Port Townsend

The areas of the brain that process emotional thought and response are larger, percentage-wise in the brains of orcas than any other animal. So said a sign at the visitor center in Port Townsend.

Port Townsend is a place that I love. Historically, some people say it’s “the city that whiskey built.” I didn’t drink whiskey there. I paddled the bay, got a massage, walked trails, ate baked goods, and inhaled the fresh breeze.

In town, along Water street, I walked past a sign in front of the Jefferson museum, which advertised CREEPY JAIL, so I immediately bought a ticket for admission. I landed in the basement jail, alone, and it did in fact feel creepy.

Local lore highlights the late 1800s prostitution and saloon crowd. On the surface, this history seems a bit glorified and titillating. But, if you read the actual accounts of how life was for prostitutes, it didn’t sound glamorous. Assaults, thefts, abuse, and unwanted children happened too often.

Earlier in the day, I stopped at a bay just outside of Port Townsend and before I realized what I was doing, said a big gusty hello to two Jehovah Witnesses. They cheerfully said hello back and admired my dog and we didn’t mention God whatsoever.

Sunday morning, I went to the church of the bay and worshipped with the shorebirds, otter, osprey, the water, and sun.

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I put in at Salmon Club, just off the maritime center.

I walked an easy couple of hours in Fort Worden Historical state park. It was a military base built more than a century ago to protect Puget Sound. Now it’s a place to walk in nature, reflect, write, make art, understand history. There is even a poetry area: the Memory’s Vault.

I wanted to see the Chinese Gardens (western edge of Fort Worden park), but it turns out they are not gardens. It is the place where, in the late 1800s, Chinese people grew food and hung out, as the locals were unkind to them despite their labor on the railroad. Now the area is noted mainly as the lagoon, which looks like a large mud-colored pond.

After the SUP adventure on the bay, I went to Better Living Through Coffee and got my new favorite drink: London Fog. I also got a chocolate chip cookie that was hard as a rock but gnawed half of it anyway.

If I am elected president, every American gets a weekly massage as part of their healthcare package. I got one at Soak on the Sound. Make America relaxed again. Let’s bring back healthy values. Vote for me and I will follow through on this campaign promise.

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