Celtic Safari: Port Townsend - Point Hudson Marina & RV Park

This was our first stay at this unique waterfront RV park in the Victorian seaport of Port Townsend. We have been coming to the town for 29 years and love the place. The RV park is all about putting you on the banks of Puget Sound and on the edge of a truly wonderful town. It immerses you in maritime culture, 1800's architecture, eclectic shops, a broad range of excellent restaurants, whale watching, kayaking, sailing, great walks, cycling, a fine restored old-style movie theater, beachcombing, and some of the most picturesque waterfront around.

We stayed in #317

Since graduating to a large motorhome, I do a lot more planning for a trip in terms of accessibility than I did when we were towing the Coleman tent trailer behind the Honda Odyssey. While some of the online reviews warned that maneuverability was tight and the roads narrow, I had previously observed lots of large motorhomes and trailers, so I wasn't put off. During our visit, the place was full of "big rigs" in the 35-42 ft. range. The spacing between rigs is sufficient for slide outs, but not overly spacious.

Only the water view sites get picnic tables. TV cable is provided, and there is Wi-Fi available for a fee from a third-party (NOW). Because I frequently work from the road, I found the quality and performance of the Wi-Fi good enough to support email, VoIP, and Microsoft Lync for conferencing. I also had a solid 2-3 bars of Verizon 4G LTE.

The RV park is split between the "Loop" to the west and the "Point" to the east. Loop sites 338-347 face the water. Point sites 305-307, 322, 328, 332, and 335 sit parallel to the shore and come with picnic tables and awesome views of the water. We stayed in site 317. While technically not a view site we had plenty.

By late July the narrow strip of grass between sites was brown, so everything pretty much looked like a gravel parking lot. Although technically not a view site, we found #317 very good until our neighbor in #318 arrived and left his rig sticking out into the driveway area. The staff needs to do some policing to make sure rigs are parked within the boundaries of their assigned site. Sites 317/318 and 315/316 are a little odd in that folks share a common area,

The winds encouraged keeping the awning closed most of the time.

A low tide view with Point Wilson Lighthouse in the distance to the left.

The beach at Point Hudson

The "Loop". Definitely worth getting into for the view. Site #347 is particularly nice to the right at the end.

Point Wilson Lighthouse at Fort Worden State Park

Commander's House (circa 1934) B&B near site #347

Point Hudson Marina is the home of the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival. One of the nice side-effects of that association is that there are always beautiful wooden boats in the harbor.

A nice feature of the marina is a purposely built kayak dock.

A short walk from the campsite put us in town. Nearby was the Northwest Maritime Center. The waterfront portion of Port Townsend is very walkable and window-shopping friendly.

The Point Hudson Cafe is a must for breakfast. Be sure to order the cherry cornmeal flapjacks.

Port Townsend Architecture

The Victorian seaport aspects of Port Townsend standout in its many beautiful buildings that date from the late 1800s. Echoing a time when buildings were more ornate, it's easy to spend hours just admiring the stonework.

Typical sidewalk scene

Laura trying out elements for her yet to be revealed Steampunk persona.

On the Beach

Point Hudson is the type of place where you can carry your chair a 100 feet or less to the beach, kick up your feet and enjoy watching the boats and ferries glide by on Admiralty Inlet while taking in the splendid views of Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier, and the Cascade Range in the distance.