History lives on Orcas Island

History lives on Orcas Island

There are very few places in Washington where you can hike through the woods, trip over a 200-year-old cannonball and land amongst an assortment of arrowheads and prehistoric bison fossils. In fact, there’s likely only one place where that amazing scenario could potentially play out, and that is on Orcas Island in the San Juans. As the largest island in San Juan County, Orcas is surprisingly not named after the

Read More

35 years since the mountain woke up

35 years since the mountain woke up

It was at this exact moment, 35 years ago, that the deadliest and most economically-destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States occurred just 60 miles from where I now live. Fifty-seven people were killed. 250 homes were wiped out. 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways and 185 miles of highway…gone. An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale triggered an eruption and caused a massive debris avalanche that

Read More

It’s never too late to remember

It’s never too late to remember

Almost everyone has a connection to World War II, and chances are good that you’re holding on to photos of someone from our Greatest Generation. Washington’s Secretary of State wants to help you share that story this year through their Legacy Washington campaign called “Washington Remembers.” From the beaches of Normandy to Buchenwald concentration camp, Washington veterans recall their experiences during World War II. Learn more and pay tribute to Washington’s heroes who changed the

Read More

Campbell’s Resort has something for everyone

Campbell’s Resort has something for everyone

Does the idea of sunning yourself on a white sand beach listening to gentles waves lap against the shoreline sound appealing to you? Or are you more of a traveling foodie (a trudie?) who loves discovering gourmet quizine in the most unlikely of places? Maybe you’re a history buff looking to learn more about the past while enjoying the present. Whoever you are, Campbell’s Resort on Lake Chelan is for

Read More

Everybody loves Raymond (Washington, that is)

Everybody loves Raymond (Washington, that is)

And why wouldn’t they? It’s a wonderful place to visit on the way from Aberdeen to Long Beach, especially if you’re looking for historical tourism opportunities. The City of Raymond is a community sometimes overlooked in the story of Washington. Like so many other towns scattered across the state, Raymond saw its beginnings as a central point of the lumber industry in the mid- to late-1800s. Raymond’s name comes from

Read More

Sailors, Scavengers and Souvenirs

Sailors, Scavengers and Souvenirs

On the morning of Friday, March 13, 2015, the bones of Washington’s most well-known ferry were picked clean. Kalakala supporters who desperately searched for years for a way to save the prodigious icon could finally relegate their desire to restore the grand ship to the what-could-have-been. And history buffs longing to claim a piece of her for their own could finally do so, for as little as ten bucks. I

Read More

Wintering the Pacific with Lewis and Clark

Wintering the Pacific with Lewis and Clark

In southwestern Washington where the mighty Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean are a string of sites that no historical tourist or lifelong resident of our state should leave unvisited. Between Hungry Harbor and the Long Beach Peninsula are three places that hold not only state but national significance. They are the three places that Captain Meriwether Lewis, Lieutenant William Clark and the entire Corps of Discovery expedition met with

Read More

Uncertain future for “American icon”

Uncertain future for “American icon”

In December of 1966, the City of Lacey was celebrating its incorporation. The small settlements of Woodland and Chambers Prairie had united to form what was then a bedroom community to nearby Olympia. But just a few months earlier that year, Lacey residents got a chance to attend another celebration, as one of the Northwest’s first modern indoor shopping malls opened for business at South Sound Center. When it opened,

Read More