For a change of scenery, the TRAVELER’S COMPANY Caravan will travel North from California to the Pacific Northwest region for its third stop of the trip. After visiting Long Beach and San Francisco, we invite you to join the caravan to Port Townsend, Washington. It is a charming seaside town on the tip of Quimper Peninsula in Washington State, located two hours from the Seattle metro area.
Typically, a TRAVELER’S notebook fan can find us in populated cities around the world, where locals and travelers mingle. On a rare occasion, we try to make the experience of discovery a short trip and adventure. Maybe you must take a bus, hop on a train, or fly in a plane. Maybe you’ll have to drive through windy roads through special terrains. Perhaps you need to ride a ferry and cross waters to an island…it’s the journey that makes the experience of finding TRAVELER’S COMPANY even more special. More importantly, we hope you make some special memories on the way to this discovery.
From sunny and dry weather to Seattle’s iconic overcast but saturated fall colors, the TRAVELER’S COMPANY team is excited for this final leg of their adventures.
In today’s TRC USA Staff Diaries, we would like to recommend a short trip to Port Townsend, Washington. While you’re in town for the TRAVELER’S COMPANY CARAVAN event, we would also like to suggest some fun places to explore and discover, in Port Townsend, neighboring towns, and Seattle. Follow this guide for our recommendations of things to do around the event venue and more!
TRC US CARAVAN Third Stop – Art Toolkit: Adventure Art Supply
Art Toolkit: Adventure Art Supply
1003 Water St, Port Townsend, WA 98368
Nov 9th, 2024 / 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
The backdrop of TRAVELER’S COMPANY CARAVAN’s final stop is Art Toolkit’s charming storefront on Water Street in the historic Flagship Landing building, alongside Port Townsend’s rich tapestry of Victorian-style buildings, a remnant of its rich history when the town was first discovered. The workshop-like loft contains Art Toolkit’s studio and a curated selection of art supplies for adventurers and artists alike.
In 2004 Maria Coryell-Martin, founder of Art Toolkit, embarked on a year-long Watson Fellowship to explore remote landscapes through art. She was inspired to create a compact sketching and painting kit after a memorable experience juggling clumsy sketching tools while crawling in the sand for hours to monitor walruses on a small island in eastern Greenland. To this day, she continues to document her daily adventures through art with her all-in-one field art and watercolor kit.
Art Toolkit operates out of Port Townsend, a seaside arts and boat-building community in Washington State. Throughout the year, Art Toolkit leads community events, inspiring locals and travelers alike to make art, while offering live demos and online courses to spread the love for sketching and creativity. Since 2022, TRAVELER’S COMPANY USA has collaborated with Art Toolkit to design limited-edition palettes that make it easy for people to create art anytime, anywhere.
During this one-day pop-up event, TRAVELER’S notebook fans can shop from a special offering of TRAVELER’S FACTORY items, USA CARAVAN Limited Products, and collaboration palettes between TRC USA and Art Toolkit. Art Toolkit and TRC USA Staff will host a special TRAVEL & SKETCH experience at 2:00 PM for everyone to join in the fun of sketching and documenting Port Townsend.
In the same building, fans can visit the Port Townsend Marine Science Center store and gallery, which will be showcasing a display of marine and aquatic items for artists to draw in their TRAVELER’S notebooks.
Across the hall in the same building is Type Townsend, a shop packed floor to ceiling with typewriters and antique finds for analog lovers. Shop owner Tyler Zwirtz is an artist and traveler who has collected typewriters for 15 years and has the vision to share the craftsmanship and artistry behind these machines. Travelers can enjoy browsing the shop’s unique collectibles and enjoy typing with a few sample typewriters!
Things to do in Port Townsend
Port Townsend is touted as a perfect getaway from the ordinary. It has miles of beaches, trails, and a robust downtown area with lots of nooks and crannies to explore. While in Port Townsend, we recommend taking the time to explore the entire town and its piers — don’t be afraid to walk through alleys and venture down underground for more interesting discoveries.
Just like any Traveler’s Town, you can’t miss looking for bookstores – Port Townsend has two. Imprint Bookstore is the town’s book haven and a space that offers writing workshops for all ages. Across the street is a second-hand bookstore with a vintage atmosphere – William James Bookseller, where you can find rare books and well-thumbed-through volumes.
When you’re in town, don’t miss the opportunity to poke into local gift stores that serve up all kinds of fun artifacts: Millstream Port Townsend offers a wide variety of locally made art and house goods; Abracadabra is a plethora of toys, gifts for all ages, and other treasures that delight locals and tourists; and World’s End is a unique clothing store that features pirate and steampunk attire.
Are you a movie buff? Then you will love peeking into Rose Theatre, a circa-1907 vintage theatre that screens new releases, opera, and plays, and a café with food and cocktails. If you are a fan of Studio Ghibli, on November 9, the day of the TRAVELER’S CARAVAN event, the theatre will be screening Howl’s Moving Castle from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM.
There are plenty of eateries and cafes in Port Townsend, the staff at Art Toolkit particularly recommend Hillbottom Pie, a hideaway pizza joint that serves warm and delicious clam chowder alongside some good pies (both savory and sweet). On Water Street, you can also enjoy a retro diner experience at PT Soda Fountain & Diner. The neon pink and turquoise décor has a 50s flair with jukeboxes and vintage booth chairs. They serve burgers, fish and chips, and delicious ice cream sodas and sundaes.
A few blocks up the hill from the main street, you can find a charming bakery that makes fresh focaccia bread, pastries, and grilled cheese sandwiches. Pane d’Amore Artisan Bakery is the perfect place to start the day if you are in town early.
On the same cross street, you can also taste the best Pacific Northwest and New American the town can offer at Finistere (reservations recommended). While you’re in the neighborhood, don’t forget to check out Quimper Sound Records and Guitars, a gem for records lovers.
Finally, end your day on a sweet note with Elevated Ice Cream is the town’s go-to place for ice cream, sherbert, and Italian ice, all handmade in small batches. Walking into the parlor, the old-school décor made it seem as if you were transported back in time. While digging around the shop, you’ll also find old-fashioned candies, fudges, and other delicacies.
If you have leisure time, we recommend visiting Fort Warden Historical State Park. You can walk along white sandy beaches piled with driftwood, explore historic gun batteries, and hike in beautiful Pacific Northwest forests and trails.
Explore Seattle with Washington State Ferries
We invite travelers to take the longer but more interesting route to visit Port Townsend on this day. Although one can drive around Puget Sound through the Kitsap Peninsula to Port Townsend, there are plenty of other ways by water that will give you the experience of taking Washington’s iconic State Ferries.
Washington State Ferries are large automobile and passenger ferry services that help locals and tourists alike navigate the unique landscape of Puget Sound – made up of peninsulas and islands. The white and green striped ferries are a staple sight of Washingtonians’ everyday. You can walk onto the ferry or drive up in your car.
Once parked, you can walk onto the observation deck to enjoy the scenic views of Pacific Northwest skylines. You can also choose one of the comfortable booth seats to relax and enjoy writing in your TRAVELER’S notebook.
Seattle – Edmonds – Kingston – Port Townsend
A fun way to visit Port Townsend is to take the ferry between Edmonds and Kingston, in the northern part of Seattle. The charming seaside town of Edmonds is a regional hub for arts, hosting festivals, galleries, and plenty of murals featuring local artists.
Once you cross the waters and land in Kingston, it’s only a short drive away to Port Gamble, an old mill site-turned community with interesting shops and New England-style buildings.
Seattle – Bainbridge Island – Port Townsend
One could also take the ferry between Seattle to Bainbridge Island. The reverse route offers one of the best panoramic views of the Seattle skyline.
This route also allows you to explore downtown Seattle and visit the city’s iconic Pike Place Market.
Travelers from all around the country love visiting the famed first location of Starbucks in the middle of the market. You can also explore stationery-related stores in the Pike Place underground and surrounding market such as Old Seattle Paperworks, Pike Street Press, and Metsker Maps.
Finally, take a leisurely walk on the newly opened waterfront Overlook Park that connects Pike Place Market to the pier and the aquarium.
This modern city park is revamped from a demolished viaduct, giving the harbor view back to pedestrians.
With this itinerary, we hope you have a great time visiting the TRAVELER’S COMPANY US CARAVAN in Port Townsend, WA. We’ll be seeing you soon in person.
Have a nice trip!
