Arts & Entertainment Community

Day Tripper | The tiny Kitsap communities of Keyport and Seabeck

Posted on April 29th, 2025 By: Mary Williams

For nearly a year, I’ve been planning an April day trip to Brinnon on the Hood Canal.

Last spring, I learned about Brinnon’s annual Fjord Fest on Memorial Day weekend. It sounded like a lot of fun.

Imagine my surprise when, while beginning my pre-day trip research, I learned that for the first time since its founding in 1993, this traditional Memorial Day weekend activity would be in June this year. Specifically on Saturday, June 21.

The organizers also decided to return to the event’s original name: Shrimpfest. There’s a story behind the changes, but we’ll save that for next month. In the meantime, just save the date.

Keyport

With any plans to spend Memorial Day 2025 in Brinnon are cancelled, I needed to come up with Plan B. When I visited Poulsbo in December, I promised you that we would go back and check out the rich military history of the Kitsap Peninsula. I’m intrigued every time I drive past the signs for the Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, so I decided to start there.

Located at 1 Garnett Way in Keyport, the museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily except Tuesday, when it is closed. The price is right. Admission is free, but donations are, of course, appreciated.

Keyport is located between Silverdale and Poulsbo in Kitsap County. The town is also home to the Naval Undersea Warfare Center at Keyport, which tests and evaluates torpedoes and other under-water weapons of the Navy..

The exhibits at the museum provide a comprehensive introduction to the Navy’s undersea history and operations. This is the place to learn about our submarine fleet and the region’s neighboring naval bases.

One of the resources I consulted before visiting the museum advised visitors to allow at least an hour for a visit. I could easily have spent an hour in the first-floor gift shop alone.

Parking lot finds

You don’t even have to go inside the museum to see interesting things. A couple of small underwater vehicles inhabit the parking area, including the DSRV Mystic.

The Mystic is a deep submergence rescue vehicle (that’s what the DSRV stands for) that provided rapid-response submarine rescue capability from 1970 to 2008. The Navy could deploy the Mystic anywhere in the world following a submarine accident. To this day, the Mystic is one of the most technologically advanced submersibles in the world.

The Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle Mystic and the Naval Undersea Museum at Keyport. Photo by Mary Williams

Another notable exhibit just in front of the Museum is Sealab II, which was launched in 1965. Sealab expeditions helped advance understanding of deep-sea diving and rescue.

Sealab II at the Naval Undersea Museum at Keyport. Photo by Mary Williams

Full family appeal

I really love museums that have exhibits that appeal to both kids and adults. Many of the exhibits at Keyport are interactive, and the kids who were there during my visit seemed to be having a great time. I’m really looking forward to a return trip with a couple of my granddaughters.

Many exhibits highlight the Navy’s undersea operations, technology, combat, research and salvage. An example of the learning activities available is a display showing the geology of the plate tectonics of the world.

An exhibit at the Keyport museum explains plate tectonics and geology. Photo by Mary Williams

Another element intertwined throughout is information about the people who have been instrumental in developing the technology, knowledge base, and history of our undersea program.

Banners outside the museum highlight figures from Navy submarine history. Photo by Mary Williams

Diversity and service

Outside, the front wall of the building displays five banners celebrating illustrious Navy officers:

John Holland, who developed the first modern submarine, the Holland I, in 1897. Holland’s submarine designs included features like combustion engines for surface travel, battery power for submerged operation, and ballast and compressed air tanks.

Amber Cowan, the first woman to serve as executive officer of a submarine. Cowan assumed this leadership position — second-in-command on the boat — on the Naval Base Kitsap Bangor-based ballistic missile submarine USS Kentucky (SSBN 737) in November 2022.

Cecil D. Haney, a retired admiral who served as the commander of United States Strategic Command from 2013 to 2016. Before that, he served as the commander of the United States Pacific Fleet.

Sue Trukkken, who in 1980 became the first female special operations officer to graduate from the Naval School of Diving and Salvage in Washington DC.

Jonny Kim, a NASA astronaut and Navy physician. While in the Navy, he served as a Seal, flight surgeon, and naval aviator. Kim began an eight-month stay aboard the international space station on April 8.

Inside the building are many more photographs and biographies that demonstrate the diversity of the men and women of the U.S. undersea program. Kayla Barron is one of many submariners featured throughout the museum.

Kayla Barron served her country both under the sea and in orbit. Photo by Mary Williams

Security sinks my Navy trip

My intention was to visit the museum and then move on to each of the other Navy facilities on the Kitsap Peninsula. I quickly learned that I wouldn’t be seeing much of any of them.

Nobody’s getting past this gate without permission. Photo by Mary Williams

Naval Base Kitsap includes the Keyport facility, which is next door to the museum and the basis of a village of small homes.

Naval Base Kitsap also includes:

NBK-Bangor, home to the Navy’s Pacific Fleet ballistic missile submarines and one of the largest nuclear weapons facilities in the world.
Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton, encompassing both the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and a homeport for aircraft carriers and other vessels.
The Manchester Fuel Depot (basically a massive gas station) and Naval Magazine Indian Island, which is actually in Jefferson County.

To say that security at all the bases is high is an understatement.

So, change of plans. While I am interested in making the treks to Manchester and Indian Island, I decided to save those observations for a different time when I can do a much more thorough investigation of the areas where they’re located.

At this point, I was worried. My plans for the day were disintegrating. Thank goodness I don’t ever have a problem finding a diversion.

Go west

I spotted directional signs pointing me to Seabeck. I was curious (particularly since I like Seabeck Pizza) and it was only about a 15-minute detour, so I decided to check it out. I’m so glad I did.

Modern Seabeck is little more than a bend on Seabeck Highway, but that wasn’t always the case. Located on the east side of the Hood Canal, the community was founded in 1856 by Marshall Blinn and William Adams, doing business as the Washington Mill Company.

With the California Gold Rush in full swing, demand for lumber was high. Blinn and Adams saw an opportunity, so they built a second mill, then a shipyard to build boats to haul the lumber to California.

The site of the old Seabeck sawmill, along Hood Canal in Kitsap County. Photo by Mary Williams

In 1877, Seabeck was much larger than Seattle. It had a population of 400 people along with four saloons, two hotels, two stores, a church, a schoolhouse and a 5-acre cemetery.

But on Aug. 12, 1886, the steamer Retriever sent a spark onto a pile of lumber. Soon the entire pier was on fire. Seabeck’s time as an industrial center was up in smoke.

Without the mill to provide jobs, workers left for other mill towns. Seabeck became a near ghost town within a month. It remained that way for almost 30 years.

Conference Center

In 1914, Seabeck became a YMCA town. Many of the old buildings were restored. The Y took over the administration and operation of the grounds and established a retreat and camping center.

By 1936, the conference grounds were established as a private, nonprofit corporation. The Meeting House, built in 1857, was once the Mess Hall for the mill and community center. Today, it serves as an auditorium. The bell that once called the mill hands to meals now calls guests to meetings and services.

The entrance to the Seabeck Conference Center, located just on Seabeck Highway. Photo by Mary Williams

Today Seabeck still looks much the same as it did back then. The business district consists of a couple of stores and places to eat. The original Seabeck Pizza, which is still in operation, is there.

The Seabeck General Store, the closest thing in town to a grocery. Photo by Mary Williams

While the nearest major grocery store is in Silverdale, 15 miles down the road, the residents of Seabeck and the surrounding area can meet their basic needs at the General Store. As with most multi-purpose general stores, this one sells a variety of souvenirs in addition to basic food supplies. And something I found there just proves that what goes around always comes around.

I’m sure there are long nights to fill in Seabeck, and there’s more to life than TV shows and video games. At the General Store I came across some unusual cribbage boards. I found one of them to be particularly interesting and I think I’m going to have to go back and get one.

Missing the boat

I was still thinking about my pending day trip to Brinnon. No matter whether I get there by going around the south end of the Hood Canal, or go around the north end via the Hood Canal Bridge, the one-way trip will be around 65 miles and take just under 90 minutes. Round-trip time of 3 hours.

Did you know a ferry once ran between Seabeck and Brinnon? It first operated in 1921 and unfortunately stopped decades ago. If I could still catch it, it would cut my travel time in half.

A cribbage board for sale at the Seabeck General Store shows the schedule for a former Seabeck-Brinnon ferry. Photo by Mary Williams

Scenic Beach State Park

As I travelled between Silverdale and Seabeck all the road signs referenced Scenic Beach State Park. It was only 2 miles further down the road, so it seemed silly not to check it out. It certainly lives up to its name.

Hood Canal and the Olympic Mountains as seen from Scenic Beach State Park in Seabeck. Photo by Mary Williams

The park is on the eastern shore of Hood Canal, with views of the Olympic Mountains.

Charles R. Hall, a traveling artist who specialized in tavern murals, purchased the property, including a small house, around 1903. Joseph Emel Sr. bought it around 1910 and remodeled the house. He repurposed it as an auto tourist camp called the “Scenic Beach Resort.”

Emel died in 1959 and the resort closed. Locals urged the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission to acquire the property, and Scenic Beach State Park was dedicated in 1975. The park developed the historic Emel House as a rental and it is a popular venue for weddings and other celebrations.

The entrance to Scenic Beach State Park in Seabeck. Photo by Mary Williams

The park includes an 88-acre campground with 1,500 feet of saltwater beachfront. It is known for its native rhododendrons, a wide variety of birds and wildlife, and stunning views of Hood Canal and the Olympic Mountains. Boating, fishing, diving and crabbing, hiking trails and rocky beaches are available.

Check out the State Parks website, or the park brochure to learn more about Scenic View State Park.

The Unforgotten, Run to Tahoma

I have really been undecided about whether to tell you about the Unforgotten Run since it turned out to be something of a non-starter, just one more component of a story that kept trying to derail. I finally decided that with Memorial Day just around the corner, it’s important to note what our neighboring community of Port Orchard has done to honor a group of veterans. Some of you may want to participate sometime in the future.

I just don’t feel like our investigation of the military’s impact on Kitsap County would be complete if I didn’t share with you the Memorial Wall in the Kitsap County Administration Building and tell you the story behind it.

The Memorial Wall in the Kitsap County Administration Building in Port Orchard.

In 2008, Mike Carroll, a founding member of the Kitsap County Veterans Advisory Board, read an article about the abandoned remains of deceased veterans at a funeral home in Missouri. He decided to check with the Kitsap County Coroner’s Office to see if they had any unclaimed veterans remains. They had six individuals whose family or community had not claimed their bodies for burial.

That discovery resulted in The Unforgotten, Run to Tahoma Celebration of Life Ceremony, now held every Memorial Day weekend. It is hosted by the Kitsap County commissioners, Kitsap County Medical Examiner, Kitsap County Veterans Advisory Board and Combat Veterans International, with support from the city of Port Orchard.

Good news, bad news

The run begins at the County Administration Building plaza with a brief ceremony honoring the lives and service of those to be honored. Soon after, a motorcycle processional escorts the bodies to Mount Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, where they are interred.

As Rick Becker, program coordinator for the Kitsap County Veterans Assistance Program, said: “This year is something of a good news-bad news story. The bad news is that just last week the 2025 Run was officially cancelled. The good news is that it had to be cancelled because the County Coroner’s Office was unable to identify any unclaimed veteran’s remains.”

As far as Becker can remember, the run has only been cancelled twice in its 17-year history. We’ll check next year and let you know if it’s happening so that if it is and you want to participate, you can.

About the Day Tripper column

Gas prices are sky high, and a night in a hotel is approaching astronomically expensive. So, for the foreseeable future, I imagine many of you are going to find yourselves taking day trips rather than the road trip vacations we’ve grown to love.

This beautiful region in which we live is ripe with opportunities to explore new places, see new things, and learn a little something at the same time. I promise to keep the longest journeys to a one-way distance of under 200 miles. Whether you want to make it an overnight trip, a weekend, or just a very long day trip, we should be able to pull it off.

I hope you’ll grant me the honor of your virtual company as we travel these roads together. Happy trails!