Exploring the Puget Sound by Boat

We have explored many waterfront towns around Puget Sound by boat throughout the years. Here’s a look at our September 2020 boat trip to Bremerton, Poulsbo, and Kingston.

For those who don’t know much about Puget Sound, it’s an inlet of the Pacific Ocean and part of the Salish Sea located along the northwestern coast of Washington State.

When researching the best boating destinations in the country, Puget Sound is always a top contender.

Exploring the Puget Sound by Boat

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Exploring the Puget Sound by Boat

We took off in mid-September for an 18-day boating adventure around the Puget Sound. We try to take an extended boat trip once a year and always find ourselves in the San Juan Islands and parts of British Columbia, Canada.

This year was quite different because of Covid-19.

Canada was no longer an option as its borders were still closed to the US. And though we had planned to visit our favorite places in the San Juans, such as Roche Harbor, Stuart Island, Garrison Bay, and Indian Cove, which is on the southeast side of Shaw Island, we decided not to travel so far north this year.

Instead, we explored some of the small towns we had never been to before.


Exploring the Puget Sound by Boat: Bremerton

Bremerton is the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula and is home to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Two ferries connect the city to downtown Seattle.

As we started our journey, we decided to stay overnight in Bremerton, which is about an hour away from where we live by car and about 5 hours by boat. Our goal was to be first in line for the Bremerton Vintage Flea Market, which takes place every Saturday from 10:00 to 4:00.

Above is the view of the marina we stayed at.

Exploring the Puget Sound by Boat

This was the first day in over a week that smoke from all the West Coast wildfires did not fill the air. We finally had some much-needed rain.

And here’s the reason we stayed in Bremerton. This is one of my favorite places to shop for vintage goodies. The vendors are so wonderful, and the prices are very reasonable. If you are a local, I highly recommend it.

Poulsbo

I always love this stop! Poulsbo is a city on Liberty Bay. Downtown has a Scandinavian theme to honor its immigrant history, giving the town nicknames like Little Norway and Viking Street.

Poulsbo
Mini Dachshund

Lucy is ready to go shopping.

Saltwater Vintage in Poulsbo

Poulsbo is always a favorite stop when we are boating. I found two new home decor shops, which made me very excited! Saltwater Vintage is so much fun!

This adorable shop features vintage items and reproductions, an espresso bar, and truffles—it’s a must!

Fall home decor

I found another amazing shop called Details Home and Garden. This place has the most AMAZING eclectic vintage pieces I’ve seen.

I would have bought so many of his bigger furniture pieces, but obviously, we didn’t have enough room on the boat. So I’ll return with my SUV (and possibly a trailer) next month!

Vintage home decor

Here are the pieces I bought that will fit in the boat!

Pizza

Shopping gives me such a big appetite. We ate at Sogno di Vino for the fabulous pizza and the fact that they let our dogs be on the patio with us.

Exploring the Puget Sound by Boat

Liberty Bay is one of the most popular anchorages on the Puget Sound. We always include this special town on our boating itinerary. The gorgeous weather and colorful skies made taking pictures of the stunning view easy.

Exploring the Puget Sound by Boat
Harbor seals

Wildlife is abundant.

Harbor seals
herron
dog in a kayak

This was the perfect day for a kayak ride around the bay. Jax thinks so too.

Exploring the Puget Sound by Boat
Exploring the Puget Sound by Boat

We kayaked right into an outdoor concert on the water. Now that was a lot of fun!

Exploring the Puget Sound by Boat
Exploring the Puget Sound by Boat
Exploring the Puget Sound by Boat

Kingston was a lumber town 100 years ago and is now known as the “Little City by the Sea.” There is a Farmer’s Market every Saturday from May through October.

Here’s a view of the Port of Kingston Marina, where we stayed for two days. The weather was nice the first day, but we had to “hunker down” in this spot for a few days because of the storms coming in.

Ferry terminal

The ferry terminal is next to the marina and has places to eat nearby.

Kingston restaurant

I only found one place to shop near the ferries and the marina.

Storefront in Kingston

Floral Thistle and Home is a cute garden-inspired floral shop we came across, which was worth the stop in Kingston.

Garden art

I loved this amazing piece!

Garden art

We bought this dragonfly yard art for our garden. My husband had to get creative when trying to get this back on the boat to take home!

fall wreath

This wreath from hops caught my eye and came home with me.

And, of course, we took the oyster basket home too.

I’ve had so much fun sharing our first week’s adventures while exploring Puget Sound. I hope you enjoyed the boat tour. Many more to come.

If you have any questions or additional suggestions, please share them in the comments below. And be sure to share this blog post link with anyone who loves boating.

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Exploring the Puget Sound by boat

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17 Comments

  1. We live in Wa. Our daughter and family bought a second home on the water at Port Ludlow. It is so peaceful beautiful birds otters seals in the water.. Nice to visit Andhra e not only family time but so refreshing…

  2. What a beautiful trip Kim! Kingston is so darling – so many memories in that little town! I hope you got to have some ice cream! 🙂 And what fun getting all those new treasures! So glad you had some lovely weather too. LaConner is another favorite – can’t wait till next time! Thanks for the fabulous tour!

    1. It was a wonderful time Barbara. I only wish we could have done our annual visit to the Butchart Gardens. Hopefully next year.

  3. I lived in Washington in my early twenties…decades ago now. My in -laws had a piece of property on the Olympic peninsula and we used to visit there every chance we got. So beautiful.

    1. Thank you Marguerite! Always so glad to have you here. I’m looking forward to sifting through all my pics for part 2 later this week.

    1. Thank you so much Rebecca! It was so fun taking pictures for the blog post. Port Townsend and Bainbridge Island are coming up. And I think I will share our trips to the San Juans and The Butchart Gardens in Canada after that.

  4. Hi Kim, I so enjoyed reading about your boating trip and it was obvious you all had a wonderful time. I do believe the PNW and the Puget Sound are some of the most gorgeous places in the US and aren’t we blessed to live here. I can’t wait to visit a few of the shops you mentioned. Thanks for a wonder read! Pam

    1. Thank you Pam! I am so glad you liked the post. I’ll share Port Townsend and Bainbridge Island this coming week. We are so blessed to live where we do.

  5. We loved you describing your boat trip! Eagerly looking forward to the next one. Cool rusty dragonfly. You have a very chilled dog sedately enjoying a kayak ride. Thankyou

    1. I’m so glad you liked it Kay! This is the first time I’ve really done anything outside of home decor and gardening so I wasn’t sure. I actually have two chilled dogs who love to kayak. Well they may not love to kayak, but it’s better than being left at home. Lucy sits in the back of the kayak. Looking forward to part 2 this week!

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