My husband and I are heading to Washington State in 2 wks! for a last minute trip and will be travelling around the Kitsap Penninsula (and Seattle) to see what it would be like to live there. My husband would be based out of Keyport Naval Base, so our focus is on the Kitsap Penninsula. We will be staying at Silverdale Beach Hotel for a few days, then finding another place (not sure where yet--thoughts??), and finally, finishing up in Seattle for a couple of days. We already have good sense of what to see in the Seattle (my husband has been countless times), but despite looking at the Kitsap County tourism website, we are a little lost about towns, restaurants, shopping, activities, not-to-miss, etc.
If it helps, we are in our late 20s. I love antiques, local culture, farmer's markets, and gardens. My husband appreciates hiking, anything maritime-related, breweries, and kayaking. We both love trying out new restaurants and bistros (vegetarian a plus!.)
Any suggestions or help would be most appreciated!
Thank you-

Points of interest include Port Townsend (charming town), Olympic National Park, and the Pacific Coast (Ocean Shores, etc.)

Scenic drives include Highway 101 up the west side of Hood Canal, Hurricane Ridge (from Port Angeles), the south shore of Lake Crescent, and Highway 112 from Clallam Bay to Neah Bay.

Our favorite easy hike in the area is to Marymere Falls from the ranger station on Lake Crescent.

Our favorite restaurant on the peninsula is Sabai Thai, in Port Angeles.

Congratulations! In my 20 years in the service I never had the opportunity to live in such a wonderful location as the Kitsap Peninsula. Look at places like Poulsbo, Silverdale, and Keyport itself. Don't know about the commissary situation...I hope that you don't have to drive down to McChord AFB or Ft. Lewis. Keyport is a Goldilocks location...not too far, not too close, but just right.

Hi VAn8ve..
I grew up on Kitsap Penn, my Dad wrked at Keyport and went to school in Silverdale, married a career Navy guy and lived in Bremerton for 2 tours. Bremerton (otherwise known as "Bummertown" by Navy wives) is not really noteworthy.

Silverdale is not really noteworthy except that it is convienent for shopping...by now you are surely understanding the Kitsap Penn is not a "quaint" area nor a urban or cosmopolotian area. It is rather a simple place to live in which teh people are very friendly and you will make very good friends easily.

It is though a lovely place to live in that there is much to do outside: Spring, Fall and Summertime is glorious. Winter sort of drizzly and gray...

Some Washington State Parks are very nice and offer quite nice affordable lodging via the Washington State PArks website. Alderbrook Resort which is quite south of Silverdale drive on Hood Canal is one of the top Resorts in the PNW perhaps for a future visit.

Since you want to stay on the Kitsap Penn vs Olympic Penn (over the Hood Canal Bridge) would suggest checking out Poulsbo, and Kingston on Bainbridge Is. Then you can catch the ferry from Kingston over to Seattle.
Both Poulsbo (cute Scandinavain waterfront town with great marina and bakeries) and Kingston, on BAinbridge Island have lovely Farmers MArket, B&Bs. Kingston also has some lovely gardens and some antiques as well as a Farmers MArket.

For future visits or excursions once moved there, the Olympic Penn (across the Hood Canal)would provide more options for your likeable activites:
Port Townsend has a Wooden Boat Show every year, antiques galore and some great Pizza.
Sequim is a lovely area further North on Olympic Penn and has a lovely Lavender festival at it's farms as well as several lovely Wineries.
Port Ludlow has the Resort at Port Ludlow, one of my favorite places to stay on the Olympic Penn.

If you are military vs. civilian, Commisary and Exchange at Bangor Submarine Base are close to Silverdale & Keyport and the most reasonable place to shop.

Thanks to each of you for your suggestions. I am going to look into all of them in greater detail
If anyone thinks of any P.S.'s or extra ideas, I would be most happy to have them.

Our favorite beaches on the coast are Ruby Beach (south of Forks) and Rialto Beach (near La Push).

Here are two very good restaurants in Sequim: Alder Wood Bistro (139 W Alder St) Dockside Grill (John Wayne Marina).

Silverdale is near Bremerton where you can take a ferry to Seattle. On a clear day you will see the Olympic Mountains to the west, the Cascades to the east, Mt Rainier to the south, and Mt Baker to the north. The Seattle skyline is striking sight, too.

My ferry of choice in getting from Kitsap to Seattle is not the Bremerton ferries, which take almost an hour, but the Bainbridge ferries which are newer, larger and take about 35 minutes.

I live across Hood Canal Bridge on the Olympic Peninsula but do most of my shopping in the Silverdale/Poulsbo area. If I were to move to Kitsap I would look around in Poulsbo or Kingston first -- Silverdale is a little too suburban for me. Note: 1Jar is mistaken in thinking that Kingston is on Bainbridge Island -- it's not, though Kingston does have a ferry which crosses the sound and lands in Edmonds, north of Seattle. The town (or village) on Bainbridge Island used to be called Winslow but is now called Bainbridge Island!

My ferry of choice in getting from Kitsap to Seattle is not the Bremerton ferries, which take almost an hour, but the Bainbridge ferries which are newer, larger and take about 35 minutes.

We take the Bainbridge ferry when returning from ONP, but from Silverdale I prefer to drive to Bremerton (15 minutes) rather than plow through the traffic in Poulsbo and endure the long boring drive down 305 to the ferry (40 minutes).

Just before sunset on a lovely summer evening, the ferry is an especially pleasing place to be.

Try both routes, and decide for yourself.

HTTY

Hi Azzure,
Txs for catching my "geography--ferry" mistake: sure don't want new people getting lost on the ferry..let alone me! Too funny: we were in Seattle over the 4th and no one told us Winslow had a name change. I guess since we have traveled home so many times we just didn't catch it.
here is a ferry link that better explains

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/info_desk/route-maps/