My first trip to Friday Harbor was unforgettable. I arrived via a Kenmore Airlines seaplane that whisked me from Seattle’s Lake Union to a dock at the Friday Harbor Marina in slightly more than an hour. It was a sunny day and as the plane flew low over the coastline of Puget Sound, the small islands were an intense green against the blue of the water.
I stayed a week with a friend on his 30-foot trawler docked at the Marina. Some days, we took the boat out and anchored at some of the many smaller islands. On other days, we explored San Juan Island outside of the town of Friday Harbor. We hiked the trails around the lighthouse at Lime Kiln and the lighthouse at Cattle Point. We experienced history at site of British Camp and American Camp, carefully sited at opposite ends of the island. We wandered around the town of Roche Harbor and admired the luxurious boats tied up at its marina. When we weren’t on the move, we had wonderful meals in Friday Harbor’s restaurants–from “pub grub” to meticulously crafted Northwest Cuisine. One visit led to another and then to another and then I could resist no longer. I moved here.
The San Juan Islands are seductive. Come visit us–I think you will agree!
—Roberta Kent
