s, it was stocked with trained trout that would jump through hoops for the tourists.

At the top of the stairs and a crossed another street sits the Rothschild House which was built-in 1868. It is now a museum.

Progressing up the street past the museum, you reach another cross street. On the corner sits the oldest Methodist church in the Pacific Northwest. Built in 1871.

On the corner one block to the north of the Methodist church is the Ann Starrett Mansion which was “built for the love of a woman in 1889”. Currently it is an 8 room hotel and it is for sale. If you are looking to buy a historic mansion as a bed and breakfast, hotel or inn in the Pacific Northwest this beauty could be the one for you!

From here I turned and headed south, back past the Methodist church. And then I’m not sure what I did..lol. I went a few blocks and turned right. Along the way I ran into several other houses that had historic plaques by their front doors stating when the home was built.  Once I turned right I walked into the historic uptown business district. There was an old theatre that was built-in 1897, which appears to still be operational.

Moving further south and up on a hill was the Carnegie Library, built-in 1913 and remodeled in 1990 and possibly in 2014 as there was yellow tape around the front of the building. Proceeding further south and a few roads over, I ran into the Jefferson County Courthouse which is a magnificent structure. It was built-in 1890-92 (http://www.co.jefferson.wa.us/services/courthouse_pamphlet.pdf).

I left there and walked in the direction of the water, but was still in uptown. There was a fairly busy road along the bluff overlooking the ferry terminal and downtown. Along this road I came upon the post office which was built in 1893 and is still in use. It is another amazing structure!  Just beyond it was a little church, St Paul’s church. It was organized in 1860. The church was built several blocks away in 1865 and then the building was moved by horses to its current location in the 1880s. It is the oldest Episcopal church building in Washington State.

Immediately past the church on the opposite side of the road I saw the Bell Tower of 1890. “The bell was used to call volunteer firefighters to their post.” It appears to be the only bell tower of its kind in the United States.

Beyond this, the road curved around and to my surprise I was back to the top of the steps. I went a little further down the road to a walking path and took it from uptown to downtown.

I made it back to my truck, right at 2 hours. Then I saw a sign that said the 2 hour limit on parking is only from 9 am – 5 pm. So I didn’t need to rush to get back to my truck.

My feet were feeling tired and sore and I felt that I deserved a treat. I went back into downtown to the Elevated Ice Cream and Candy Shop which offers homemade ice cream, chocolates and a variety of other sweets like jelly beans, teddy bears and candy bars. I asked for a sample of the “salted caramel fudge” and OMG it was wonderful. Smooth and not at all sugary or gritty.  $14.00 for a pound. A half a pound jump into a bag and into my purse.  Since getting home, I have been good and only had a couple of slivers. It appears to be two layers of smooth chocolate fudge with caramel in the middle and salt on the top.  Heaven!

Prior to coming home though, I ran over to Fort Worden and got nice up close pictures of the lighthouse. During the day the park is so crowded that I have not previously been able to get all the way down to the light house.  As I reached the lighthouse the sun was starting to set. It had dropped down, so that at a certain angle the glowing ball of the sun was right behind the light of the light house. It created this interesting glow and made for what I think are great pictures of the Point Wilson lighthouse. This lighthouse was built in 1913. The light used to be located on top of the Lightkeeper’s house and was originally activated in 1879. This lighthouse was automated in 1976.

I have pictures to match every paragraph of this post, but it’s after mid-night and I wanted to get up early to head over to Cape Flattery trail. It is a 2 1/2 hour drive.  I will have to post the pictures at a later time. Please check back for them. The buildings are very beautiful.