Whidbey Island, Washington
March 19-20, 2016
We flew to Seattle to visit with our oldest and youngest daughters and our daughter-in-law. Last time we visited them we enjoyed exploring Bainbridge Island, and we were intrigued by the idea of further island explorations. This year we decided to explore Whidbey Island, and we took the ferry from Mukilteo to Clinton, at the southern tip of Whidbey.
The scenery was magnificent — snow capped mountains to east and west, water, farms, and trees — all very different from what we see in San Diego.
On our drive north from Clinton, we stopped at Fort Casey State Park. This site is now a state park; formerly it was an army base with coastal defense artillery. Two large (10 inch barrel) guns are still in place for viewing, together with their massive carriages, and two of the 3 inch barrel guns are also on display. Our youngest daughter liked the maze of underground rooms and the artillery “dumb waiter” (our term) which was once used to raise the shells to the guns. From the ramparts we could see out over Admiralty Inlet across to the Olympic Peninsula. We were lucky to come on a free pass day; generally Washington state parks charge a fee of $10 per car per day for a Discovery Pass, or $30 for an annual pass.
Within the park, just a short walk from Fort Casey, is the Admiralty Head Lighthouse, built in 1903 and used until 1922. We watched a video with archival footage of live firing practice of the big guns at Fort Casey. Bob and the girls climbed up the lighthouse tower. (Meredith waited on the landing.) There is no lamp in the lighthouse now, but there is a great view from its tower. On the ground floor there are several exhibits, including other lighthouse lenses typical of ones used in that period. Meredith was interested by the wooden library box; every few months the lighthouse service would deliver a box containing an assortment of books, both fiction and non-fiction, for the keeper to read.
We went on to the Island County Historical Society Museum, located near the waterfront in Coupeville, a scenic small town founded in 1852. Family admission worked out to about $2 each. We enjoyed looking at the 1902 Holsman car displayed in the lobby; it was the first automobile on the entire island. There are some impressive baskets on display in the Native American exhibit on the bottom floor of the museum.
In the late afternoon we stopped at the PBY Naval Air Museum in the town of Oak Harbor. On one side of the highway is a retired PBY seaplane, which saw service in the Aleutian Islands during World War II. The museum’s indoor displays are in a building across the road. We found them to be well labeled and very informative. We watched an excellent video which featured local residents reminiscing about life in Oak Harbor before the naval air station and describing the transformation that occurred with the opening of the air base and the all consuming war effort of WWII. Adult admission to the museum is ordinarily $7, but we had picked up discount coupons at the Island County Museum so paid $6 each.
We stayed overnight at the Best Western in Oak Harbor. The next morning we attended Mass at the local parish then drove to the north end of the island to see the scenic Deception Pass, so called because the first European explorers in the area thought that waterway was the mouth of a river. (Instead it is part of the Salish Sea, the network of inlets and waterways between the Olympic Peninsula and the mainland of Washington State.) We drove south from there, mainly retracing our steps but adding a couple of scenic detours. We enjoyed an excellent locally-sourced lunch at the Oystercatcher in historic Coupeville, stopped to see some mid 19th century blockhouses, and then finished our excursion with a tasting at the Spoiled Dog Winery. Late in the afternoon we took the ferry and headed back to the girls’ home.