Whidbey Island, Washington

The weather today was clear and sunny so we decided to tour Whidbey Island. Our first destination was Deception Pass State Park to find a cluster of Letterboxes .(As I mentioned in previous post, letterboxing can take you to great places you might not normal seek.) The search for five letterboxes had us hiking through the campground and along the coastline which provided great views of the Strait of Juan De Fuca and of the Deception Pass bridge. The beaches in this areas are covered in small smooth rocks and contain a lot of interesting driftwood. The hiking trails in this area are rough enough to warrant wearing more than sandals, which Suzanne quickly found this out the hard way. After finding three letterboxes, we headed to the town of Coupeville. This is an old ocean-side town on the east side of the island about midway down. This town has a small preserved main street full of small interesting shops and restaurants which are right on the bay. We were really fortunate today on two accords; for one it was sunny and clear so we had great view of Mt. Baker across the bay and second, we found the best lunch spot. The restaurant is called Knead & Feed. It’s actually underneath the shop of the same name which is located on the main street. This restaurant serves up terrific sandwiches made with thick slices of their homemade bread which can be accompanied by their homemade soups. I had the clam chowder and Suzanne had the broccoli & cheese, and both were terrific. The best was yet to come for they also make homemade deserts (see the trend here) which includes pies and sweet various rolls. We chose to split one of their huge cinnamon rolls. It was amazing. We’re glad we saved room or at least convinced ourselves we had room. This is a must-stop restaurant. Great cinnamon rolls two days in a row now, maybe we are starting our own trend.

From here we continued south (or down-island as they say here) to Fort Casey State Park. Here there is a nice Lighthouse and several WWII cannon bunkers to explore. This park also gives you great open views of the Strait of Juan De Fuca and of the Olympic National Park in the distance. Next we continued going down island to the town of Langley. This town’s main area is somewhat larger than Coupeville’s but offered its own unique selection of quaint shops, restaurants and terrific views to the east. Still full from our lunch and desert we didn’t seek out a restaurant. You will have to let us know what you find and recommend.

It was getting late so we started our journey north or up-island. We missed the Lavender Wind Farm coming down so we stopped on the way up. This farm is located in the northern part of Whidbey Island and looks out at the Olympic National Park past the Strait of Juan De Fuca. This view is a bonus to this wonderful lavender farm. Here you are free to explore their lavender fields and their fish pond (which is also used to store rain water from the roofs of the property buildings). You can chose from an assortment of great lavender based items. We were fortunate to be able to watch the owner distill lavender oil and to ask questions. The owner was very graciously and welcoming which made this stop even more special. You will definitely want to stop here.

See more photos of Whidbey Island.