San Juan Islands, Washington
A jewel in Washington State are in the northern waters. The San Juan Islands are a vacationer's paradise. Friday Harbor, located on San Juan Island, is the largest town in the whole island chain. You get their via ferry boat or your own boat or maybe by air. Ferries are the most common mode of transportation for the casual visitor. You can either go with your car so you can explore an island, or you can travel "on foot". There is a lot of outdoor activities on the islands and they attract cyclists, campers, hikers, boaters, kyakers and whale watchers. Don't take my word for it. Go to this link and enjoy!
Also, San Juan Island holds an interesting place in American history. Go to this link and read about The Pig War. Study up, as we may have a pop quiz!
The above photo was taken at Roche Harbor, a small, but interesting place to visit. We've been there several times. We took my aunt to dinner at the restaurant in this resort for her birthday. There is a great little harbor there, and it's a couple of hours entertainment just to walk the docks and ooh and ahh over the many beautiful boats and yachts that tie up there for awhile. In fact, this huge yacht, which was docked at the end of the walkway, in deeper water, belongs to somebody in the upper echelon's of Microsoft. I couldn't get it all in the photo, it was so huge! After we left San Juan Island we went to Orcas Island, which is the biggest island in the chain. We had a great water view of Cascade Bay and across from us was the Rosario Resort. And there is this same ship, coming over for a Microsoft retreat of some sort. We were quite fascinated. It's the big ship in the middle.
We had our car, so we saw as much of the island as we could. There is a big camping place here and we saw many cars loaded with camping gear. Eastsound is the biggest town on Orcas Island. The islands attract artisans of all kinds. If you wonder what happened to all those hippies, they probably migrated here to open up their ceramic workshop. It's a fascinating place to visit.
http://www.sanjuanartistcommunity.com/
Bill and I need to go back there because I haven't visited Lopez Island yet. I need to have seen all the major islands there, and that's the last one on our list! Let me tell you, the San Juan's are beautiful.
Update: In September 2010, we did go to Lopez Island. Yay! It's a pretty and peaceful island and we enjoyed our few days there, even though the weather wasn't as lovely as we would have wanted. We stayed at the MacKaye Harbor Inn and it was very nice. It looks out over MacKaye Harbor and people come and go kayaking, which Bill and I were unprepared to do. We went on some hiking trails and snooped around the small Lopez Village. We also took the ferry over to Friday Harbor where we had lunch and walked around the town. The below photos are on Lopez Island.
wow! Thanks! ice places. PErfect tour guide, Sue's Tourism Resource. :)
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