We decided to take the ferry at Mukilteo, WA en route to Whidbey Island for our 4-days getaway.
It was pretty late by the time we get there (due to a shopping stop at Seattle Premium Outlet), so we decided to have a quick fish-and-chips lunch.
BIG clam chowder bread bowl!
My fish-and-chips... decent but not as good as the ones at Richmond Fishermen's Wharf.
Look at the cars lining up for the ferry! It's a pretty small waiting area. Turns out there are waiting lanes all along the streets, which was pretty funny.
On the ferry
Deck of the ferry... Obviously not very great weather...
Hee, bears on the ferry!
Turns out EVERYBODY on the ferry exit from the car deck. That was quite a surprise.
OK, here starts the long drive through the island... lots and lots of trees.
More trees
And some farmland
Some lakes and view of the strait
Finally some civilization as we approach Oak Harbor (where our hotel is)
Entering Oak Harbor
The hotel was VERY new.. smell of new hardwood floor, furniture, etc. And everything in the kitchen was so nice and shiny! Haha, made us very tempted to do some cooking.
Bears waiting to get out from the hotel.
Seawall park @ Oak Harbor
Windmill at Seawall Park
We thought this was a pretty good BBQ design. Walls to fend off some wind, but ONE opening to enjoy the view.
Dinner at Frasers Gourmet Hideaway @ Oak Harbor
Inside of the restaurant. Small and cozy
Umm, we forgot to take photos before we eat.. so, here are the “leftovers” :P Mussels are the most famous cusine on the island.
Fish
Lobster pasta
Dessert
More dessert. Oh, it was pretty interesting that the waitress took out the whole tray of desserts to show us instead of a menu. Haha, we thought it was a pretty good marketing strategy coz then you're more likely to order something. But the desserts were VERY good, so no complaints there. :)
Next day we drove all the way back to the southern tip of the island to start our journey: Langley
A very small town!
Very nice view from the seawall. Um, yeah, that's me down there, taking a photo of....
A VERY nice hotel facing the view!!
“Chocolate flower farm” store. Rita's favourite store!? Everything inside is brown (brown flowers and veggies seeds), chocolate, chocolate candles, chocolate soap, etc. It's quite fascinating!
My favourite place. At first because of the funny name “Useless bay coffee”. But afterwards I found out the coffee was VERY good too!
Very tiny shops
Chinese needle-therapy in such a small town!?
We've been seeing signs of “Apple” since we got to the island... Washington is probably famous for apples? Anyway, we see this cafe with an apple sign so we decided to give it a try for lunch.
Yes, even the interior is filled with apple decorations... And the apple salad we had was great! :)
Next stop to Meerkerk Garden, one of the few real tourist attractions on the island.
Flowers
I couldn't resist taking a picture of the sign: “Hybrid test garden”. Haha, very biology...
More flowers
As I called them... “purple stuff” :P
Tiny flowers
And more flowers
Secret garden
Interesting leaves
More interesting leaves
No, this is not just a pile of rocks... this is the “rock garden”
Next stop to Greenbank Farm for the infamous loganberry pies!
My car and the farm
We hiked to the top of the farm, it's known as the narrowest part of the island where you see the Strait of Juan de Fuca on one side, and pacific ocean on the other island. It was beautiful. =) The small animals on the right are Alpacas (they're very cute camal+sheep-like animals).
Me at the top of the mountain
Famous apple and loganberry pies!
Next stop: Fort Casey State Park
It was a very windy day. So I was actually more hiding from the wind than reading the sign. =P
Although it was cold and windy, it's still a VERY nice view. Standing on top of the fort, facing the great pacific ocean, it suddenly makes you realize how small a human being is.
Small lighthouse at the fort
Back to Oak Harbor for dinner and passed by Naval Air Station. It's supposed to be a tourist attraction but we couldn't find the entrance...
We bought some smoked salmona and oysters and canned soup and had dinner at the hotel. So we really ended up doing some cooking: made soup and boiled water! :P
Next day, first stop: Deception Pass State Park. This is the most famous tourist attraction on the island. The sun finally came out from the clouds for the first time on our trip!
We didn't really know how much 0.4 miles is... but we decided to go take a look at this “Goose Rock”
The Deception Pass!!
Walk and walk and walk... The walk was much steeper than I anticipated... but here we go!
Such beautiful view!
Under the bridge
Another view of the bridge
FINALLY, the Goose Rock!!
“The kid and the sea”
Hee, top of the mountain!
Even the bears have to come out to enjoy the sight at the top of the mountain. We even saw some eagles flying by!
Interesting flowers on the “Goose Rock”
After a quick lunch at Wendy's, next stop: Coupeville, the oldest town on the island.
Another small town
My favourite shop on the island: honey bear toy shop :)
Coupeville Wharf
Houses on the wharf
Next stop: Fort Ebey State Park
Not a very sandy beach, but the logs and rocks are beauties in themselves.
Waves
Next stop: Joseph Whidbey State Park. It wasn't a planned destination, but it turns out to be our favourite place on the trip. Why? You'll see.
A view from the park
Why is it our favourite place? Because I learned to fly a kite for the first time!! And a mickey mouse one too!
One of my many attempts
After maybe 30 mins... There we go!!
We had dinner at a pub at Coupeville then went back to the hotel for movie and mid-night snack. I suddenly had the idea to make a “black cow”... Turns out to be not-so-good attempt.. and “caught on film” too. =P
Putting the Dreyer's ice-cream in...
Boom!! Explosion!
Final day of our trip. We visited the “Holland Garden” in Oak Harbor before we depart. There wasn't much to see, but the small wind mill was still pretty cute.
Back to Deception Pass again, this time crossing on top.
Paaaasssssing....
Beautiful lake en route to Anacortes (our next destination)
Entering Anacotes
Such a small downtown
Tourist information centre at Anacortes
We bought some pasta at this “Italian To Go” place for a final picnic before we go
Driving to Rosario Beach for picnic
Serenity
Small village by the beach
Picniking
Small bearbear absorbing the view... Just like us...
It's time to leave Whidbey Island... (don't wanna go back to work...)
