rosslang

We are planning a family trip to the Seattle/Vancouver area for August. We will have 2 weeks. There are 5 of us - our children are 21, 18 and 10.

We want one full week of this time to be really relaxing (walks along the beach, reading, unhurried family time). I have found several rental houses I am interested in for that week. But I am not sure which location would be best.

I have listed the locations of the rentals in case anyone knows these places and can advise me about the pros and cons of the locations for a week of relaxing.

#1 near Freeland on Whidbey Island
#2 Lummi Island
#3 Longbranch, near Lakebay, Lower Puget Sound, Key Peninsula

We will want to be able to drive somewhere not too far to eat dinner or go to a movie; we like historical towns; and most of all we want to soak up the views of mountains and water. (We are from West Texas...)

It looks like Lummi Island is an easy drive from Bellingham where there would be lots to do, and #3 at Longbranch is less than an hour from Gig Harbor which I have heard is a nice town. It may be more of a drive to get somewhere from Whidbey Island, but it looks like there may be plenty to do on the Island itself.

Any suggestions?

Thank you!

tenthumbs

I am SO envious!! I've never been to Whidbey Island or Lummi Island; however, my aunt lives in Lakebay. You cannot beat the walks along the beach when the tide goes out! There are some incredible sand dollar beds, gooey ducks, the occaisonal octopus.....bald eagles, and a stunning view of Mount Ranier. The drawback is there are not many restaurants~a few pizza places, and that's about it. Gig Harbor is a quaint little town, with lots of cute shops and some decent restaurants. For the more adventurous, you can go kayaking. The weather in August is spectacular!

NWWanderer

There's not much on Lummi--a good friend has a cabin up there so I've been many times and love it, but it's very quiet. And because of the ferry, it's not necessarily a quick trip to Bellingham.

I'd probably go for Whidbey since you don't necessarily have to take a ferry to get off the island and there are more restaurants, etc within a short drive. Plus you could easily take a ferry over to Port Townsend (walking on to minimize wait time since the ferry goes right into downtown PT) for more options, or take your car for a day trip to the Olympic Peninsula.

Gardyloo

Definitely the Whidbey option.

Lummi is really in the sticks, plus not sure if the vehicle ferry is running again - it's been closed (so passengers only or private barges) for some time. Nothing within miles but a casino and a few commercial facilities on the island or the res.

Key Peninsula is scenic but also a long way from anywhere. Gig Harbor is an hour, anywhere else is farther.

Whidbey on the other hand has several towns with good cafes, supermarkets, movies, great beach walks, good weather (in the Olympic rain shadow for the most part) and access to the Olympic peninsula and the mainland much more easily than the other places. I think you'll be very happy on Whidbey.

nukesafe

Why not consider the San Juan Islands? Lots to do and see on San Juan, Lopez, and Orcas islands in August, and the ferry connections are much easier than Lummi. You catch the ferry to the islands from Anacortes, where we live, and you can even take a ferry over to Victoria, B.C. Here is a link to San Juan information, to confuse you even further:
http://www.sanjuanweb.com/

Nothing wrong with Whidbey Island, though. You could take the ferry from Keystone to Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula; a really lovely town. Actually, the San Juan's are not that far from most of northern Whidbey. You could easily take a day trip to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island if you wanted to.

I'm sure you will have a wonderful time.

Bobmrg

I would choose Whidbey. Forget about Lummi Island for reasons others have expressed. I really like the Key Peninsula/Lakebay/Gig Harbor idea but I don't think it meets your needs as well as Whidbey does.

1JAR

Have you conisdered Port Ludlow..just over the Hood Canal Bridge.

You could lease a condo at The resort at Port Ludlow..great Olympic mtn views, Mt Rainer.

www.portludlow resort.com

resort has a nice outdoor restaurant, village has a nice pizza take out place
walk out on Hood canal beaches, in the woods, nice little water fall hike from the Resort..desk will give you map. Rent a motor boat. Golf Port GAmble is a great little old lumber community with a great farmers MArkets, shell museum.
Short trip to Whidby or Port Townsend and Hurricane Ridge, Sequim wineries and lavander farms.

rosslang

Thank you all for the help. I am going to follow up on my Whidbey Island lead first. Then I will be back with more questions.