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A Sustainable April Getaway to San Juan Island: Feeling Part of Something Bigger
A thoughtful spring weekend exploring Friday Harbor, whales, beaches, and community on San Juan Island.
I had been pondering how to relax with so much going on in the world, how to inspire my children, and what I could do. I decided to take my clan up to San Juan Island for the weekend. It’s only 65 miles from Seattle, but it feels like a simpler world with a different pace.
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Why San Juan Island?
I adore San Juan Island for many reasons: no billboards, no chain restaurants, no traffic lights. Friday Harbor’s streets are lined with local galleries, family-owned restaurants, and cute shops, all within walking distance of the ferry and our Friday Harbor hotel. What I like most is the commitment to sustainability you’ll find everywhere. San Juan County banned Styrofoam in 2010, 14 years before the statewide ban took effect.
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Where to Stay?
We always stay at the Earthbox Inn & Spa, a retro motor inn three blocks from the ferry landing and one of our favorite Friday Harbor hotels, with an indoor heated pool and a location right across the street from the bowling alley and historic movie theater (read: amazing for teenagers!). I adore their attention to detail, quality, and commitment to being green. For example, their Keurig coffee makers come with compostable pods.
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San Juan Island Pledge
I love that the San Juan Island Visitors Bureau invites visitors to acknowledge the islands as the ancestral land of the Coast Salish people since time immemorial and to take a pledge to be an ecologically and socially responsible guest. You can see on a map where people who signed the pledge are from. We did. So powerful.
Sign the San Juan Island Pledge HERE.
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Our Adopted Whale
Ever since the kids were little, we’ve adopted a Southern Resident killer whale each year through the Friday Harbor Whale Museum. Each adoption supports the stewardship of these magnificent and endangered giants. It comes with free museum admission, a genealogy of your orca, bumper stickers, and more.
We renewed our adoption papers, browsed the exhibition hall, and asked for the latest whale sightings at the really cool gift shop, where, as orca parents, we get a 10% discount.
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Beach Clean-Up
On the weekend after Earth Day, San Juan Island rallies for a beach and island clean-up, with a huge after-party at San Juan Brewery.
The dates didn’t work for us this year, so we dedicated some time in the sun to doing our own beach clean-up as a family. San Juan Island is so precious and clean. The only litter on the beach is Styrofoam pearls and microplastic, swept in from the sea and so dangerous for wildlife. I love my kids so much for caring.
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Art & Lavender Store
Do you remember the Pelindaba Lavender Farm on San Juan Island? They had stores all over Puget Sound and even as far away as Florida. I loved their products and was a bit heartbroken when they closed. It turns out the Alchemy Art Center acquired the property and has fantastic plans. Their farm store is open and offers handmade organic lavender products, as well as locally made art and art activities. Art and lavender are two of my favorite things.
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