Friday Harbor

If you live in the Pacific Northwest than the islands make a great weekend trip any time of year. Unless of course it is snowing in the mountains! In the summertime you can enjoy kayaking with the whales, dining out on delicious seafood such as salmon, crab cakes, Dungeness crab, and monster prawns. This place is very popular among boaters, hikers, kayakers, photographers, dining enthusiasts, and artists. You can check out live images of the San Juan Islands taken from postcard quality Web cams at this website: www.DestiCam.com

Enjoy the islands. Just make sure you get to the ferry landing early.

I visited Friday Harbor on San Juan Island last August for my 2nd year anniversary with my husband. We went the first weekend in August. I believe it was August 5th that we took a whale watching tour and went out on the boat to find the Orcas. We were so lucky because the super pod had just came together. A super pod is when the local resident pods come together to play and mate. So pods J, K, and L were there and we saw at least 40 to 50 Orcas. This was an absolutely amazing experience and a wonderful wedding anniversary.

Where else in the world can you see all of these animals w/in 1 mile of each other? This is such a great island and worth fighting the crowds to see. Go in the spring or fall to have less crowds and eat at the Thai place!

It was a nice well kept town. Worth a stop. However don’t eat at the crab shack. i mean it was ok food. But it was over priced. The Fish and chips were way to expensive and extemely over seasoned….as if they were trying to hide something. And the crab, although good, was over priced for the size. And it would be better if they offered the crab hot and not cracked. Because cracking the crab yourself makes it way better.

...it’s about how I remember it, a balance between providing necessities for those who live there and fripperies for the tourists inclined for such things. But according to my aunt and uncle there have been a number of newer spots built over the years, including a new and pretty nice major market, and overall the place retains its expected charm—wouldn’t mind checking out more of where to eat at next time I’m there, but that can wait!

...but I still remember it quite well, being the entrance to the main island, as it were. I spent most of my time elsewhere on the island, mostly on the west shore where my aunt and uncle have their vacation home now, but it seemed like a cool enough spot with an unsurprising bent for the touristy. I’ll see what it’s like when I’m back there in a few weeks. :-)

basically the capital of the san juan islands….a pretty neat little town.

June 6th

San Juan Island Marathon and half. Beautiful! The best 13.1 miler I’ve ever ran. Great, enthusiastic support 10/10. Scenery 10/10.

Biking is awesome. Best earlier on the weekends. Leave the car on the mainland.

Great Roads for Cycling – be careful at night.

This was shot at night- after I rode from the ferry to the campground after dark with very little headlamp. I had never been there and didnt realize the ferry took an hour to get to San Juan Island.

www.mikeacrossamerica.com

I spent two weeks in and around Friday Harbor, staying at the UW’s facility, for a class last fall. I absolutely fell in love; the islands have a rich (and bizarre) history, beautiful scenery, interesting people, and some really tasty food. It’s a completely different world from the big city I live in, but one I’d like to spend more time in.