Roche Harbor

My dad, and his brothers and sister, were born and raised on the island (San Juan), and my grandparents lived there forever and ever (in fact, the National Park Service bought out their house when they took over English Camp), so I might have a different view of Roche harbor.
The views that say “tourist trap” are mostly right… in the summer.
But try to visit Roche Harbor (and the whole island, for that matter) in the late fall or winter, on the gray overcast, cold days where a light drizzle falls from morning ‘til night. When Roche Harbor is mostly deserted, and you can wander the beaches and surrounding hills in relative solitude. Be sure to take the path out to the old Mausoleum. Deer come down to the fields and graze. And it’s so quiet, you swear you can hear the water drip off the branches.
It’s something you won’t soon forget.
Yes, my wife and I did go back and get married in the chapel at Roche Harbor. Closest thing I had to a home town.

My brother got married there. It was a pretty good time. My sister wrestled me to the ground for the bouquet, I got really drunk and fell of a ramp. What could be bad about any of that?

In revisting it, I see now it’s a place to stop by but not necessarily to stop at. Wouldn’t mind seeing the Hotel de Haro in a bit of detail but knowing that essentially it was all the creation of a classically piggy plutocrat who ran local government at his whim kinda torques me off. Then again, that seems to be the background of a lot of places I’ve been to around the world, so go figure. Still, it’s a harbor to boat over to and from Vancouver Island and thereabouts, so if you want to clear customs and all, it’s a spot to go.

Roche Harbor is as gorgeous as each other destination on San Juan Island, but shouldn’t be a priority. It certainly is pretty of course, but I can’t help feel that the area is trying too hard to recreate that neo-19th century feel that’s incredibly transparent (and gaudy… and loud.)

Instead, stop there only to check out the Sculpture Park adjacent to it. Now that’s a great place to explore.

...but I remember it being pretty pleasant, a bit of a nook on the north side of the island. I’ll say more about it when I check in again here soon! I think they were filming a Free Willy movie around the time I stopped by…