DAY 9- La Conner and Camano Island

I decided to get an earlier start for the day.  I drove north along WA-20 to the north end of Whigby Island and then went through a bit of the Fidalgo Island.  The east on to through the Swinomish Reservation to a road called Best Road.  I drove south to a town area on the “mainland” area of Washington State.

Photos- The very picturesque La Conner.

 

La Conner is a township area that overlooks the water between the “mainland” and Whigby Island.  The Swinomish Channel runs past it and there’s a pink steel colored bridge that runs over the channel area.  La Conner is a very picturesque area with a great deal of art galleries, shops of all sorts, Inns, Bed & Breakfasts, and restaurants. 

Photo- Boats parked at a dock along the Swanomish Channel.

I arrived about 10am and 80% of the shops and stores didn’t open until 11am-ish.  In fact, I kind of had to laugh because there were three different businesses that listed their hours as 11am-ish to 6pm-ish.  I guess business hours are not set in stone or it’s a very laid back quality of life in the area for the business owners.  It was a bit of a culture shock for one set to certain hours and time tables; which I’m trying to break myself of.

I walked along and took photos.  I found a cute corner bookstore called “The Next Chapter” where I enjoyed a fresh piece of sour cream coffee cake and a mocha latte and perused through books while I waited for 11am-ish to arrive.  I, then, visited several of the shops and galleries.  I especially enjoyed a shop called “Caravan Gallery” where they had jewelry from all over the world and they were having 20% off everything in the store through to the weekend.  They had some wonderful things and were very reasonably priced and 20% off.  OMG!   I had to limit myself.

Photo- Fun names for some of the shops in La Conner.

Another couple shops that I enjoyed were a Lavender Shop that had lavender items that were made on the San Juan Islands and The Artist’s Remarque which had a wide selection of art items in their galleries.  I slowly went through the shops talking for a bit here and there with shop clerks just enjoying the day.  There were some really cute looking Inns and Bed & Breakfasts on the main area and just off of it too.  They were places with some fun names like Nasty Jack’s Antiques, Go Outside (an outfitters store), and Plum Ugly (a fish tackle shop).  It was rather fun just going along to see what was the name of the next shop. 

Photo- A dog waiting for his owner to have lunch.

Photo- The entrance to the Seeds Bistro & Bar where I had lunch.

 

I worked my way back to where I parked my car and it was about lunch time.  I spotted a place for lunch called Seed Bistro & Bar.  As I walked up to the door I spotted a golden lab tied up and waiting outside for its owner that was, I’m sure, eating inside.  Seed Bistro & Bar had an organic type of fare.  I had a wonderful curry lentil soup with a half a free range rosemary roasted chicken sandwich.  I couldn’t help but have a piece of a blackberry peach pie with homemade vanilla ice cream.  I got there just in time before the lunch “rush” hour.  The place filled up and there was a bit of a wait.

Photo- The Rainbow Bridge from a dock along the Swanomish Channel.

Photo- A quick shot from the car while on the bridge.

After lunch, I drove over the pink colored Rainbow Bridge.  It went over to the other side of the Swinomish Channel which goes onto the Swinomish Reservation.  It was rather striking how the different sides were.  The La Conner side was cute and picturesque but the reservation side had few businesses other than a Chevron Gas station and a lumber yard that was loading trucks.  The houses on the reservation side were run down and quite junky.  It was strange going from one side to the other.

Photo- A Camano Island beach area that I could see from above.

Next, I drove further inland and south over to the highway that led over to the Camano Island.  I was curious about the other Island that’s about a 1/3 of the size of Whigby Island and is nestled between the “mainland” and Whigby Island.  I drove along on Camano Island along several different roads.  There were quite a few private beaches and lanes on the Island.  I was rather disappointed that there really wasn’t that much to see.  I did manage to stop a couple times and take pictures off to the side of the road.