A half hour southwest of Port Townsend via Hwy-20 and US-101, Sequim (pop. 4,334; pronounced SKWIM) sits in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains and so tends to be much drier and sunnier than spots even a few miles west. Though it retains its rural feel, Sequim’s historic farming-and-fishing economy is quickly switching over to tourism, with tracts of new homes filling up the rolling, waterfront landscape, and a new freeway bypassing the center of town. It’s ideal cycling country, for the moment at least, with acres and acres of lavender farms lining quiet country roads.
Coming in from the east on two-lane US-101, the first thing you pass is the large, modern John Wayne Marina, built on land donated by the Duke himself, who spent a lot of time in Sequim cruising around on his converted U.S. Navy minesweeper, the Wild Goose. The US-101 frontage through town is lined by the usual franchised fast-food outlets and some unique variations, like the ersatz but enjoyable Hi-Way 101 Diner (360/683-3388), at 392 W. Washington Street in the heart of town.
Just north of US-101 at 175 W. Cedar Street, the Sequim-Dungeness Museum (Tues.–Sun. 8 am–4 pm; donation; 360/683-8110) houses everything from 12,000-year-old mastodon bones discovered on a nearby farm, to exhibits of Native American cultures and pioneer farm implements. From the museum, a well-marked road winds north for 10 miles before reaching the waterfront again at Dungeness, where a seven-mile-long sand spit, the country’s longest, protects a shellfish-rich wildlife refuge. All that remains of the abandoned fishing community that existed here through the 1890s is an old schoolhouse, though the excellent Three Crabs Restaurant (360/683-4264), overlooking Dungeness Harbor, has been serving up fresh fish and local Dungeness crab for over 25 years.
The well-signed Olympic Game Farm (daily in summer; $9; 360/778-4295), five miles northwest of Sequim, is a 90-acre retirement home for former animal actors and other creatures, great and small. Visitors are very welcome.
Stay in Sequim at Groveland Cottage ($90–125; 360/683-3565), a quaint B&B just a half mile from the harbor at 4861 Sequim-Dungeness Way, or at the popular waterfront Juan de Fuca Cottages ($150; 360/683-4433), two miles to the west at 182 Marine Drive.
