2011 Lighthouse Review

What a thrill! I've never visited lighthouses before and this has been SO FUN! I'm looking forward to building our blog as we visit even MORE!

Lighthouses visited in 2011:
Bush Point, Whidbey
Admiralty, Whidbey
North Head, Ilwaco
Cape Disappointment, Ilwaco
Dofflemeyer Point, Olympia

Missing Grampa-Lighthouse Trip Cancelled

John's dad, my wonderful father-in-law passed away this week and the memorial is on Sunday. We had planned a trip to Sequim to see a few more lighthouses, but that will have to wait for now. The plan is to stay in Sequim and travel along the Strait of Juan de Fuca to see Cape Flattery, Slip Point, Ediz Hook and New Dungeness lighthouses.

I wasn't ready for another weekend away, so I'm somewhat relieved. Of course, I never wanted this to be the reason to cancel the trip. Grampa passed away on the 18th and we miss him so much already.

Update: This photo was taken the day of the memorial 9/25/11 from Gramma's porch...the leaves form a heart but there are some bites out of it...a broken heart which is just what we all have now that Grampa is gone.

Dofflemeyer Point Lighthouse-Olympia, WA

Can you even SEE the lighthouse in the top photo?! Upper right corner. We had a wonderfully relaxing day exploring the area around the Dofflemeyer Point lighthouse in Olympia, Washington. Our first stop of the day was the lighthouse. Boston Harbor Marina is a delightful and charming area! Each house off 73rd was ready for House Beautiful! We explored the small marina for quite some time. The lighthouse itself was barely visible and seemed non-descript to us and we had great difficulty getting a good family pic in front of it since it is surrounded by private property.

The walk out onto the marina dock for a photo proved to be beneficial as we had several mini-adventures! After the lighthouse we went black-light mini golfing at Shankz Black Light Mini-Golf, then to Tumwater Falls Park and the Capitol building. This was only an overnight getaway but we did A LOT!

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse-Ilwaco, WA

After North Head, we made a few more stops...a scenic lookout and bridge over wetlands which were phenomenally beautiful. We spent quite some time at the excellent Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center (we read a great picture book "How We Crossed The West: The Adventures Of Lewis And Clark" by Rosalyn Schanzer and "Streams to the River, River to the Sea" by Scott O'Dell in preparation for the visit to Long Beach, Washington.

Anyways, it was time to make about a mile trek to Cape Disappointment lighthouse. After some elevation gain, we all needed to rest our feet and ate more snacks at the top of the bluff. It is like being at the top of the world or the edge of eternity or something...simply awesome scenery over the mouth of the mighty Columbia and the "Graveyard of the Pacific". We met Coast Guardman Joe who invited us into his watchtower and let Daniel peer through his telescope! John had lots of naval type inquiries and we learned A LOT about the sea from this generous guy.

Wow, we've already done FOUR lighthouses and we've had an absolute ball!

TRAVEL TIP: We made this a weekend getaway but could have spent more time. One of our favorite destinations was Waikiki Beach at Cape Disappointment state park. Tons of driftwood, a fantastic bathroom facility with showers and a sweet little beach with super soft sand and a walk on the jetty is not to be missed!

North Head Lighthouse-Ilwaco, WA

We spent the entire day at Cape Disappointment state park (take your Discover Pass). We took in so much but here I'm going to highlight our trek to North Head lighthouse. We had a nice walk to the North Head lighthouse, the scenery is breathtaking on the coast. Sadly, we weren't able to visit the lantern room because the stairs were in disrepair. Did you know that North Head is the #3 windiest location in the USA?!

After making the loop from parking lot, to nature trail, to lighthouse, to GIFT SHOP and back to car, we had already had a lovely day! Daniel slipped on the gravel and bravely endured some mild first aid, but otherwise the trip to North Head was a total success.

TRAVEL TIP: Cape Disappointment state park is outstanding! We could have spent an entire week there (camping!) with so much to do and good weather. Long Beach, Washington is nearby and has a great website to help you plan your trip, see FunBeach.com.

Admiralty Head Lighthouse-Whidbey Island, WA

Our trip to Whidbey Island was to include Bush Point "Lighthouse" and Admiralty Head lighthouse. We first stopped at Bush Point (see it here) and then we headed north to Fort Casey for Admiralty Head lighthouse. We were not disappointed! Not only is this lighthouse in superb condition, we got to go into the lantern area (free)! Of course, the gift shop drew us in and we came home with a poster of coastal lighthouses for the dining room. I found numbered map pins which will be so fun to document our lighthouse journeys!

We stayed the afternoon at Fort Casey and walked the entire bluff and explored what seemed like ALL of the bunkers. We watched the Port Townsend ferry boat shuttle back and forth across the sound as we hopped on the guns and ladders.  I would have to say the bathroom near the bunkers was really impressive! Brand new and really clean, don't we love that, girls? A gorgeous cool, sunny day. Just perfect for our outing. We ended our day with a walk on the beach at Ebey Landing.

TRAVEL TIP: Fort Casey was an all day adventure along with Ebey Landing. I thought we were only visiting a lighthouse, but it turned out to be much, much more. Plan on it!

Bush Point Lighthouse-Whidbey Island, WA

Now I see why the Bush Point Lighthouse is not on every list of Washington state lighthouses. It is more of a "beacon". Nestled in between residential homes in a charming beach side community, we took photos with the four of us. I told the kids to bring their two favorite stuffed animals to be in individual photos that they can use to make a lighthouse scrapbook of their own. This was a tiny bit anti-climactic after some reading about lighthouse history and promises of Fresnel lenses! Daniel especially was disappointed...we have nicknamed this lighthouse "the lame one".

Just so you know we got as close as we could...private property prohibited closer photos.

After this stop we headed north to Admiralty Head lighthouse which you can read about here.

TRAVEL TIP: There are two routes to Whidbey Island from Seattle.
A) Drive north I-5 to Mt Vernon, west on 20, then south on 20 onto Whidbey (see Deception Pass!)
or
B) Drive north I-5 to Mukilteo and take the ferry across to Whidbey

First Post

ThiWe are trying to We have a goal to visit all the lighthouses in Washington and Oregon. There's no time limit to complete this goal. The only "rule" is that we must get one good photo that includes the four of us and the lighthouse in the same frame. Join me as I journal our trips to the lighthouses of the Pacific Northwest!