To get to Victoria BC, we had to take a ferry from Port Angeles. This required a lot of driving. The funniest thing we saw along our way was a fireworks stand on a reservation called, "Ill Eagle Fireworks." When I first saw the drawing of a sick-looking eagle, I thought it was a little disrespectful; then I sounded out the name of the stand and started laughing. I wish I had a good photograph of it.
Despite an unexpected music festival in the way, we wound up visiting Port Townsend and the lighthouse at Point Wilson. It reminded me of the lighthouse at Heceta Head; the lens system was similar, but the Point Wilson light has been replaced by a much smaller modern unit. Point Wilson Lighthouse had been run by a weight that ran through the tower's central column; I don't remember how Heceta Head's light rotated—it was electrified when we visited last.
After the lighthouse, we went for a stroll along the beach, around the local aquarium, and stumbled across an old fort. The fort was about a hundred years old and supported at least two long-range guns. Boxy concrete bunkers extended into an earthen embankment. Rusting iron doors hung from some openings, massive rusting iron rings had worn rings into the concrete walls they were set into, weeds grew in the decommissioned gun turrets, dark and cold rooms echoed when we spoke, and vaguely Satanic graffiti was around every corner. I'm fairly certain that the local high school kids had their weekend orgies here—and I hope they were careful because there was practically no railings anywhere on the structure and quite a few unexpected places where nasty falls lurked.
No comments:
Post a Comment