Itinerary
A North Kitsap Weekend
Two days, one night, no rushing. A mill town on the first afternoon, a garden or a lighthouse on the second, and dinner in Kingston in between.
- Day 1 10:25 AM
Arrive, and leave the car where it lands
Roll off in Kingston and resist the urge to drive somewhere immediately. Coffee at Over the Moon (closed Tuesdays) or a crêpe at J'aime Les Crêpes, both two minutes from the lanes, and a walk out along the marina boardwalk to see what the weather is doing.
Map ↗ - Day 1 12:30 PM
West to Port Gamble
About fifteen minutes on SR 104 to the 1850s mill town. Wandering it is free; the shell museum above the General Store is too. The shops — The Artful Ewe, Quilted Strait, Gamble Bay Textiles — are the sort you lose an hour in. The Historic Museum is open Thursday to Sunday, noon to 5, from May through late September.
Map ↗ - Day 1 4:00 PM
Check in
The Point Casino & Hotel is about ten minutes north and the easiest hotel to reach from the ferry. Clearwater Casino Resort is fifteen minutes south on the water at Suquamish. Port Gamble Guest Houses put you in the town itself, Kitsap Memorial State Park has campsites on Hood Canal a short drive west, just south of the Hood Canal Bridge, and the Chamber keeps a hand-checked list of vacation rentals. The most memorable option: the U.S. Lighthouse Society rents two units at Point No Point — the historic keeper's duplex and the John Maggs house — so you can actually sleep at the lighthouse.
Map ↗ - Day 1 6:30 PM
Dinner back in Kingston
The Kingston Ale House for pub plates and seafood, Los Tres Compadres for generous Mexican plates (closed Sundays), or Nirvana for Indian and Nepali — Nirvana opens at noon Friday through Monday and at 4 PM on Wednesday and Thursday, closed Tuesdays. Afterwards, Cellar Cat pours until 10 on Friday and Saturday with live jazz some nights.
Map ↗ - Day 2 9:00 AM
Pick your second day
Two good options and they suit different moods. The garden day: Heronswood opens Wednesday to Sunday, 9 to 3, April to mid-October, and is fifteen quiet acres run by the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe. The wild day: north to Point No Point, the oldest lighthouse on Puget Sound, with a driftwood beach and the shipping lanes close in.
Map ↗ - Day 2 12:30 PM
Lunch in Poulsbo, if you want a third town
About twenty minutes south on Bond Road. Sluys Poulsbo Bakery has been the reason people stop here for decades and opens at 5 AM daily — though it takes one scheduled week off each September, so check before you make a special trip. The Maritime Museum on Front Street is free and open daily, and the waterfront park is a short flat walk from the shops.
Map ↗ - Day 2 3:30 PM
One last stop in Kingston
Saltwater Bookshop and the Kingston Bookery are a few doors apart at Kingston Center. Neither posts hours widely and this is a Sunday afternoon, so ring ahead if the trip up the hill matters to you. Then down to the water.
Map ↗ - Day 2 5:00 PM
The boat home
Sunday evenings eastbound are the busiest sailings of the week in summer. Check the Ferry page before you join the queue, and if the wait is long, take it as permission for one more round of something.
Map ↗
Before you head back
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