San Juan Islands Trip
 

Thanks for all the suggestions you've given me on where to go for our vacation. We ended up going to the San Juan Islands - Friday Harbor specifically - and loved it. It's hard to get information so I thought I'd post what we did in case it helps someone else. We flew to Seattle and stayed there the first night. In the morning, we drove to Anacortes and took the ferry to San Juan Island. We stayed at a hotel called Friday Harbor House, and it was fantastic - really excellent service, very comfortable room, free breakfast, and a pretty view of the harbor. We drove to the Pelindaba Lavender Farm, and it was gorgeous - lavender in the fields and all kinds of amazing lavender creations in the large gift shop - everything from cookies to ice cream to lotions and hot fudge - great place to buy gifts. That night we ate at a restaurant called Downrigger's - the food was very good, and we had a nice view of a rainbow over the water.

The next day we did a whale watching tour in the hopes of seeing orcas. We chose Maya's Legacy due to all the glowing reviews, and they didn't disappoint - really friendly crew, and we saw 7 orcas in total. They swam right by our boat, and the one closest to us had a fin over six feet tall - so cool. April, the naturalist on board, went out of her way to find an eagle for us since we had never seen one. Great day. We got sandwiches at Spring Street Deli and ate them on board since we had a lunch time cruise. Also saw seals and some huge sea lions. We had dinner at the Friday Harbor House restaurant.

The next day we just drove around the island visiting all kinds of fun sights - the American and English Camps, Lime Kiln Park, an alpaca farm. Lime Kiln has a hydrophone so you can listen to whales passing and if you're there at the right time, you can see orcas swimming by. We stopped into Bakery San Juan and got some chocolate chip cookies to eat while we were out hiking; they were excellent. Had lunch at Roche Harbor - very good food and service. We wanted to sit outside to enjoy the views so they brought a heater over for us since it was chilly. Very fun day. Had dinner at Cask and Schooner - they were out of what we wanted which was Shepherd's Pie, also out of meat pie, so we just got a sandwich and a salad which were fine. It was close the hotel and convenient.

On our last day we stopped in at the Whale Museum which was small but informative. Then we headed off to Lake Crescent Lodge in Olympic National Park. Food was good at the lodge, but expensive; room was comfortable and nicer than what I expected for a national park, but still pretty pricey for what you got. The lake was beautiful - crystal clear water and mountains towering around it. They have a nice long dock where you can sit and enjoy the view. I wish we had gone in summer so we could swim, but we did lots of hiking - loved Marymere Falls. Also explored the Elwha Valley, Madison Falls, and drove up to Hurricane Ridge. Did a free guided hike at Hurricane Ridge which we really enjoyed, saw lots of deer. Got chili at the snack bar which hit the spot. Stopped for ice cream at Granny's. Had dinner at the lodge. You have to make reservations for dinner at the lodge, or you won't get seated, and that happened to us one night. They just sent us to order at the bar which worked out. No phones, wifi, or tv in the rooms, so it was pretty quiet after 7:00. The lodge was old school charming with a big roaring fire, lots of wood, and an elk head over the fireplace. Lots of road construction in the area. We spent our last night in Seattle and headed home early the next morning. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza SeaTac, and it was really nice and very convenient to the airport; they had a free shuttle too. All in all a great trip! The orcas were the highlight for me! Our naturalist knew exactly which orcas we were viewing, their ages, family relationships etc. One was a 45 year old mama traveling with her three grown sons. I had never heard of the San Juans until I saw them on this board. I'd love to go back and explore some of the other islands, particularly Orcas Island, and looking forward to trying some of your other suggestions in the future!

Sounds lie a great break!

We stayed in Anacortes when we toured the Pacific NW. We had to decide between Seattle or Anacortes and whale watching. Never regretted that decision, and I've made a note of Friday Harbor in case we ever get the chance to go again.

If you do this trip agin cross the border and visit the Gulf Islands on the B.C. side
- Salt Spring Island has a lot to offer.

I'm glad to hear how much you enjoyed the San Juan's!

Volcanogirl,

Thanks for the TR. My best friend did a week long sailing trip years ago in the San Juans and loved Friday Harbor the best. It's good to hear your details of a visit for non-sailing! I'm leaning toward this being my next trip.

FYI - if you get to the area again, try Vancouver Island. We drove all the way up to Tofino and did a whale watching trip from there. It was amazing in a Zodiac! Also did sea kayaking in the bay.
Beautiful beaches, but very popular and rather expensive. So worth it!

So glad you had a great trip. We also loved Friday Harbor and the whale watch.

Wonderful! Love the San Juans, and so glad you had a nice trip!

h, I loved the whale watching. Glad you got to enjoy it too. I could do that every day I think! Friday Harbor is really picturesque and seems to be the most tourist friendly spot in the islands. There's supposed to be a great pottery shop on Orcas island that I would love to go if we make it back.

mimi, thanks for the great suggestion. That's another one I haven't heard of, and I would love to explore it. What did you guys enjoy there? We went to Victoria on our last trip and thought it was fantastic. That's kind of what got us interested in the San Juans.

Thanks, Kathie, gruezi, and ann. It really was the perfect trip for us. Great spot to recover from the hurricane we had.

Dayle, a week long sailing trip sounds like heaven. We pretty much love anything on the water. I'm not familiar with Tofino - thanks for the suggestion. My husband and I went whale watching in a zodiac when we were in San Diego, but we didn't see any whales! The boat was fun though - boy, was it fast! The people from Maya's Legacy just sent me some photos they had taken on the trip - that was a nice surprise since their camera was a lot better than mine with a great zoom lens. I think it worked out well for us to take a trip later in the day because the earlier boats had already spotted the whales and knew where to go. When we boarded they said, "You have a great chance of seeing whales today." It was my birthday so that made it seem really special and memorable.

Topping for WarrenWST - these are the details of our trip since you're planning something similar. Hope you have a great time!

volcanogirl~ Be careful with this thread. Under new policy they (management) are moving any travel topics OUT of the Lounge. Maybe that's OK with you... but this may well end up in the US forum instead.

Thanks for the heads up on that, suze. I had forgotten about that.

Dayle, I took a look at Tofino and would definitely love to go there in the future. Looks amazing. Right now we're mulling a trip back to Washington and the San Juans and would try to make at least a day trip to Orcas. Not sure if it would be better as a day trip or to stay for a night or two.

hopefully you'll sneak under the radar :-)

Any of the islands are tough as a "day trip" just because of the logistics of getting yourself there. Try for at least one overnight instead.

I agree that an overnight makes more sense than trying to do it as a day trip.

Don't forget to make ferry reservations in advance.

Thanks, guys - any recommendations for good hotels on Orcas?

That is really amazing. Good to hear such a great time you had