The last main island for me to visit in the San Juan archipelago is the San Juan Island itself and its distinguished Friday Harbor. I made it a goal to visit this year since we’re still limiting air travel and planned our trip during July 4th long weekend.

Getting ferry tickets with a vehicle reservation was harder than music festival tickets. I failed and quickly pivoted to arriving by bike since our Airbnb was within walking distance from the ferry terminal. We considered renting scooters to explore the island but ended up riding with our good friends and travel companions, Grace & Ronnie who managed a vehicle reservation.

Saturday, July 3, 2021

After a delay in the ferry, we arrived mid-afternoon into our cute Airbnb condo. It was quaint and decorated appropriately to a seaside-inspired “Captain’s Quarters” vibes.

After Grace and Ronnie arrived, we got ice cream and wander Friday Harbor. It was busy but had many charming shops and restaurants. The view from the harbor was peaceful and beautiful.

We had an outdoor dinner at ‘Cask and Schooner’ and then went to San Juan County Park for a lovely sunset. The boys even had a skipping rock contest.

We ended the night hanging out at the condo and played a few board games.

Sunday, July 4, 2021

We headed for breakfast at a popular spot, The Restaurant at Friday Harbor House. Chi and I were pretty impressed with our meal. We also snagged a great view on their outdoor patio.

Next, we explored the island and checked out various popular scenic spots. The first location was Cattle Point Lighthouse. It was very foggy and mysterious but sorta scenic and photogenic.

We had a quick stop at False Bay for a quick view. It was low tide so it wasn’t as nice as it could have been.

After that, we were stopping by an Alpaca farm. As we pulled up, everyone except Chi in the car was ecstatic and squeaking to the Alpacas grazing the field. So silly and cute. We also stopped at the Lime Kiln State Park, a popular whale-watching spot but we had no luck.

The next stop, San Juan Islands Sculpture Park exceeded my expectations. It was a beautiful 22-acre park with all these unique (and expensive) art pieces. It was visiting Burning Man and wandering the expansive grounds to look at different art pieces.

Our final stop was to check out Roche Harbor and this was a very popular spot with lots of people and many big yachts. While it did feel like a posh exclusive upper-class area, the Roche Harbor Resort felt like European streets for a quick bit!

We had an early outdoor dinner at Downriggers —another really good meal with a view. Before Grace and Ronnie’s late evening ferry, we headed back to the condo for more board games.

That evening, we were pleasantly surprised by an impressive 4th of July fireworks show! It was a solid 20-minute show with big fireworks that reflected over the lake.

Monday, July 5, 2021

We started our morning with classic breakfast at Rocky Bay Cafe and then gently biked to Jackson Beach. Our clockwise route on Turn Point Road > Pear Point Road was mostly downhill except for the end heading north on Argyle Ave.

We caught an afternoon ferry back and then drove back to Seattle. It was a nice relaxing long weekend spent with good food and wonderful company. Now that I’ve done all three main San Juan Islands, I’d say Orcas is my favorite for their views and hikes, then San Juans (next time we’d try the scooters and whale watching), and finally Lopez Island.