I know I’m on vacation long before we reach Orcas Island. As the ferry pulls away from the dock at Anacortes, I feel time slowing down.
The San Juan Islands have been a refuge for my husband and me for years, but having children has changed our ideas about what makes the perfect island getaway. The outdoor wonders of the islands have to be combined with kid-friendly places to eat, engaging indoor activities to get us through the rainy days, and a comfortable home base for our island explorations. Orcas Island has all that and more.
The largest of the San Juans, Orcas has been picturesquely described as a set of saddlebags hanging over the back of the East Sound. It was once the island home of shipbuilder Robert Moran, whose estate anchors the island’s Rosario Resort and whose name graces the 5,000-acre Moran State Park.
The highest peak in the San Juans, Mount Constitution rises nearly half a mile above the park and offers a breathtaking panoramic view, reached by a winding mountain road.
With plentiful campsites, easy hikes, fishing, a swimming lake and a decent play structure, Moran State Park can easily occupy an entire day or more.
The island is big and varied enough host a dozen different kinds of vacations, but the village of Eastsound has become our favorite place to put down stakes. From the Outlook Inn – really three hotels in one, with three different price points – we can walk to restaurants, shop and festivities in the town park, where the farmer’s market is held in the summer. When it’s time to go farther afield, Eastsound’s central location makes a trip down either “saddlebag” relatively short.
Because the San Juan Islands lie in a rain shadow, Orcas gets less rain than Seattle, but it’s best to be prepared. To borrow a sentiment from Mark Twain’s famous saying about San Francisco, the coldest winter our family ever spent was one late-August week on Orcas. The Funhouse – the island’s community science, art, music, crafts, technology, games and more center – gives kids plenty to do on a rainy day. Family favorites include the rock climbing wall and a play rocket ship. The whole center oozes community and is blessedly free of business sponsorships or ads.
Still, there’s nothing quite like Orcas in the sunshine.
It was the helpful woman at the Outlook Inn’s front counter who put us in touch with Beau Brandow of Outer Island Expeditions, a small operation with a fleet of boats that seat 6 or 12 passengers each. They’ll take you almost anywhere: deep sea fishing, out to a small nearby island, or, of course, to see the orca whales that hang out around the San Juans during the late spring, summer and fall.
When our family vacationed over Spring Break, before orcas generally take up residence around the San Juans, we signed up to take a quick jaunt over to Sucia Island to explore the fossil beds, sandy beaches and wildlife. But Brandow made an early morning phone call to report that orcas had been spotted offshore. As a small outfit, Outer Island Expeditions has the flexibility to veer off course and go where the action is.
Our quick change of plans was rewarded with a front-seat view of six transient orcas, including a peach-tinged baby, hunting for lunch and leaping out of the water in celebration of their success. It was a perfect Northwest moment – the kind you can find on a sunny day in the San Juans.
Ruth Schubert is managing editor of Seattle’s Child and the mother of two daughters.
