A VINTAGE FORT AND TREE-CLIMBING FUN
As my 14-year-old son, Anders, scampered up a metal ladder to the gun emplacements at Ft. Casey Historical State Park on Whidbey Island in Washington last summer, I resisted the impulse to shout “be careful.” He’s as agile as a monkey, so I let him scramble about the bunkers housing the artillery while his sister, Maddie, 16, and I enjoyed the views. The battlements at Ft. Casey, a 998-acre marine park, were once part of a “triangle of fire” that included two other forts. The 120-year-old Ft. Casey attracts more than military history buffs. It has the restored 1903 Admiralty Head lighthouse, hiking trails, a bird sanctuary, meadows ideal for f lying kites and a beach for building sand castles. The southern tip of Whidbey is just 30 miles from Seattle. The tab: $175 a night for lodging in restored noncommissioned officers quarters at Ft. Casey Inn, and $15 for a one-pound plate of Penn Cove mussels at Toby’s Tavern. THE BED Ft. Casey was once home to 100 officers and 400 enlisted men. The officers, of course, had the best lodgings. Visitors can stay in one of the inn’s two-bedroom homes, which have a living room, full kitchen and sweeping views of Puget Sound. Kids are welcome but not pets. THE MEAL Seafood aficionados rank Penn Cove mussels among the tastiest shellfish. And there’s probably no place better to enjoy them than Toby’s Tavern in Coupeville, which abuts the cove. My kids ate a margherita pizza ($11) at Ciao while I dined at Toby’s on these delicious bivalves served in a sauce of wine, onions, basil and garlic. I also had yummy mussel chowder ($6 for a cup) and washed it all down with a Parrot Red Ale ($5.25) specially brewed for Toby’s. THE FIND The view is stunning from 200-plus feet up in a 500year-old Douglas fir in Deception Pass State Park at the north end of Whidbey Island. We booked a fourhour canopy climbing course with AdventureTerra guides Leo Fischer and Andrea Velasco. After a 30-minute introductory session to familiarize us with the awkward climbing