The wildlife, the golden hour (now I see what a true golden hour actually is!), the endless views of cliffsides meeting the ocean, the Penn Cove mussels… oh, I could go on!
I’m talking about Whidbey Island. Earlier this summer, we kicked off our annual “Summer out of a Suitcase” by heading to the Pacific Northwest to visit two sets of friends. We started in Portland, Oregon, and then took a train from Portland to Seattle to meet my best friend (since second grade!), her husband, and their sweet little boy. We then caravanned to Whidbey Island, off the Washington Coast for a week-long vacation. Being an ocean lover, I had imagined I would love exploring this corner of the U.S. However, I was blown away by how beautiful and untouched it all was. Here are a few notes and recommendations on where to eat, stay and play for anyone wanting to re-create their own Whidbey Island trip. I highly recommend exploring this area if you are a family who loves nature and adventure and enjoy exploring the lesser-traveled destinations.
Whidbey Island is made up of several small quaint towns. We stayed in Coupeville and chose this for its central location on the island, and its surrounding historic nature reserve (apparently Coupeville is the second oldest town in the state of Washington!) which meant lots of hikes, views, parks, beaches, and more to explore.
We ate:
Note: We stopped in a local grocery store and bought items for picnics and breakfast. While there is great food on the island, there’s not a ton of varied options, the hours of restaurants can be tricky, and the popular places fill up. Plus with all the wonderful views, relaxed outdoor meals seemed the obvious best choice. 🙂
We Explored:
We stayed here:
While I usually like to find a local hotel or bed and breakfast, we decided on this simple vacation rental and were so happy with it. Its garden was so beautiful to look at every day and we were next door to the small downtown area and could see the water from just outside the driveway. It fit our family of 5 just fine with the two oldest sharing the upstairs and the baby tucked in the pack and play in the closet. However, we’ve heard wonderful things and are eager to check Captain Whidbey’s out next time we come!
Getting to and from Whidbey Island:
We were coming from Portland via the Amtrak Cascades line (highly recommend – a trip favorite!), then drove and caught the Mukilteo Ferry to Whidbey. On our way out of Whidbey en route to Seattle, we took at note from Courtney’s Somewhere Slower post and enjoyed a long scenic drive through Skagit County, exploring the sweetest little creative town, Edison and Mount Vernon, where we picked up Dungeness crab and other goodies from Snowgoose Produce.
Perhaps one of the best overall things about being on Whidbey was just that- being on the island and enjoying its natural state and sharing that with my family. The pastel-colored stones collected at the beaches, the deer that aren’t scared of humans at all and just mosey about the island, the cherry trees, the seal pups... It was so great just to be there. In fact, more than once, we opted out of naps to be able to just drive around and explore the island. It’s all very accessible. And a highlight for me personally, was taking a dip in the Puget Sound. I have this little running bucket list of sorts where I like to swim in as many bodies of water as possible. While it was understandably too cold for the rest of our group, I’m excited to add the Puget Sound to my list of waters along with the Red Sea, the Aegean, the Caribbean and a handful of others! Definitely keep this area on your radar. We will certainly be back!
Thanks for reading,
Addie
Comments (4)
Beautiful photos! Whidbey Island is indeed one of the prettiest places I’ve ever visited. And for any of your readers who are military, the Naval base right in Oak Harbor is a great place to stay. ✨✨✨
Thanks Annie, it’s such a photogenic place I just wanted to capture it all! Oh this is good to know about the naval base. Xx
What a wonderful article, I can’t wait to visit one day!!
Keta-we have quite the list going now 😉