First, if you haven’t already entered, scroll down to find out how you can win 176 size 4 diapers-that’s the great, big 30 something dollar box folks!
I’ll admit I’ve got kind of a thing for lighthouses. I read a lot when I was a girl, and I had this idea that it would be really romantic to be a lighthouse keeper.
I got over that idea when we toured several in Oregon this summer. Besides getting a touch of vertigo, I read enough exhibits to realize that lighthouse keepers spend a lot of time painting and cleaning windows-two of my least favorite things in the world.
But, they’re still fun to look at, and we have one right in our own backyard that comes with a beautiful little stretch of Puget Sound beach to boot!
It’s at Brown’s Point Lighthouse Park. Now, the lighthouse is only open for tours on weekends, but you can check it out from the outside and play at the beach any day of the week. The beach is also a great place to watch big ships coming into port. Want to be the coolest ever? Go here and take a look at the teacher’s resource handbook from the Port of Tacoma (I’ll have another post on the Port of Tacoma in the future). You can tell the kiddos what kind of ships they’re watching and what they might be carrying. If you don’t think you can absorb all this before you go, this is a downloadable file, but I think it would take a beastly amount of ink. A better idea might be to take pics. of any good ones you see and play match-up when you get home. If this all sounds way too complicated, just throw some rocks in the water and help your gang imagine sailing on a stormy night.
If you’d like to tour the lighthouse and keeper’s cottage, come back on a weekend between 1-3. Tours are free and go until November. Interesting sidenote: You can actually rent the lighthouse! Now, that would be a different vacation!
The only catch to this activity is that it’s a little hard to find the parking. The lighthouse and the beach are totally public, but the fancy, empty parking lot next door belongs to a private club and they are Not interested in sharing. Don’t try to park there and get in trouble! Instead, find parking right around the corner at the end of Tulalip Street. It’s really not as hard as it sounds, and there is almost never anyone here.
I so enjoy learning more about our area! I’ll have to add thsi to the must see places we go~ Thanks for sharing!