Port Townsend is located at the northeastern tip of Washington's Olympic Peninsula and was developed around 1850. It was a strategically placed, well-sheltered, deep-harbor port at the junction of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Admiralty Inlet which provided access to Puget Sound. Historically well-preserved, it's a maritime wonderland for boaters, rowers, kyackers....and of course, run-of-the-mill tourists like Carol and I. We've loved the place for years and have visited three times in the past. This time however, we treated ourselves to a full emersion for 5 nights, staying right on the waterfront along downtown's main drag.
A NorthWest, flukey heatwave greated us the first day but things cooled down as we dug deep around town, visiting neighboring locations in the the area, chowing down and enjoying our rental (studio loft).
HIghlights:
• Enjoyed an afternoon of three bands playing right beneath our balcony as part of a three-day art and music festival.
• A wondeful, two night visit with long-time friends Bob and Jan before flying home out of Seattle's Sea-Tac International Airport.
Note: Bob and I were born in the same military hospital in obscure Rantoul, Illinois.
Lowlights:
• Missed (by one night) seeing a live performance in town by the veteran Pink Floyd Tribute Band -
Pigs on the Wing. I noticed the price of admission did not include
the requisite psychedelic, but watched some videos by the band and the show looks stellar!
Possible Painting Epiphany ; )
Directly across the Port Townsend sound, a tour of the historic state park that includes Fort Worden, yielded some fab abstractions via the strategically placed WW1 Military bunkers (that guarded the entrance to Port Townsend and Puget Sound). Beyond the details, even the rooms looked somewhat like 'rough' gallery installations - particularly with the typography in place in some locations. I've been looking (like forever) for a series to paint —and may have found it with some of the 'bunker images' I've posted below.
