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Voted Best Buffet in Jefferson County, WA. I live near Port Townsend and often eat at the Fort Worden Commens. The food and service is always excellent. I noticed a plaque on the wall where Fort Worden Commons was voted the best buffet in this county by the Peninsula Daily News readers. I especially like the Sunday Brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 pm. When entering the dining room, an omelete chef, will ask customers if they would like an omlette and then cook customers omlettes to order. The tourists sitting at the table next to mine told me that they have been to brunches all over the world and said that Fort Worden Commens is the best in the world. I recently attended a wedding at the FWC and the filet mignon is the best that I have ever had in my life. The entire building is also very clean.…
Underground gun emplacements at Fort Worden State Park.Nature and the effects of war never co-existed more harmoniously than on the grounds of Fort Worden. A retired army fort with stately whit.
Underground gun emplacements at Fort Worden State Park.Nature and the effects of war never co-existed more harmoniously than on the grounds of Fort Worden. A retired army fort with stately
white buildings ("An Officer and a Gentleman" was filmed here), this 339-acre park boasts woods and meadows webbed with miles of trails connecting abandoned bunkers, long stretches of beachfront, and some of the most spectacular views in Washington. The park also functions as a popular conference center.
Built at the turn of the century to defend Puget Sound's waterways, Fort Worden once rang with the thunder of huge gun batteries hurtling shells into the straits, but only in practice; the base never saw action. In 1953, the army abandoned the sleepy post. Twenty years later, the fort became a state park, and Artillery Hill was once again open to the public after three-quarters of a century.
Silent now except for an occasional shout of glee, the overgrown bunkers and gun emplacements are a paradise for exploratory kids (and adults who remember being kids). The hill is also a nature-lover's delight: pheasant, osprey, fox, deer and bald eagles live in the park's dense foliage. The hilltop also affords visitors a 270-degree view of the nearby lighthouse, strait and islands beyond.
Just below Artillery Hill lie the park's more civilized fascinations. Alexander's Castle is an architectural curiosity in red brick, a tiny crenelated fortress built by a vicar for his sweetheart, who thanked him by marrying someone else. Nearby is the park's central green, flanked by the original barracks on one side and officer's houses on the other.
And then there's the beach. Just beyond and below the green lies a perfect crescent ribbon of sand with gentle waves for kids to frolic in. The Marine Science Center, a nonprofit dedicated to marine education for all ages, sits atop the adjacent pier. Inside, large touch tanks and a see-through octopus tub invite c…
