Fort Casey, Whidbey Island

front row seat along Admiralty Inlet on Whidbey Island

Fort Casey Historical Park is located on Whidbey Island. We spent a couple of nights at the state park campground located along Admiralty Inlet on Puget Sound. 

Fort Casey is one of three de-commissioned forts, together with Fort Flagler and Fort Worden, strategically built in the 1890s to protect the entrance to Puget Sound.  They were state-of-the-art for the late 19th century, armed with batteries of 10-inch "disappearing guns".  But the advent of military aircraft and other weaponry improvements rendered them obsolete before they were completed. 

Originally intended and equipped for defense, all that remain of the fort are the batteries with a pair of the rare 10-inch disappearing guns, two 3-inch mounted guns in their original emplacements, several bunkers, and the 1903-built Admiralty Head Lighthouse.

lighthouse decorated for the Xmas season

Washington State Parks now owns the forts and Seattle Pacific University acquired the former barracks and officers housing which today is the Camp Casey Conference Center. 

Back in 1994 I graduated from Seattle Pacific University and our family joined the graduates for a weekend of celebrations at the Conference Center. We slept in the barracks dorms, attended service in the chapel, ate in the mess hall, and had fun building and firing rockets. A local Llama farm brought one of the Llamas over to give the kids rides. Two and half decades later, nothing seems to have changed or altered except that the buildings are perhaps looking a little more tired and weather worn.

Perched high atop the steep bluffs, there are many magnificent views surrounding the park. 

Officer housing in the distance across the expansive lawns which
were probably parade grounds for the trainees and troops

Several trails lead to the beach below the high bluffs.

We were lucky to have good weather during our short stay. It was of course chilly at this time of year but at least it was sunny and bright. We enjoyed several walks along the bluffs and also along the shoreline. 

jumbled log debris, likely from recent storm deposits

The ferry dock is right next to the campground.  We watched the ferry gliding swiftly and silently back and forth on its runs to Port Townsend across the Sound. 

The small campground has several sites with electric hookups and water. Though it's difficult to make a reservation because this campground is so popular, we were lucky to snap up a front row spot. It turned out that the reason we were "lucky" was because the cove at the ferry dock was being dredged, and unfortunately the noisy machinery operated overnight when the ferry was not running. 

Whidbey Island is close to home yet far enough to give the Alpine a good run, warm up the engine, and use all the other parts that need to be exercised and used to work properly. And a couple of nights away in our cozy rolling home was a perfect way to enjoy a change of scenery safely during the pandemic.