Category: Out and About

No one told us that chasing lighthouses would be this hard. And fun.

We came to Washington to do some hiking and see a few sites in Seattle. A docent at the Admirality Point Lighthouse suggested we check out a few lighthouses along the way. The same docent sold us a “passport” to have stamped at each location, plus a selection of related maps. He might have sold us the Tacoma Narrows Bridge if we had stayed much longer.

And so we committed to a lighthouse odyssey. We traveled by automobile, ferry and foot. We peered through fog and past no trespassing signs. We drove to the extreme northwest corner of the contiguous United States and through the streets of Seattle. We hiked five miles to the end of a spit of sand. And back.

A handful of the light stations were resplendent with renovations, boasting docents and giftshops. Nearly all of them were still operational, but many needed a coat of paint. One had moved from the coast to town decades ago and survives as a home on a quiet street. Most did not have a stamp for our passport. Alas.

But we tracked down 15 lighthouses, or their remnants, and had a great time doing it. Here’s where we visited:

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