We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary with our first actual vacation without the Bean - in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island in Washington State. The Bean stayed home with Mimi and Papa for their own little staycation, while we went off and did our own grown-up thing together.
The San Juan Islands are located in the northwestern portion of Washington state, and just across some water from Canada. The main visitor islands include San Juan, Orcas, Lopez, and Shaw. We spent two nights in Friday Harbor, the biggest town in the archipelago and one of the most touristy of the bunch; the walkable, friendly and charming town nearly had me searching for job opportunities. But alas, we enjoyed the island as a vacation instead.
We left Portland Friday morning and made the 4+ hour drive north to Anacortes in about 5 hours, and were lucky to get our car on the 2 p.m. ferry without any hitches. The drive itself was enjoyable, as we waxed philosophical, did not answer "why" questions, discussed our five-year plan, I knitted, and we ate chocolate, chips and candy without having to share. It was just the beginning of us reminding each other why we fell in love eight years ago, and married five years ago. We had such a nice time with each other. And if you can even believe it - which I hardly can - we went an entire 72 hours without so much as one single argument. That might be a record for us! The ferry ride was part of the adventure - a beautiful scenic boatride on the calm waters and surrounded by little bits of land. The part of me that loves travel and novelty, the part that's been dormant for the past few years, that part was re-invigorated with prospects of a totally new place to explore. The weather was overcast and somewhat chilly for August, but totally doable for spending time outdoors in the Northwest.
We stayed at Bird Rock Hotel, right in town and just a block up from the ferry, and very much enjoyed our simple boutique accommodations. When we first arrived on the island, we headed straight for our room - to lie down, nap, flip through the channels on the tv, make googley-eyes at each other, open anniversary presents, drink wine, and take some pics (wink, wink). These are my favorite head shots from our good camera.
For dinner we went to a cut elittle over-priced place right on the harbor, where we had cocktails and ate various well-fried seafood. We even got dressed up for our date, which obvi means we had to take a few photos.
Randomly my college girlfriend, Kathleen, had plans to be in Friday Harbor during the same weekend. I haven't seen her in well over a year, as she's been living on the opposite coast and we currently lead very different existences, so it was a lot of fun to catch up with her and her boyfriend, drink wine on their fishing boat, and go out with them and a few more of their childless couple friends for overpriced Mexican food and margaritas ($18 burritos?!?)
The next day, after sleeping in until 8 a.m., we had plans to drive around the island and explore. We made our way to Roche Harbor, which beautiful - in a Gatsby kind of way. Roche Harbor to Friday Harbor is like the Pearl to Oregon City. It's all kinds of fancy with big expensive boats, women with fake boobs and taught facial skin, and yoga pants that cost more than my wedding ring. But there's definitely a reason rich people are gravitating to that place, as it it so beautiful - with the green land and the still waters and the architecture.
We took a quick hike with smoe more scenic views atop Young Hill, just a quick 2 or so miles. We think we could see Canada from there.
We returned to Roche Harbor for lunch, and then kept driving counter-clockwise around the island exploring the state parks and lighthouses.
We briefly made it out to the southernmost portion of the island to check out the other lighthouse, but we were tired by that time so returned again the next day, before catching our afternoon ferry.
Needless to say, San Juan Island was beautiful and we had a wonderful time together eating, exploring, and enjoying one another.
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