Island adventures

Can I just say how lucky I feel to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world? There are so many places to explore here—the mountains, the ocean, island after island. You could spend weeks traveling around and not even touch the surface.

Yesterday, my partner and I contemplated going to the Blackberry Festival in Bremerton, but missed the ferry and decided at the last minute to go to Whidbey Island. We planned on going to Fort Casey State Park and then to Coupeville for an annual gallery walk. I had not been to Whidbey Island in years and remembered being charmed by Coupeville and its art. Coupeville also happens to be the second oldest town in the state.

I couldn’t find my map of Washington, so we got a little lost and ended up first going to Possession Beach. One of the locals told us about a stretch of undeveloped state property that ran along the beach where a gray whale that washed up against shore was disposed of. On average, Washington state has four gray whale beachings a year.

We did in fact see the gray whale. It was heartbreaking, and yet seeing even the carcass of such an amazing animal left me feeling in awe of the diversity of marine wildlife in this area.

Whidbey Island is known for its whale watching tours. It also houses a piece of marine history, as when Rosie died in 1989, her skeleton was kept in Coupeville.

After spending some time at the beach, we drove 30 miles or so to Coupeville and got to see many of the galleries before they closed. Based on a recommendation, we stopped at a small bar overlooking the water called Toby’s for muscles and beer. The seafood was o.k., but the Parrot Head Ale, which is made at a microbrewery down the street, was great.

Just before we left town, we caught the most beautiful sunset over the pier.