Lopez Island 20th Anniversary Getaway

On April 5th, Sammy and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. It's crazy to believe it's been 20 years. We married when I was 19....which means I have been with him and married over half my life now. 

We don't often get to take trips, but we do try to get away for our anniversary. This year we decided on a quaint little beachy cabin on a bluff on Lopez Island in the San Juans. We spent four nights there, checking in Thursday the 2nd, checking out Monday the 6th. 

We genuinely had the best time. It was my favorite anniversary trip thus far. 

Day 1 

Thursday morning we hit the road at 6am for our reserved ride on the Port Townsend Ferry at 1pm. It had been a long time since we had been on a ferry ride, and the beautiful views and fun of it did not disappoint. 

We pulled into the ferry dock on the North end of Lopez Island, then traveled to the far South end of the island. We arrived at Rosario Cabin a little after 3pm. The place was gorgeous. Seriously, it was like out of a movie. Perfect in every way (except for a hot tub, lol). I loved the drive down the forested dirt road,  then all of a sudden you are at the cabin in this small clearing with beautiful views of the Puget Sound and Mt. Baker off in the distance. The cabin itself has a covered front porch with benches for taking in the views and watching the sunrise. Inside, it's decorated clean and minimalistic, which I loved. 

After getting all settled in, we took a walk down the nearby private path to the private access beach. This beach access appears to be shared with two other nearby places. One is another Airbnb that requires month long rentals at a time (we looked it up)...and no one was there. We couldn't tell if the other house was an Airbnb or normal home. Either way, no one else was home. So this private beach access was indeed private. 

In one of the photos, you can just hardly see the cabin up on the bluff. 

And just an fyi, Lopez Island is the place to find beach glass. Every beach we visited during our stay we found some, including our private beach, which proved to be home to pretty greens and blues in particular. 

That evening was the only night we ate out. I didn't get any photos, but we drove to Lopez's little town and ate at Haven Kitchen & Bar. I ate the most delicious crab cakes and Caesar salad I had ever eaten. 

Day 2

Friday morning we set the alarm early, hoping to catch the sunrise. We weren't treated to a colorful sunrise, but a muted blue overcast one instead. Still good, and still worth it. 

After breakfast, we went on two different hikes. The first one was at Spencer Spit State Park. The second to Iceberg Point. Both beautiful hikes, though I preferred the views and various terrains of Iceberg Point. 

Two hikes complete, all before lunch. After resting at the cabin and grabbing a bite to eat, we decided to go for a short ride on the e-bikes we rented, just to explore the immediate area. 5 stars (except the seat hurt me). 

Pretty much pooped out, we headed back to our private beach for an end of the day beach combing visit before dinner and a movie in bed. 

Day 3

Saturday morning, our second morning, brought with it the beautiful sunrise we had been hoping for. After sitting for an hour on the porch, we enjoyed breakfast while we watched the sun finish rising. 

Another bike ride and a few hikes were on the docket for day 3. We biked to Watmough Bay and were lucky enough to have it all to ourselves for close to an hour. We beach combed, enjoyed the views, and soaked up the sun. It's a good thing we took those e-bikes on this one. The final hill there was so steep...there was no way I was getting back up it without e-bike assistance, lol. I wish I would have gotten photos of that.

Close by was a trail that led up the bluff and poured out onto a grassy plateau with access down to two different little beaches. We combed the fuck out of those, haha, filling our pockets with so much sea glass. Mostly brown, but sea glass none the less. 

After returning to the cabin for some lunch, we headed to Shark Reef Trail for the second hike of the day. This was, by far, my favorite hike done on Lopez. I loved that you had a little bit of everything. Some boardwalk, the woods, open sunny grassy fields, and rock side to climb all over. We even found some mini tidal pools to explore. I wouldn't say we were intrusive to their little world...we totally didn't touch anything...but I would say we didn't want to leave, and the little creatures there probably got some closeups of our faces. Pretty sure we sat there for close to 45 minutes before hiking back to the car. 

Again, an evening beach combing session on our private beach before dinner and a movie in bed. 

Day 4

Sunday morning. Our 20th wedding anniversary, and another beautiful sunrise spent on the porch. Even better than morning before! 

We had special plans for our anniversary. A whale watch excursion on Friday Harbor with our good friend Captain Gabe on San Juan Safaris's speedboat! We took our time that morning, enjoying breakfast by sunrise and a quick beachcomb session at our private beach. Then we boarded the ferry to Friday Harbor. Gabe picked us up and drove us around Friday Harbor a bit. After visiting his Uncle's special cabin, Gabe dropped Sam and I back off in the main town to get a quick bite to eat while he headed in to get things ready. 

At 1pm we met Gabe, his assistant, and the other people attending this whale watch excursion on the dock. We got dressed in our very fashionable and warm outfits, did a safety talk, and then boarded! 

We sat back with Gabe. Best seat in the house I think. We were covered from the sun, able to borrow the captain's binoculars, and we got the exclusive "Captain's personal tour commentary." Definitely priceless. We weren't sure if we were going to see any whales, but Gabe got the call that a little family pod had been spotted. Though windy and cold, being in the fast boat has it's advantages. We were in the right area in the blink of an eye and sure enough, there they were! Far off at first, but then they dove and resurfaced a little closer. I couldn't really get photos worth a damn with my phone camera, which is all I had - no real camera on this trip, but we could put my phone camera up to the binoculars and get photos that way! Totally worked, and Sammy managed to line things up just right to nail a fantastic photo of one of the orcas. 

We had an amazing whale watch excursion trip with Gabe. Perfect way to spend our actual anniversary day. 

Day 5 

Monday morning, our last morning. We skipped the sunrise in favor of getting some extra sleep. We ate breakfast, packed things up, then headed to our beach for one last beach combing session. We caught the noon ferry off Lopez and started the long trek home. I think we made it home at 7pm, ready to see my soulpup and sleep in my own bed. 

Check our our sea glass loot! 

Definitely an amazing trip. We both agree that we could have stayed another day or two. I thought four nights away was going to be enough...and it was...but Rosario Cabin was just perfect. We really didn't want to leave. 

Happy 20th, Lover. 

With love,

Mama Hauck