We’re celebrating spring of 2018 in Port Townsend and invite you to join us! It’s a beautiful season of new beginnings, fresh buds in bloom, animals birthing new offspring and the earth seemingly coming alive again. With farmers and gardeners planting seeds and harvesting early products, we’re excited to welcome back the Farmers Market after its winter hiatus!

Where else can you enjoy a goat parade with kids—both four-legged and two—as they wend their way along Taylor Street in Uptown Port Townsend through an array of farmers, bakers, crafters, shellfish growers, cider and wine makers and more?

It all begins with the opening of the Port Townsend Farmers Market on Saturday, April 7, with a ribbon cutting at 9 am followed by the baby goat parade. (Come in an animal costume for a chance to win a $20 Flora Market token!) Delight in the 70+ vendors that spring into the freshness of the season with a wide array of products for your enjoyment. A chef’s demo and live music will add to the day’s festivities. The Farmers Market invites you to celebrate 26 years of nurturing and sustaining local farms and entrepreneurs. For more info about the market, go to www.jcfmarkets.org.

Key City Public Theatre presents Wolf at the Door, April 12-28, with evening shows at 7:30 pm and Sunday matinees at 2:30 pm. A tenant’s rights association built on shaky alliances comes to loggerheads in the face of a gentrifying block in this hilarious world premier by acclaimed playwright, Richard Dresser. The play utilizes double roles for each actor, keeping you on the edge of your seat.

There’s a new landlord in town promising to make the building better, safer and more modern, but what about the people in rent-controlled apartments who have started to disappear. And isn’t building security just a little over the top? Character Tina thinks it’s time to form a Tenant’s Association and fight back before it’s too late. Will they hang together or hang separately? Find out the answer at the play! For more info or to purchase tickets, go to www.keycitypublicthreatre.org or call 360.385.5278.

The Port Townsend Film Festival’s Women & Film weekend includes your choice of 16 films, and two special events. In this #TimesUp, #MeToo year, women filmmakers break the “rules” without apology at the “Women Speak Out” symposium, Saturday, April 14, at 10:30 am, at the Cotton Building in downtown Port Townsend with coffee and pastries. Saturday night’s special event begins with a gathering at Taps at the Guardhouse at Fort Worden, followed by a 7:30 pm screening of Catching Sight of Thelma & Louise, with director Jennifer Townsend, at the Wheeler Theatre at Fort Worden. Passes are $75 and all include concierge service. Only 250 passes are available. To purchase, go to www.ptfilmfest.com.

If you love to cook and dream about your ideal kitchen, come to the 21^st Annual AAUW/UWF Kitchen Tour, Saturday, April 28 from 10 am to 4 pm. Nine unique homes in Uptown and North Beach will be featured. Tickets are available at www.brownpapertickets.com and on the day of the event at the Hospitality Center at the First Presbyterian Church at 1111 Franklin Street.

Join Centrum for one of the most uplifting and memorable events of the year, the Centrum Choro Faculty Concert on Saturday, April 28 at 7:30 pm in the Wheeler Theater at Fort Worden. With an all-start cast of performances, this concert traditionally sells out was the talk of the town for the entire spring and summer season last year, so don’t delay and buy your tickets today at www.centrum.org/choro-performance/

Make Port Townsend your home base for the weekend and tour nine award-winning wineries and cideries across the Olympic Peninsula for the annual Wine, Cider and Cheese Tour, April 28-29, from 11 am to 5 pm. This wine and cider trail is one to be envied with each location offering a unique and diverse variety of wine and cider paired lovingly with local, hand-crafted cheeses. For more info and ticket details, go to www.olympicpeninsulawineries.org.

Save the date for upcoming events in May:

May 5
Opening Day on the Bay for Boating Season
Boat parade begins at 12:30 pm at the Northwest Maritime Center
www.ptyc.net

May 16-20
83^rd Annual Rhododendron Festival
Enjoy the Pet Parade, Bed Races, Grand Parade and Rhody Run
www.rhodyfestival.org

May 26
Port Townsend Artisan Food Festival
www.jcfmarkets.org

We look forward to welcoming you to Port Townsend in April!

We’re all relishing the longer days, flowers bursting into bloom and a bit more warmth and sun than in past months. Spring is officially here and why not celebrate the season with your kiddos and escape to Port Townsend for Spring Break. School’s out for the week and it’s a perfect time for some family bonding.

Come for a few days or a week. Here are five things that will keep your family hopping.

#1 Bring your bikes and cycle on the Larry Scott Memorial Trail

Biking on the Larry Scott Trail; photo by Steve Mullensky

The Larry Scott Memorial Trail begins in the Port of Port Townsend’s Boat Haven, with a wide, nicely groomed gravel trail, hugging the shoreline of Port Townsend Bay and following an abandoned rail corridor through forests, fields and farms for 7.5 miles. The first mile is easy for young ones as it’s mostly flat and perfect for strollers, trikes or bikes with training wheels. As it reaches the paper mill, it gains in elevation and your high-energy older kids will be competing to see who can make it to the top of the hill first. Each mile is well-marked, so you can gauge how far you’ve gone and turn around if anyone gets tired (it’s mostly downhill back!). The full trail is 15 miles roundtrip. For a map, go to www.ptguide.com/maps-a-directions/larry-scott-memorial-trail

Port Townsend is not only the trailhead for the Larry Scott Memorial Trail, but it’s also the starting point for the Olympic Discovery Trail, which spans across the peninsula and ends roughly 130 miles later in La Push at the Pacific Ocean. For detailed information about each of the segments, go to www.olympicdiscoverytrail.org.

#2 Explore the bunkers at Fort Worden

Bunkers at Fort Worden; photo by Ashley Courter

Fort Worden was an active US Army base from 1902 to 1953, built to defend Puget Sound to thwart any invasion attempts from the sea. The initial armaments consisted of gun emplacements and batteries, plus a variety of guns and mortars.

Today, the extensive system of large, abandoned bunkers are open to the public—a special joy for kids who love to explore and hear their gleeful screams echo throughout the cavernous halls.

Fort Worden is a 434-acres state park with trails winding throughout the forests, along the shoreline and boasting magnificent views of the mountains, sea and former military complex. The historic buildings located in the core 92-acre campus are used for accommodations, eateries, meeting spaces with a variety of partners who call Fort Worden home and offer life-long learning opportunities.

This is a fascinating, beautiful area to spend at least a day or several, enjoying your family. www.fortworden.org

#3 Check out the kid-friendly museums, both at Fort Worden and in town

Explore marine life at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center

If your kiddos were enthralled with the bunkers, take them to the Puget Sound Coast Artillery Museum (www.coastartillery.org) at Fort Worden to learn more about the Harbor Defense System of the early 1900s, or go to the Commanding Officer’s Quarters, on the parade grounds where “An Officer and A Gentleman” was filmed. Down at the beach, visit the Port Townsend Marine Science Center (www.ptmsc.org) and “Learn from Orcas—the Story of Hope” in their Orca Exhibit or discover the creatures that live in the sea at the Marine Exhibit up close and personal in their touch tanks. Be sure to check out the hours and days these museums are open in the spring. Some are only open on weekends.

In downtown Port Townsend, your kids will love the creepy jail in the Jefferson Museum of Art and History (www.jchsmuseum.org) and be sure to watch their movie, “We Came with Dreams.”

#4 Hike the trails that wind throughout the city or walk on the beaches

Trails overlooking Port Townsend at Fort Worden

Port Townsend is laced with trails that flow through town, connecting the Larry Scott Trail to the Fort Worden trails and beyond. One of the favorite trail systems for the locals is fondly dubbed Cappy’s Trails with ribbons of trails and abandoned roads frequented by hikers, dog-walkers, mountain bikers and equestrians in the heart of the Quimper Wildlife Corridor. It’s comprised of 264 acres of wetlands and forests and provides habitat for over 100 species of native plants.

Walk the beach from Fort Worden to Point Hudson in downtown Port Townsend. Check out the rocks, fly a kite or build a sand castle, but be sure to check the tides first. It’s only safe at mid- to low-tide!

Download a hiking and cycling trail map for Port Townsend, or pick up the map at the Port Townsend Visitor Information Center at 2409 Jefferson Street.

#5 Shop and eat downtown

After all that exercise, fresh air and massive learning, it’s time for a treat. Head downtown for delicious eateries, ice cream made from scratch, homemade baked goods in delectable bakeries, hand-crafted chocolates from awesome chocolatiers, a book store with stories to entertain every age, a ship’s chandlery with cool mariner stuff for kids, and several toy stores that will leave your wallet emptier than when you walked in. For a list of merchants, go to www.ptmainstreet.org.

Book your accommodations at www.EnjoyPT.com/Stay. We can’t wait to welcome you and your family to Port Townsend for Spring Break!