Sequim – The Old Homestead

 

So live that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.

 

We all have a place that we call the old Homestead.  It’s usually a place our parents or our grandparents lived.  We have that place too.  It’s in Sequim on the bluff overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  I never lived there but my mother did.  It was land owned by my grandparents.  It’s one of those places you wished had continued to be handed down.    As Michael said … it’s breathtaking.

The property was still in the family when we lived in Port Angeles.  We used to pick the cherries off the many cherry trees and climb down the bluff by way of a trail to the beach. The potato cellar is still there and so are a few of the cherry trees. We were told that occasionally odds’n ends of the old farmhouse are found in the dirt such as silverware.  When sold the land was divided into five parcels.  Two of the parcels are now gorgeous bed and breakfasts.  We visited the George Washington Inn. 

We figured it would be easy  to view the George Washington Inn since it now was also a lavender farm.  They were getting ready to host about 10,000 visitors over the weekend as part of the Lavender Festival tour.  The exterior of the B&B is a duplicate to George Washington’s Mt. Vernon.  That theme is carried through the home.

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Dan Abbott is the owner.  He purchased the property about ten years ago.  It is an amazing piece of property but it didn’t look like this when my grandparents owned it.   When I mentioned this to the owner he was most gracious and gave us a tour of the property and what they had done.  They have held many functions at the property including weddings.

There is also a history with this property during WWII.  During the war many lookout towers and gunners stood watch guarding our coast line.  The property still has some remains of that time.  No lights after dark were allowed.  Any vehicle driven along the roadways at night had to drive without their lights.  There were many blackouts in the area.  If not, you were stopped by the military.  My mom was stopped once and it was a very scary situation for her.

The Oregon coast was fired on by a Japanese submarine during WWII.  After an exchange of gunfire, the Japanese submarine disappeared. According to the Olympic Community Museum another Japanese submarine was rumored to have been spotted and destroyed off the Washington coast close to the entrance of the Straits. This bombing was never publicized because it might have hurt the war effort.  Is that really true?  Perhaps.  Many bunkers and gun nests are located around the area and also on the islands in Puget Sound.  Even my father was stationed in the area (Port Townsend’s Fort Worden).  He also had many stories of blackouts.

The following morning we decided to go into Port Angeles.  Our trusty little weatherman forecast that the clouds wouldn’t hang around too long over the water.  He was wrong.  We had originally planned on going to the “Spit” but since the sun didn’t pop out of the clouds early enough we put that little side trip off for another day.  It was a nice day but we preferred to be there when the sun was shining.

The town of Port Angeles is usually full of murals on the sides of buildings and also full of tourists during the summer.  Many of those tourists take day trips on the ferry to Victoria, Canada.  The ferry lanes were packed.  We walked around the terminal area a bit but decided to head back to Sequim.  We’ll visit Ediz Hook when we actually move the motorhome into the town and the sun is shining. 

‘Tis life on the road.