"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference." ~Robert Frost
Recently, I had a long-weekend free on my schedule and thought of taking yet another quick road-trip from Vancouver to Seattle, but how could I make a more interesting itinerary out of the drive than the usual 3 hour bomb down the I-5? I turned to one of my favourite travel planning companions, Google Maps, for inspiration, and after entering my starting and ending points into the Driving Directions feature, I simply dragged and dropped the suggested driving route off of the mainland highway and onto the neighbouring Kitsap Islands to reveal an excellent alternative route. It would take me first through Fidalgo & Whidbey Islands, then across the Salish Sea to the quaint town of Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula, and then over a floating bridge onto Bainbridge Island and finally, directly into downtown Seattle across Puget Sound on the second of two ferries along the way. But was it scenic? Oh yeah.
Of course the obvious benefit to taking super-highways and freeways are that you will get where you are going faster, but maybe taking a little extra time to drive the scenic route can turn your journey into something unexpected - maybe something even better than the intended destination. After all, isn't adventure one of the great payoffs of travelling? Isn't the true joy of life, the trip?
Here's a look at the route plus some photos and descriptions of the great spots I found along the way:
As you can see the overall trip took about 3 hours longer than if I'd taken the I-5 all the way from Bellingham. However, in exchange for my time, I was given the opportunity to enjoy some really great places and attractions that I would not have otherwise known about. For example, if you are lucky enough to cross over Deception Pass at just the right moment when the fog lifts, it's a sight that cannot be matched along the I-5 corridor, that's for sure!
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| Deception Pass |
Next, I drove down through Fidalgo Island and stopped at a place called Lavender Wind Farm on Whidbey Island.
After buying some lavender hot chocolate and lavender cookie mix and taking a stroll through the local artisan's fair that happened to be taking place at the farm that day, I got back in the car and headed down to the Port Townsend-Keystone car ferry for the 35 min ride across the Salish Sea, over to the Olympic Peninsula where we disembarked into scenic Port Townsend. As I did still want to arrive at my hotel before happy hour ended, I vowed to return next summer and spend more time exploring this quaint seaside town.
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| copyright Scenic Port Townsend |
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| Port Townsend-Keystone Ferry |
After the ferry, I drove down the coast of the peninsula and across the Hood Canal Floating Bridge which took me over the Squamish Harbor and eventually onto Bainbridge Island, the location of my next stop.
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| Hood Canal Floating Bridge |
I had one more stop to make before taking the ferry into downtown Seattle and that was a gem of a spot called Bainbridge Distillers, Washington state's first distillery of USDA Certified organic vodka, gin and whiskey. :-) I had toured several wineries and a few breweries before but never a distillery so I enjoyed the full tour and tasting and I can safely say that I, being a gin LOVER! have never tasted anything even remotely like the Bainbridge Heritage Organic Doug Fir Gin and their Battle Point Organic Whiskey and Legacy Organic Vodka were also very memorable.
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| copyright Bainbridge Distillers |
Bainbridge Distillers have recently extended their summer tasting hours to 12-5 everyday from June to September and have also added a tasting patio on the sunny side of the building helping to make this a great stop to linger, longer. ;-)
After a second relaxing ferry ride, this time across Puget Sound, it was a quick & easy 20 minute drive to my favourite hotel chain, Embassy Suites (the Bellevue, WA location), just in time for the daily Manager's Special happy hour to start. All you can drink (yes, that's what I said) from 5pm to 7pm and plenty of snacks and inexpensive appys to keep you happy well into the evening. In the morning I took advantage of the hotel's free parking leaving the car behind to take the complimentary hotel shuttle to the local bus loop and then public transit into Pioneer Square to finally join Bill Spiedel's Underground Tour. Well worth the admission money, I learnt all about the original "Crapper" toilet and Seattle's contribution to it's invention.
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| Pioneer Square, Seattle WA |
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| Underground sidewalks |
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| An original Crapper toilet |
The next time I take a roadtrip to Seattle, I plan to join the night-time 'Underworld' tour to learn more about the history of Seattle's underground...sewing industry...?? and even though I could take the I-5 I also plan to journey through the Kitsap Islands again and "take the long way there".
