Friday Harbor

Josh and I had this week off. No work. No stress. Just fun. To celebrate the changes (see Ch-Ch-Changes), and to enjoy our "free" time together, we decided to have a mini-trip.

Our destination: Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. The San Juan Islands are nestled just north of Seattle right inbetween the US and Canada. It's actually several islands clumped together with the biggest being Orcas Island. Apparently, this is prime whale watching waters (unfortuntely just not right now - another time...). 

Tuesday we woke up a bit early (and for me, early is anytime before 8am) to get on the road so we could be sure to catch the 10:20 ferry. Before we headed out, Josh made us some french toast for breakfast. I decided he should be the official Brown household french toast maker....hm, hm good. So with fully bellies, we headed out. 

The car ride up was mostly just me falling in and out of sleep while Josh listend to his favorite radio talk show. We arrived at the Anacortez Ferry Terminal in perfect timing. Then it was an hour something ferry ride to our destination.

 

We arrived at Friday Harbor just around noon and we were more than ready for lunch. I had done some Yelp searches the night before and was equipped with some options. We opted for the Bakery San Juan. Boy, did we enjoy the pizza. The crust was perfect - crispy even on the botton. Yum! 

 

Next, it was time for island adventure. We headed out on the open road with just our iphones for directions (my dang nav system apparently doesn't know the San Juan Islands). Our first stop was at the San Juan Islands National Historic Park, the English Camp. [Quick history note: Apparently the English & Americans were in a little tiff about property and it all started with the killing of a pig hence it was called the Pig War.] There were some placards with the history of the camp, but mainly it was a nice view. 

 

Then we headed a bit more north to Roche Harbor. We found out that this area use to be the largest supplier of lime west of the Mississippi. There used to be lime kilns and a little village. Now, they have converted it into a little resort village with a hotel, harbor, and little shops. We noted this place in our memory banks for a future summer visit.

 

Lastly we continued down the island. We made a stop at Lime Kiln Point (hmm, I wonder why it was called that, hmm). Here there was a lighthouse and more good views (and "the spot" to whale watch from land). There were a few more stops along the way to ohh and ahh at the views. Not to mention, we were enjoying the beautiful sunny weather (finally, sun).

 

We ended our day at our cute hotel on the bluff, Friday Harbor House. Lucky us, we got an awesome room with a view straight at the harbor. There was a nice fireplace, and just a cozy room. We enjoyed dinner across the street at a place called Vinny's. Just a lovely evening.

 

Wednesday was the day of our departure. We had a leisurely morning with a nice continental breakfast at the hotel. All the while, we looked out the window at our view. While I slept, Josh said it was a gorgeous sunrise, but he didn't take any photos. Sheesh.

We grabbed a coffee at a cute coffeeshop called Churchill as we waited for the ferry to arrive. Then off we were back home. P.S. We made friends with Big Foot and a lady Gnome.

 

Check out all photos here.