A few weeks ago a good friend whisked me away to a B&B for my first ever "mom-cation" in honor of my 40th...yes, I'm still milking it! The weather was perfect as we sailed across the Puget Sound towards the charming Victorian seaport of Port Townsend.
We were booked for the weekend at The Old Consulate Inn, which is one of the most photographed Victorian homes in the Pacific Northwest. The grand "Painted Lady" stands atop a bluff overlooking the Puget Sound, still wearing her original colors. To say that this house is a treasure is an understatement. It's a virtual museum of life at the turn of the century, complete with period dressed innkeepers!
When we arrived, we were greeted warmly at the door by innkeeper Nathan Barnett and were quickly ushered into the library for a history lesson! One of the things I love about B&B's is that no two are run the same way, and you often get a tour or a history lesson...or both. This is, however, the first time I've encountered innkeepers in period dress and I have to say, I loved it!
After our initial trip back in time, Nathan's wife, Cindy Madsen took over and filled us in on the quirks of the house and what to expect for our 3-course gourmet breakfast the next day. Then we were shown to our gorgeous room complete with water views from every window. A girl could get so used to this!
The rest of the house was just as incredible with period furniture, games and even a billiards room in the basement...another B&B first for me!
After checking in we strolled into town for lunch and had an amazing meal at Fins Coastal Cuisine. We sat out on the deck, basked in the sun and enjoyed the view. The food and the service were excellent...I highly recommend it.
After lunch, we strolled the shops on Water Street and discovered a cool little mall inside the old Hastings Building...named for the same family as our B&B. There was a beautiful yarn and notions shop, as well as a gorgeous little bead shop.
We also hit a few antique stores and scored some treasures there. I'll share the scoop about those tomorrow in my weekly shopping confessional. ;)
Breakfast at the inn the next morning was delicious. Cindy and her wait staff pulled out all the stops...in full-length skirts, no less! Everyone sat around one large table and the conversation was lively. Plus, there was ice cream. For breakfast. Oh, yah!
No trip to the peninsula would be complete without a hike, so after breakfast we headed out to the Olympics. After driving around on deserted forest service roads for hours, we gave up on ever finding the trail head we were looking for and stumbled, instead, onto the trail head for Little Quilcene Trail. We hiked until our legs turned to jello then headed back to Port Townsend.
Back in town, we hit some thrift stores in search of costumes for the Apokolyptic Kinetic Rosehips Ball that we planned to crash that evening. Huh? Yes, you read that correctly. We heard about this bizarre event from some other guests at the inn and found out that it was part of a whole weekend of festivities that revolved around The Great Port Townsend Bay Kinetic Sculpture Race which deserves a blog post all it's own, so I'll share pics from that next week.
The ball, however, was a steampunk inspired costume party during which the Kinetic Kween is crowned. This event was seriously hilarious and we were so glad we went. EVERYONE had a costume, so we were doubly glad we had spent the time to come up with something. I never did get a good picture of our full costumes but here's a teaser of mine...
Dinner that night was epic. We went to Sirens Pub on the recommendation of our innkeeper, but were warned that the service was slow. We sat out on the deck, watched the sunset, drank four key lime martinis and 1.5 hours later...our burgers arrived. But damn, those martinis were good...and they definitely had us loosened up for the ball. ;)
So, that was the weekend. It was amazing, laughter-filled and chock full of fun. If you are ever in the area, don't miss Port Townsend! And if you are planning a small wedding or honeymoon, take a good look at The Old Consulate Inn. They offer special romance and celebration packages, and can also cater small parties...arranging high tea, luncheons or dinner parties to meet your needs. If you go, tell them Cindi and Brandi sent you. ;)
Definitely check back tomorrow to see what I found in the antique stores, and next week for photos of the Kinetic Sculpture Race. You can follow along at any of the links below, so you don't miss a thing:
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XOXO, Cindi
