AJW Had a Birthday

 She didn’t want a party or jewelry or things  – we’re trying to get rid of things, at least she is. She just wanted a nice experience. 

So, Mr. Cheapskate, here, gave her a sweet tooth indulgence, some bubbly, and three days at Snug Harbor in Mitchell Bay on San Juan Island. She invited me along.

San Juan Island is a recent ‘discovery’ of ours. We’ve known it for years from the sea, checking in with immigration at Roche Harbor on our return from cruising in the Gulf Islands or visiting Friday Harbor by ferry, but only in the last couple of years have we been introduced to and have begun to explore the Island’s innards. It’s a magical place of beauty, history, and relaxation. Forests, meadows, lakes, shores: cares seem to drop away or at least to shrink to manageable size under the spell of SJI (as their bumper stickers ID.)

Snug Harbor: all the name conjures. Twenty beautifully appointed units -- suites, one-bedroom cabins and two bedroom houses fronted by landscaped lawns and a marina.

 

The bay opens onto Haro Strait, facing Vancouver Island across the way. Each morning we had a pup seal exploring the marina or an adult seal working the bay. I saw their resident otter, Owen the staff has named him; geese escorting chicks all in a row; a pair of eagles working the area. 

Ten minutes south, at Lime Kiln State Park and its lighthouse, we watched orcas – a small pod of five or six and what appeared to be a transient single. Too far away for good phone-camera shots, should have brought my Lumix 400, but fun to watch them working through the kelp beds. Also saw a kit fox, old enough to be on his own but clearly a youngster. Curiously few deer; who knows? 

We hiked along the cliffs above Dead Man’s Cove, careful of our footing as we both have gotten more wobbly. We kayaked the bay, examining the beautiful homes lining its shores, nestled among the firs and madronas. Spring has sprung in the San Juans despite record cold and rain. The fresh sprouts and trees, bushes and rhodies in bloom gave every vista an Oh, Wow!

Lunches eaten in Friday Harbor. Invariably, we struck up conversations and swapped stories with interesting sailors or stink-potters, locals or visitors. E.g., two brothers, one from Austin, the other from Portland, cruising the San Jauns together w/o wives. Ann is very good at opening gambits, as “did I overhear you were from Green Bay?” or “Are those the ginger mussels? How are they today?”

Birthday night featured a sumptuous dinner at Roche Harbor’s McMillins, made doubly special by Pam and Jim’s gift of a 20-year old Delille Cellars D-2 Bordeaux blend (worth about twenty-times my paltry, gourmet caramel sauces.) Once fragmented cork was twice sieved out, decanted, and allowed to breath for twenty minutes or so, it mellowed out into a wonderful, memorable wine, highlight of our meal. Thank you, P&J! 

This is written on a blustery, rainy Friday morning ferry back to Anacortes. I’ll put in pix later. All worked better than I dared hope: AJW had her birthday.