Rialto Beach driftwood

Sensory Seattle

We planned a great week long excursion to Washington State with Steve and Sue. The desire was to kayak in the San Juan Islands and then hike in Olympic National Park. Here was our excellent plan:

We flew into Seattle and stayed at the delightful Hideaway Lodge B&B outside of Woodinville in the wine country. The 3 people who run it, Pat, Carol, and Gary are a gregarious bunch who love to chat. They offer a lovely wooded area, large shaded deck for wine drinking, and a great breakfast. They will give wonderful ideas for dinner in the charming little town. We visited the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery.

hideawaylodgebnb.com.
15228 NE 173rd St, Woodinville WA 98072
ste-michelle.com
14111 NE 145th St, Woodinville WA 98072

Book your ferry to the San Juan Islands online at wsdot.com and bring your printed confirmation. We spent an unmemorable night in Anacortes so we could be at the ferry dock at 7 am for the hour ride into Friday Harbor.

We stayed at the Tucker House B&B in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. It was just minutes from the car ferry landing. The Tucker House had bikes for us to use and we biked around Pear Point, the small peninsula just east of the town. We were there to kayak with the Orcas with Crystal Seas Kayaking. We didn’t see any orcas but we had a great time anyway out on the water.
crystalseas.com

 

 

 

We rode the ferry from Friday Harbor to Port Townsend and drove into Sequim to see the lavender fields in bloom. I haven’t been able to see the fields in southern France so this was a lovely photo opportunity. And we got to taste lavender ice cream!
sequimlavender.org

 

 

Port Townsend is also home to Fort Worden State Park, a historic army base. The parade grounds and officers quarters were featured in the movie, An Officer and a Gentleman.

An airbnb was our chosen lodging in Port Angeles because it was close to the Olympic Park visitor center entrance.

One delicious discovery was Blondie’s Plate, known for their contemporary cuisine featuring fresh locally sourced ingredients. The restaurant utilizes a converted Episcopalian Church built in 1896 and we loved each item that we shared at our long wooden table. Start with Caprese. This seems like such a simple food, yet their rendition used burata cheese instead of mozarella and green tomatoes instead of red. It was delicious! Order Nash’s Cornbread, a spectacular taste of honey and butter that was so tasty. We love to try brussel sprouts everywhere we eat, and their sprouts were killer. Perfect crunch and flavorful. A berry cobbler rounded out the meal. We definitely found a keeper and a restaurant which we would have to return to!

Blondie’s Plate, 134 South Second Avenue, Sequim WA 98382

We loved these areas of Olympic Park:

Hurricane Ridge
Sol Duc Falls
Marymere Falls
Hoh Rain Forest

This area was so definitively different from any national park we had visited. The moss, the massive trees, the fairy like trails. I felt that we were in a Grimm Fairy Tale book, complete with hidden doorways and eccentric creatures looming out of the dark and dank surroundings. It was enchanting.

 

Outside of Forks is the misty, moody beach, Rialto Beach. And further down Hwy 101 is the scenic Ruby Beach. Each of these are a must walk for any traveler.

We drove to an evening flight out of Seattle on our last day.