We have explored many waterfront towns around the Puget Sound by boat throughout the years. Here’s a look at our September 2020 boat trip to Bremerton, Poulsbo, and Kingston.
For those of you that don’t know much about the 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.
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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 their borders are 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 made the decision not to travel so far north this year.
Instead, we explored some of the small towns we had never been to before.
Bremerton
Bremerton is the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula and is home to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The city is connected to downtown Seattle by two ferries.
As we started our journey, we decided to stay overnight in Bremerton which is located 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 10:00-4:00.
Above is the view of the marina we stayed at.
This was the first day in over a week where we did not have smoke in the air from all the west coast wildfires. 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.
Lucy is ready to go shopping.
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, and even an espresso bar and truffles! This is a must!
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 be back with my SUV (and possibly a trailer) next month!
Here are the pieces I bought that will fit in the boat!
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.
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 it easy to take pictures of the stunning view.
There is an abundance of wildlife.
This was the perfect day for a kayak ride around the bay. Jax thinks so too.
We kayaked right into an outdoor concert on the water. Now that was a lot of fun!
Kingston
Kingston was a lumber town 100 years ago, and is 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 because of the storms coming in, we had to “hunker down” in this spot for a few days.
The ferry terminal is next to the marina and has places to eat nearby.
I only found one place for shopping in the vicinity of the ferries and the marina.
Floral Thistle and Home is a cute garden-inspired floral shop we came across, which was definitely worth the stop in Kingston.
I loved this amazing piece!
We bought this dragonfly yard art for our garden. My husband had to get pretty creative when trying to get this back on the boat to take home!
This wreath created from hops also 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. Next stops…LaConner, Deception Pass, Flounder Bay, and Bainbridge Island. I hope you enjoyed the boat tour. Many more to come.
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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…
We almost stayed in Port Ludlow this trip. It looks like an amazing place!
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!
It was a wonderful time Barbara. I only wish we could have done our annual visit to the Butchart Gardens. Hopefully next year.
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.
The Olympic Peninsula is such a beautiful spot. Washington State is a wonderful place to live.
Love this and look forward to Part II as well. 🙂
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.
I love this post. I can’t wait for part two.
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.
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
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.
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
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!