Lummi Island first crossing

My first step onto the San Juan Islands chain! I have been traveling up to the northwest on business almost on a monthly basis for the last 8 months. One time on a plane ride, I met this lady who was telling me about how wonderful her life is on one of the islands (I can't recall which island). I guess that is when the seed was planted.

Then about couple months ago, I came across a regional travel guide published by Sunset Magazine for the coastal destination up and down the western US. There, Lummi Island is marked as one of the secret getaway. Finally, during this last trip up to Bellingham, I figured out the ferry terminal is on one of the highway exit on my way to work. Well, no more excuse, especially when the sun doesn't set until after 9pm during this time of the year. I drove to the ferry terminal one evening after work, boarded the passenger and vehicle transporter, and took the 5 minutes ride crossing over to Lummi Island.

It is a very charming and tranquil place. It feels so serene. I thought I could surround the island in about 30 minutes or so. But I forgot the speed is slow, around 25mph and there are curves everywhere. Of course, I slowed down the pace and admired all the houses. I took the outer most road to view the coastline. There are some major homes here, not an island cottage I would expect. And unfortunately to report, nothing is a manageable price range… (yes, I am always on the lookout for a potential beach home someday.)

I did about a quarter of the island, came upon this little B&B (The Willows Inn) that has a restaurant facing the water. There are good written reviews on the facility when I was doing pre-trip research. I sat on the patio, soaking in the warm sun while waiting for dinner. I should have some wine but decided against it since I still needed to get back to the hotel for more late night meeting. The dinner was wonderful! Starter was a curry salad with dukkan coated pecan. The main was a guinea hen stuffed with mascarpone cheese & preserved lemon, served with fingering potato. The skin was crispy while the meat was tender. It was nicely seasoned; I loved the preserved lemon sauce the hen was cooked in. I polished the entire dish and left no room to try out their dessert!!!

Unfortunately, after dinner, I had to hurry up to catch the ferry back to the mainland, as by then the ferry schedule has scaled back to hourly basis. I didn’t want to wait another hour. Dusk had already settling in and the breeze picked up a bit. That’s when I realized I forgot my sweater at the restaurant. Never mind, I’ll be back.