#363 - Lake Crescent Lodge in Washington

Another National Park Lodge!

I love lodges... tucked into remote wilderness settings, filled with wood beams and rustic  furniture. 

Last August, Don and I  stayed at our 9th National Park Lodge. My old brain is starting to confuse some of these wonderful places!

Olympic National Park

But our stay at Lake Crescent Lodge, in Washington's Olympic National Park, felt very different.

This time we a shared a Notable Lodge Adventure, with my sister and sister-in-law! 

Lodge on the Lake

There was nothing overly grand about the lodge, sitting beside the lake. Maybe that's why I liked it. 

It felt more like a New England inn, than a national park lodge. The front porch and lake-facing sunroom made the lodge feel homey.

"Singer's Lake Crescent Tavern"

The lodge was actually built about 2 decades before Olympic National Park came to be. The lakeside resort was built by Avery and Julia Singer in 1916. The isolated property was hard to reach, but travelers could make their way to the lodge by wagon roads or steam ferries.

The resort had 7 guest rooms in the lodge, plus a row of wood-framed cottages. Canvas tents were also used.
 
The cottages looked inviting with their porches and rockers, as we passed on the way to the main building.  

The current cottages were rebuilt after the originals began to deteriorate. The exact design was used to replace the old buildings. 
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The Lodge & FDR

My morning photo of the lobby looks a lot more peaceful than when we first arrived. At 4:30 pm there were guests of all ages, checking in, standing in line at the bar and lounging in all the seating areas.

I wonder what the vibe was in 1937, when President Roosevelt spent time in this very lobby, after touring the Olympic Peninsula. Evidently a storm was crashing outside as he faced an intense pro-timber crowd, opposed to the idea of a future national park. 9 months later FDR signed the bill which added Olympic National Park, as the the 23rd National Park!

Cozy Space

The lobby was lively when we arrived. Speakers played music that we wouldn't have heard in the early days of the park. In the morning without people around, I could more easily imagine guests in the 1940s, playing chess or reading books by the fire. 

I peeked around and spotted a phone booth. I could suddenly picture the wooden phone box being in high demand, back in pre-cellphone days. Local lore claims that one famous guest used that very phone booth in 1962.

Supposedly Robert Kennedy and his family were guests, on the day that Marilyn Monroe died. With no phones in rooms, RFK spent a good deal of time inside the phone booth talking to his brother. At least that's what the rumor says. If it is indeed just a rumor, it's an odd one. I'd be curious to hear the story explaining how the rumor came to be.
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Up We Go

After checking in, we headed up the stairs. No elevators at the lodge.

Walking down the narrow hall I felt like I'd stepped back in time, to one of the no frills family camps my mother used to describe. White washed walls, pipes near the ceiling... an open window.

5 Rooms

There are only 5 original rooms left upstairs. My fingers were crossed that ours might be above the sunroom, with windows opening to a lake view. 

No luck. Don and I had a room on the back, near a chimney.

My sister Jennifer took this fine photo of me looking out our narrow window. One can only guess what that expression is about.

Dorm Room

I knew that the room I'd booked had 2 single beds, no TV and no phone or bathroom. But I still was a little surprised at how tiny it was. 

We had one table and lamp, plus a shelf holding towels. I'm sure the room has hardly changed since the Singers opened the resort. Except for one thing. A Keurig coffeemaker. 

We also had a bench that was placed in front of a door that led to an adjoining room. Luckily Jennifer and Kate were in the next room. The walls were so thin we didn't need to open the door to make plans.  

Don and I laughed at our cramped dorm room.  We're always willing to put up with a little inconvenience, to stay in an epic, historic place. But we're also getting older. 12 years older than when we started these crazy Notable Night Adventures!

Jealous!

"No fair!" is something you learn to say frequently when you're a little sister. I played my whiny younger sister role when I saw Kate and Jennifer's room. "No fair! You have a big window! Wait, why do you get a sink and we don't!"

Our room did supply slippers, but no robes for shuffling down the hall to the bathroom in the middle of the night. 1 toilet for the ladies and 1 for the men. That can be tricky, sharing with 5 guest rooms. At 10 pm I was forced to brush my teeth in the women's shower room.

Searching for a Spot

At 5:30, the lobby music didn't appeal to us, so we looked for seating elsewhere. The sunroom was a good option with its open windows.

But the front porch was better! We lucked out finding 4 chairs and a table.

I love a front porch! It was entertaining watching visitors come and go.
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Lake Activity

Even better, there was lots of activity to watch on the nearby beach.

I like to imagine back in the day, when guests first arrived by ferry. The lodge was much more remote, before the Olympic Highway was built in 1922.  

Lake Time

Jennifer and I suddenly couldn't sit still on the porch. We left Kate and Don for while, to stick our feet in the lake.

It wasn't as cold as you'd guess for a lake created by a glacier. It was certainly clearer than any lake water I've ever seen back home in Texas!
 
"Lady of the Lake"

I wonder how many of the guests who enjoyed the lake that day, knew about the sad story of Hallie Illingworth. I'm glad I didn't know it at the time.

After our stay, I learned the story. A 37-year-old lodge waitress went missing, days before Christmas in 1937. Her abusive husband was later charged when her body was found in the lake.

Over the years, many have shared about their surprising moments, when the Lady of the Lake has appeared, near the water and in the lodge.

I'm glad the only surprise we found in the water was a sweet duck.

Ready for Dinner

It was hard to give up our perfect porch spot, but we had dinner reservations.

We entered the dining room beneath a giant elk head. The stone fireplace added some character, but low ceilings and modern woodwork lacked charm.

​It made me wish we could have dined like guests a century ago, who ate at tables in the cozy lobby area or on the porch.

Our server seemed professional and the menu offered some tasty options, but service was a bit slow.  

That meant I had some spare time, to run outside and check on the sunset.

After I returned to the table, Jennifer stepped out and got an even better photo. No fair!

Just kidding about the sibling squabbles. Jennifer got a wonderful shot of that glorious view!

​Morning

After dinner we headed upstairs. Guests on the second floor were so quiet, they must have all been whispering. The lodge rules say no kids under 18   are allowed upstairs. No noise after 10. I was glad for the quiet and slept well.

To bed early and up early. It was fun to head downstairs before 7 and have the lobby and porch to myself. I was no longer alone when I wandered the grounds beneath the towering pines. Frisky squirrels were going crazy above me! I swear they were aiming at me with those pinecones!

Too Short

After a tasty breakfast in the dining room, we packed up and headed off.

As we passed the lineup of kayaks and paddle boards, we were reminded that we really hadn't begun to enjoy all that the lodge and lake had to offer. We were leaving too soon.

What's Notable?

Our stay at Lake Crescent Lodge felt more like a popular family camp than a touristy National Park. The atmosphere felt active, yet relaxed. The guests enjoying the lodge were more varied in age. There were fewer serious outdoorsmen and fewer oldster retirees, than we've seen at other NPs. Being an oldster, I can say that. 

Mostly I loved how the lodge felt like a big home, sitting on a big lake. Even with busy families on the beach, everything felt calm. Our 1 night stay made me crave a family reunion. Jennifer and I sat on a log talking about that very possibility. Maybe someday?
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