San Juan Island and its quaint coastal town of Friday Harbor are especially charming in the Winter. When Seattleites are bundling up in rain gear and have said goodbye to the sun for months to come, the San Juan Islands, just 65 miles north, are enjoying many sunny, crystal clear days, courtesy of the Olympic Rain Shadow.
Most people visit San Juan Island to see Orca whales in the wild, watch rare birds and other wildlife, eat in fancy restaurants and have dessert, take a guided kayak tour, do wine and distillery tastings – the things you do on vacation. Have you ever wondered what the folks who live here do for fun? Check out our insider tips to experience San Juan Island like a local.
Residents of other islands in the San Juan Islands archipelago call Friday Harbor lovingly and with a little wink, “sin city”. You might think: nights lit like daylight while people dance half naked in the street and exclamations of the “what happens here stays here” kind. Rest assured, it simply refers to the fact that we have more than one bar.
There is nothing like a picnic on the beach overlooking the Salish Sea with only Orca whales and Bald Eagles watching. San Juan Island’s astonishing beauty offers breathtaking places to stop and have a snack. Let me share my favorite picnic spots with you, along with some tips on what to bring and where to get it.
It could be said that our Earth laughs in wildflowers. Nowhere is this more true than in April and May on San Juan Island. Meadows, mountains, forest floors and prairies are abloom with Fairy Slippers, Fawn Lilies, Blue Camas, Indian Paintbrush, Buttercups and more, much more. You can’t pick or replant them, they won’t keep. You just have to be there, in the moment, and enjoy their sweet smells and the way they sway with the wind. There are daffodil fields that some lovely soul planted on the prairie of American Camp and the meadows of English Camp. And wherever you go, you’ll find fresh flower stands on the roadsides, ready to adorn your hotel room or your home. Come on up and savor this precious time of the year with one of our favorite wildflower hikes on San Juan Island.
San Juan Island is an amazing place to spend your honeymoon. It simply has it all: breathtaking vistas, amazing wildlife, stunning beaches, fun adventures like whale watching, kayaking, hiking and biking, rich history and the adorable coastal town of Friday Harbor with shops, restaurants, boutiques, museums and galleries, all in walking distance. Whether you want to get away from it all or be entertained and awed every minute of your trip, you’ll find it here, on beautiful San Juan Island.
With our lush valleys and temperate climate, it’s no wonder that agriculture is San Juan Island’s second largest industry. We are so grateful for that. Most restaurants serve some of our healthy, clean island-grown food. The Saturday’s Farmer’s Market in downtown Friday Harbor is a festive, fun affair. You will also pass by countless farm and flower stands on your way to the beaches and sites. The best part: some farms on San Juan Island will pleasantly surprise you with their unique offerings, special tours and ways to spend time there. Here is how you do it:
Lisette and her adorable family (soon to be plus one) visit San Juan Island every year. They created this lovely tradition for their cute son Jasper. On their last visit, Jasper went on his first whale watch tour, got to eat home-made pasta at a Farm-to-Table restaurant and skipped stones at South Beach.
Remember when you used to look for a hotel on the internet and the search result was just that hotel, not some third-party booking agency? Well, not anymore. Now you need to scroll past innumerable ads, then all those OTA’s (Online Travel Agents) and if you are lucky, you’ll find the website you are looking for on the first page of your search.
So what, you may ask. Isn’t it super convenient to see all hotels for the place you want to visit in one spot to compare prices? The short answer is: it’s misleading at best and deeply hurts small family-owned businesses such as our Bird Rock Hotel.
