This weekend the public has an opportunity to get inside one of Central Whidbey’s oldest buildings.

The Ferry House will be open for tours during the Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve Summer Picnic on the Prairie, starting 4 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets are $75 for picnic and tour. Proceeds are matched dollar for dollar for reserve programs.

Just recently I visited the Ferry House.

As with many Whidbey Island residents, my family came to stay with me last weekend for the Coupeville Arts and Crafts Festival.

The beautiful weekend allowed for us to venture beyond the town and I took my parents on a short tour of Ebey’s Prairie.

We stopped at the Ferry House to peak inside the windows and I told them about the picnic this weekend.

It’s funny how visiting an old property can spark memories.

Out of all of the neat features at the Ferry House, my dad was most enamored by the outhouse.

“It’s a two seater,” he exclaimed.

Turns out, my great-grandparents didn’t get indoor plumbing until the late 1950s and they too had a two-seater.

My dad proceeded to tell me that, despite having indoor plumbing, his grandfather still liked to use the outhouse on weekends.

The highlight of his visits to the grandparent’s house as a child, my dad told me, was going out to the outhouse with grandpa.

Knowing that story isn’t necessarily something I needed to know, but it provided me a good chuckle.

And now, whenever I go back to the Ferry House I will remember the connection my family made with it.

If you haven’t gone out to visit the Ferry House, I highly recommend you do.

It’s just one of the many historic treasures you’ll find on Ebey’s Reserve.

— Megan Hansen is editor for The Whidbey Examiner.