By Tanya M. Williams
Somewhere between the northern Cascades and Vancouver Island, lie the Washington Islands. Of the five islands regularly serviced by ferries, four are part of the San Juan Islands and the fifth, Whidbey, stands alone. Though modest in size, the islands are rich in bounty – shellfish and salmon, mushrooms and berries, vineyards and lavender, the sun and the sea.
Until I moved to Oregon, I had no idea Washington had islands. It wasn’t long after I arrived, however, that the murmurs began. Colleagues traveled there for anniversaries and birthdays, friends went island hopping with bicycles, kayaks, or camping gear. Others went for the spas, antique shopping, and fine dining. They all came back saying the same things, “Amazing. Breathtaking. Beautiful.”
Longing to check it out for ourselves, my beau, Charles, and I pack up the car, load the cameras, and head north. Our first stop, The Inn at Langley, is a stunning twenty-six-room property located on Whidbey Island’s eastern shore. Anxious to explore, we check-in and are greeted by innkeeper Sandy Nogal. Our room isn’t ready, so we meander down First Street, eventually finding our way to the pier.
After a picnic lunch and a long lounge on the not so sandy beach, we return to the inn, where we are presented with a key to our room. Overlooking the deep blue Saratoga Passage, our wide balcony offers 180-degree views. The room, however, is nearly as awe-inspiring as the landscape. Complete with gas fireplace, down comforter, and an oversized jet tub – which allows soakers to gaze at the fireplace or out over the water – it’s clear where the inn gets its romantic reputation. Leaving Charles to settle in, I venture downstairs for my pre-dinner spa treatment.
Occupying a beachfront corner of the inn, Spa Essentia offers guests a selection of skin and body treatments including facials, wraps, and massage. Looking for something that would relax my stiff joints and leave me glowing for dinner, I opt for the Relax Package – a massage and body polish combination. The scrub begins with a cleansing ten-minute steam bath then progresses with a pleasantly salt-free full body scrub in Essentia’s rain room. Rinsed clean and slick as soap, I slip into the massage room for a concluding one-hour rub. Relaxed, dazed, and still glistening, I leave the spa just ten minutes before dinner seating begins.
Racing upstairs clears my post-massage fog and before I know it we are seated in Chef Stephen Nogal’s palace, The Country Kitchen. A small but grand place, the restaurant serves up five-course feasts each weekend night. The prix-fixe menu features local and seasonal fare, and the wine list offers regional varietals to match.
Calling us to the open kitchen for a tour of the night’s meal, Chef Nogal presents not only the menu but also details on the origin and preparation of each ingredient. With five courses, you’d think the servings might be small. Not so. The mussels arrive spilling over the bowl, in an orange Roma tomato sauce that would put most Italian restaurants to shame. Sweet and rich roasted Walla Walla onion soup follows. Then the entrées – poached Alaskan salmon in a mirin-miso glaze with morel mushrooms and Italian couscous for me, and ginger-roasted pork with coleslaw and asparagus for Charles. At this point, we lose all composure. We unabashedly and oh-so-happily clean our plates, and find ourselves stuffed with two courses to go. Thankfully, the salads are small. Tossed with raspberry vinaigrette and blue cheese, we nibble at the mixed greens and take our peach-berry cobblers back to the room.
Early the next morning, we head north, stopping at Deception Pass, a waterway between Whidbey Island and Washington State. At 180-feet above water, the narrow bridge is not for the faint hearted, but does offer stunning views of the surrounding shoreline. Arriving in Anacortes, we leave the car and board the ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.
The business center of the islands, Friday Harbor is something of a tourist mecca, with hotels, cafes and tour companies surrounding the harbor. Our destination, Friday Harbor House, is a short walk from the ferry. Perched on a bluff overlooking the marina, San Juan Channel, and neighboring Orcas Island, the twenty-room inn promises a bit of intimacy amidst the crowds.
After a light lunch at Doctor’s Office Café, we head to the nearest moped stand. There’s no bargaining here, nor is there comparison-shopping. One company has the moped monopoly – not just in Friday Harbor, but on all the San Juan Islands. Deciding for the sake of economy to share one rather than rent two, we get a quick moped-driving tutorial, go for a test spin around the block, and we’re off. Helmet on and map in hand, I provide directions while Charles gets a feel for handling our yellow scooter that maxes out at 30 m.p.h. Our destination, the Pelindaba Lavender Farms, is roughly seven miles from town. But since neither of us had been on, much less driven, a moped before, seven miles was adventure enough.
After one missed turn, some unscheduled off-roading and a brief incident involving a ditch, we arrive at Wold Road. As we make our final turn, lavender fields appear on the hills. The spherical bushes create a purple mirage in the wind. Pulling into Pelindaba, we take the first parking spot and head into the sea of lavender. The sensual effect is mesmerizing. Just weeks before harvest, the plants are ripe with perfume. After weaving my way through the fields, I stop in the gift shop for some essential oil before meeting Charles for the ride home.
Back in town, Charles returns the moped while I head to the room for a late-afternoon massage. Ed Tucker, the resort’s massage therapist, arrives right on time, places his table near the sunlit balcony and proceeds to rub and stretch away my tension and anxiety. He is so successful in fact I can hardly stay awake.
By the time our dinner reservation arrives, we are ravenous. The inn’s restaurant is renowned for its use of fresh seasonal and regional ingredients, and our menu features Westcott Bay Petite Oysters, a mixed green salad with Point Reyes Blue Cheese, Alaskan Salmon and Halibut, and Dungeness Crab Cakes. Quickly becoming the culinary theme of the trip, morel mushrooms are presented here as garnish for bruschetta as well as the oven-roasted halibut. Thankfully, the menu is small, because everything looks sublime. We start with oysters and bruschetta, split the mixed greens, and finally decide on the halibut and crab cakes as entreés.
Now and then a meal comes along that should really be considered a work of art – a delicate balance of timing and flavor, of ingredients and presentation, of texture and color – a symphony of food. Perhaps it is because Chef Tim Barrette knows his farmers and has been buying from them for years, or perhaps it is because his wife and former co-chef, Laurie Paul (who recently left to open her own restaurant), has contributed her own experience, expertise, and love to these recipes. It’s hard to say. But after one course, we realize, this would be a meal we would not soon forget. And by the time we have put down our forks for good, we are so grateful that we request to thank the chef, personally.
Full and happy, we venture out for a short walk before retiring to the room to watch night fall over the harbor. The next morning, after a leisurely breakfast and one last walking tour of the town, we’re off to our third and final destination, Orcas Island.
The largest and hilliest of the islands, Orcas is shaped like a giant horseshoe, with a series of two-lane roads linking one end to the other. Dotted with quaint hamlets, hidden harbors, and small villages, the island is home to a number of artist’s galleries as well as Moran State Park, which boasts Mt. Constitution, the highest point in the San Juans.
We disembark and pick up our rental car for a tour of the island. Our hotel, The Resort at Deer Harbor, is located at one end of the island, so we head in the opposite direction, stopping first in the town of Eastsound for lunch. Homier and less boardwalk-touristy than Friday Harbor, we are immediately struck by its charm.
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