Sequim had fallen to second place by Saturday in the Best Small Town for Shopping in the USA Today 10Best Reader’s Choice Awards, while Port Townsend remained in 11th place for Best Coastal Small Town.
The contests are driven by internet votes at https://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-coastal-small-town/ and www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-small-town-for-shopping/. Locals can vote once a day on each of their devices through 9 a.m. May 14. Winning towns will be announced May 18.
Sequim was in first place in its category last Sunday. It had worked up from 18th on a list of 20 nominees nationwide. As of Saturday, Sequim had received more votes than any community except Berlin, Md.
According to the USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice 2018 website, “Sequim, an old mill town on the Olympic Peninsula, enjoys a walkable downtown filled with gift shops and cafes, and punctuated by a historic grain elevator.
“This unusually sunny small town (at least by Washington standards) is famous for succulent Dungeness crab, as well as the fields of fragrant lavender at its outskirts,” the website said.
Port Townsend was at one point in ninth place in the Best Coastal Small Town category but sank to 11th place where it has remained.
The USA Today website described Port Townsend as originally intended to be a major harbor on the West Coast, “and while that never came to fruition, the town retains much of its historic charm. Water Street passes through the heart of the historic district, where architecture buffs can spot numerous Victorian buildings, like the Hastings Building and the Rose Theater.”
Both Sequim and Port Townsend are among 20 small towns throughout the nation with populations of 25,000 or less that have been nominated by a panel of travel experts in each category.
Orcas Island is the only other Northwest town to be nominated in the shopping category. Port Townsend is the only Northwest town to be nominated in its category.
In 2017, Sequim was awarded the title of Best Northwestern Small Town while Port Townsend came in fourth in that category in the USA Today 10Best Awards contests.
