Vacay Getaway Pt. 1

For our mini-vacay, T surprised me with a stay at the Inn at McCurdy House, a small bed and breakfast in Port Townsend, WA.  I wish I could stay here forever.  Truly.  With the ferry ride included, the trip is a little over two hours north of Seattle.  I had no idea where we were going - I was just given a packing list from my hubby and a departure time!  What a haven this little Victorian town is.  The history is absolutely incredible - so much here dating back to the Civil War.  Kathleen, the woman who lives in and runs the B&B (my new life dream), even seems to have an amazing history herself!  From the snippets she's told us of her life, and from the family albums of hers that we've been able to look at, she seems like a pretty incredible lady.  And literally has I think the best cooking I've ever tasted.

The other best thing: fleece sheets.  

No, not flannel - fleece.  

Sheets.  

On the bed.

Before we left Seattle - Nat, this one's for you!  

This is the lovely companion bag I'll be taking 

on the trip this summer - just wanted

you to see it once it was all packed up.

Definitely carry-on size, right?  Eek!

 

Quick tour of some of the amazing house: our room.

 We ate up the antiques.

 Although you can't see it here, we have an incredible 

view of Kathleen's garden as well as the water - the house

overlooks the point where Port Townsend and the Juan de

Fuca Strait intersect.

 The living room - with breathtaking views out those 

huge windows.

 Lovely entry.

 Birdhouses everywhere.

 T and I found this among the treasures in the living room.

I don't know who made it, but it's sort of the best thing ever.

Immediately I was reminded of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.  

It's an old, leather-covered thesaurus.

 But inside, someone made incredible collages of some

of their favorite words! 

 The table set for two that greeted us at breakfast.  

Little did we know what our taste buds were about to experience.

 Fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, granola and yogurt.

Not pictured are apple and maple syrup muffins.

 Holy mother.  Fresh rosemary and mozzarella roasted potatoes.

Some kind of egg ordeal with a sweet sausage, mushrooms, 

sun-dried tomatoes, onions, and a spice blend.  Also toast

with Marionberry jam.

This doesn't even begin to describe it.  The best breakfast 

I've had in possibly my whole life.  I was in so much pain

from trying to fit as much of that food into my stomach

as possible.  Whoops.

So the next chunk of photos is from our venture out to Fort Warden State Park - an amazing place with a Marine Science Center and Museum as well as home to a Civil War fort.  Tons of the old buildings and military structures were still there for us to explore - barracks, army housing, batteries, and other stuff that I would sound like an idiot trying to describe.  It was...military stuff.

 A castle!  We read it was built by a guy whose sole purpose 

in construction was for it to be a chapel for he and "his bride"

to live in.  He never got married.  

[P.S. - You'll have to bear with me as I did lots of camera experimenting.  There was lots of good material.]

 On the back of an abandoned school bus.

 One of the artillery batteries - a big underground tunnel with

these giant holes in the middle where giant guns were kept

to shoot ships that were coming into the port.  

 We love climbing on stuff!

 We love sweeping ocean views!

 Hiking down the bluff.

 We made our way to the beach at the bottom! 
Big rocks made a perfect place for us to sit, have a 
snack, and be quiet while taking in the beauty.
Then we spent a good while hunting for sea glass!

Kite at the top.  Kelsey at the bottom.

 We hiked down from the top of that wall you see in the

mountains.  And, yes, that means we hiked up it first.

 Yes.

 And there were freakin' deer everywhere!  That's what T is pointing to.

This was a giant field in the middle of the park - people were literally

all around playing frisbee, baseball, having picnics, and these deer

were just chillin.  We just couldn't get over it.

 Deer!

We came back to our abode and rested for a while until dinner.  We chose The Fountain Cafe, a teeny little restaurant just down some big stairs from our B&B because we'd heard that despite it's size, the food was amazing.  It sure was.  There were literally about 10-12 tables in the whole place, the kitchen opened to the dining room, so everything felt a bit on top of itself.  But their menu advertises that they serve the freshest, local ingredients in their dishes and we could definitely tell.  It was filled with prawns, oysters, salmon, mussels, and all locally grown vegetables.  We ordered a succulent starter of roasted garlic with brie and a house-made "salsalita" - I never knew you could pair brie with a savory compliment!  It was perfect.  For our entrees, T ordered baked linguine with mushrooms, tomatoes, eggplant, and Italian sausage topped with mozzarella cheese.  I ordered Scotch fettucini - chunks of tender salmon, green onions, spinach, and hint of Scotch tossed in a light cream sauce.  Good gracious.  Then we got a ginger crème brûlée for dessert.  Lots of cheese and lots of cream in that meal - just the way I like it.

Yes, yes, and more yes.  What a day of food and of beauty.  

So thankful.