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Background:

In August 2022 my younger son, C, and I relocated from Orange County, CA to Bellevue, Washington.

Prior to this move, I’d visited the area in June 2018 to help my older son, R, with a move to Seattle’s Eastside. In 2021, two more visits that included C, August and Thanksgiving weekend, to do reconnaissance in anticipation of the move. My thanks once more to Gardyloo, suze, Fodorite18 aka mms, lcuy, jpie, and Kathie who responded so helpfully to questions that I had posed in 2018 and 2019 and whose answers to the inquiries of others were also very beneficial.

In August 2021, in addition to a stay in Seattle at the Mayflower Park, R, C, and I explored Whidbey Island with stops in Coupeville and Langley which we all enjoyed very much. Last September, eager to see more of our new area and ready for a vacation, we visited Port Townsend (3 nights) with a daytrip to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park followed by a return to Langley (3 nights). In December we spent three delightful nights in La Conner between Christmas and New Year’s. In May a daytrip to Bainbridge Island.

In June I moved again. Two moves in 10 months. Now I really needed to get away, the easier the better. A friend in Portland mentioned that friends of hers had quite enjoyed their visit to Vashon Island. Sold. My two sons and I spent four nights on Vashon in mid-July; our dates were determined by the availability of our rental. R handled transportation, C the food, the lodging and sights were mine.

Getting there: There are no roads onto Vashon Island. The ferries are first come, first served, no reservations. I thought the ferry from Tacoma would be less busy and was also curious to see a bit of the city. We drove via Tacoma on a Tuesday, a day that both the Tacoma Art Museum and the Museum of Glass were closed. I’d thought we might check out the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, but the neighborhood was not that inviting so we went on to the charming Proctor District where we had coffee and pastry at Olympic Coffee, excellent, and checked out the Proctor Art Gallery. We then caught the 2:40 pm ferry which left about 10 minutes late, arrived in Tahlequah in just 15 minutes, and headed for our rental on SW Quartermaster Drive.

Lodging: Three bedrooms, 2 baths were required, so a rental made sense. VRBO’s Otter Getaway on Quartermaster Harbor, https://tinyurl.com/ycws7hpr, was a resounding success. Lovingly renovated, professionally decorated, comfortable, with everything you could possibly need in the kitchen, fresh flowers in a vase on the dining table, and just a ten minute drive to town; it had been the family home of the grandparents of the current owner. As you can see in the photos, it was up off the road that skirted the harbor, elevated just enough to provide a sense of separation from the road and a good view. As the day went on kayakers, paddle boarders, and sailboats would appear. There was something about that view from the living room window that was so peaceful and serene... We had stayed on the water on our two visits to Langley, first at the Inn at Langley and then at the Boatyard Inn, lovely properties, and also at the La Conner Channel Lodge, but none of those had quite the same effect. A couple of considerations: There is no fireplace. The TV reception was spotty.

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Continuing on...

Food: We enjoy having breakfast and our morning coffee in our rentals. Shortly after arriving, we headed for Vashon’s diminutive downtown of the same name, locally aka “Uptown,” to provision. Vashon is often described as rural which for me conjured fields and not so sophisticated. The Thriftway market was our first eye opener, privately owned, large, decidedly upmarket and well stocked. The big adjacent Ace Hardware looked from the outside like it could cover all your hardware store needs. The town itself is attractive with several appealing restaurants, https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/v...d-travel-guide, a pharmacy with home decor items, shops and galleries, and a bookstore (one of the things that I love about this area is the existence of independent bookstores). Some restaurants were closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Our first night’s choice, the Ruby Brink, https://www.therubybrink.com, was meat-centric and known for its creative cocktails. I ordered the smoked pork and noodles which was a Korean inspired soup with greens and shredded pork—quite good and filling. R and C both had the meatballs over rice. There was no sauce—it looked dry to me—but they were satisfied. Dessert was ice cream down the street at the Glass Bottle Creamery.
I thought we had a reservation at May Kitchen + Bar, https://www.maykitchen.com, for our second night, but there was a mix up. After reserving May Kitchen for the following night, we pivoted to Zamorana, https://vashonzamorana.com, for Mexican which was fresh and tasty, would return. The pizza place also looked good but R had had pizza just a couple of days before.

At May Kitchen we shared Tom Kha soup, flash fried watercress with tamarind sauce, unusual and delicious, fried whole trout with noodles, green curry with prawns and eggplant, and a dish with chicken and diced string beans. It was all very good, if a bit sweet for my taste.
We had wanted to eat at Gravy, https://www.gravyvashon.com, our last day, and Gravy closes at 6:00 p.m. so we went for lunch. C had the pulled pork sandwich with fries, and R and I shared the half of a fried chicken and some of the watermelon, peach, olive, and feta salad.
Overall, we were very happy with the variety and quality of our four choices.

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Specials at Gravy

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Exploring:

We quickly discovered that Vashon Island is a land of dense forest and winding roads. GPS was essential to finding our way.

The Point Robinson Lighthouse: We drove over to nearby Maury Island which is connected to Vashon by a man-made isthmus. We parked in the upper lot and took the easy walk down to the shoreline. The little working lighthouse is picturesque, https://vashonparks.org/point-robinson, and there’s a lovely view of Mt Rainier. The two Keepers’ Quarters are available for overnight stays,
https://vashonparks.org/pt-robinson-keepers-quarters.
Near the lighthouse was this little flower that looked a lot like an orchid:

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Orchid lookalike near the lighthouse

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All-Merciful Saviour Monastery, a monastic community of the Russian Orthodox Church: Also on Maury Island, this was a highlight of our exploring, https://vashonmonks.com. Father Nicodemus, who had recently been ordained a priest, told us about some of the monastery’s history and showed us the interior of the church whose walls were covered with pictures of saints. The monastery was founded in 1986, and after the acquisition of the land, the monks did much of the construction. There are currently six monks in residence. There’s a gift shop whose inventory includes coffee and soaps, as well as more religious items.

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I always seek out locally made jams and honey when I travel and was looking forward to checking out Vashon’s farm stands. The rental had a handout with a map that showed the locations of a number of the stands on Vashon and Maury Island, collectively called Vashon Island, https://www.vigavashon.org/farm-stand-map. Stands that sold jams were scarce. Plum Forest Farm was one that did according to the map and this was confirmed by a helpful local at the Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie. Their plum jam turned out to have the texture of an apple butter and verges on sour but it’s of the area and brings back good memories. I subsequently learned from someone at the Pacific Crest farm stand, https://www.pacificcrest.org/the-farm, that very few farms make jam because a special license is required. About half of the farm stands had no produce on display, but the hunt was a good way to familiarize ourselves with this new territory. Although it’s no longer located on the island, Maury Island Farm is still in the jam business. I purchased some marionberry jam and tart cherry preserves at the Thriftway for good measure; the marionberry is quite good.

A similar situation with regard to honey. Researching where to find honey on the island, an article in the Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber warned me to be aware of adulterated honey, https://www.vashonbeachcomber.com/opinion/the-sweetest-honey-comes-from-truly-local-bees. There was one brand sold in a number of locations, Vashon Island Forest Honey; the label says “our mission is to work with local organic farmers to place stationary hives on their land for pollination…”. The jar that I purchased has a medicinal taste. I also found honey at 3 Brothers Outpost, an actual farm; this one has a rich, full-bodied flavor.

Two of our very favorite places were located at a crossroads on the main road that traverses the island, a few miles south of town. The Minglement, https://minglement.com, a natural foods market and time machine that transports you to the late 60s/early 70s, reminded me of the food co-op in the red church in Mendocino. In addition, Minglement has used book offerings in the back of the store. The adjoining Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie, https://tvicr.com, had a similar vibe.

We also made our way to Burton, a hamlet located near the Quartermaster Marina, which features a well known coffee stand and some cute shops. My favorite was https://www.heidiandersonstudio.com, where I bought a cream-colored ceramic pot with geometric gold leaf accents from the artist and proprietor, Heidi, and which now holds a succulent and lives in my kitchen window. Raven’s Nest in town, established by Sue and by Israel Shotridge, a Tlingit artist, was another shop that we especially liked, https://www.ravensnestvashon.com/about-us.

Like the other places we’ve visited in the area, Vashon was interesting for its intersecting cultures, in its case artists, farmers and independent restaurants, sailors, and counter-culture inhabitants. A place where one could happily engage in solitary pursuits and also feel a part of a larger tight knit community.

We returned home via the Vashon - Fauntleroy ferry, an easy 20 minute ride.

NorthwestMale

LOL @ Vashon Island.


But you left out Amanda Knox.


And I've been on that Isthmus.

janisj

Oh - I missed this when you first posted. Looks like a great trip. That rental looks wonderful. Too bad you were in Tacoma when the Glass and Art museums are closed. The Glass museum especially is worth a special visit but those and WA State History Museum are all interesting. The neighborhood including the museums and Waterway Esplanade is fine -- a bit farther south below 21st street and near the Dome are definitely sketchy.

" . . . you to the late 60s/early 70s, reminded me of the food co-op in the red church in Mendocino." That makes it totally clear -- from your description I know exactly what you mean

(I have absolutely NO idea what NWMale's post is about )

Gardyloo

If anyone's interested, here's what the Point Robinson lighthouse and its driftwood covered beach looks like -



And here's the view of Mount Rainier from the beach next to the lighthouse -

bon_voyage

Janisj, thanks for your comments and for your encouragement to return to Tacoma for museum visiting. The museums up here—so far I’ve been to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Pioneer Square, the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, and the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art—have been of uniformly high quality.
The red church became a pilgrimage stop.

Gardyloo, your photos capture the wildness and the magic of this area—thank you!
Mt Rainier never fails to take my breath away.

NorthwestMale

"Robinson"...

Eureka!!! That's the name of Amanda's husband.


And, well,... Eureka...