Weekend Away
Last weekend, Ric and I celebrated 22 years together with a weekend getaway to Orcas Island, in the San Juan Islands. Orcas Island is a very quaint place but if you’re looking for lots of activities, it’s not the place for you. If, on the other hand, you crave quiet, slow pace, no internet, limited cell phone service, and friendly artists, it’s the perfect place to visit.
We boarded the ferry in Anacortes and made the 1 hour trip to Orcas Island. The drive to The Resort At Deer Harbor, the place we stayed, took only a few minutes from the ferry landing. The resort sits on the hill above the harbor where there is a marina housing a plethora of boats. They allowed us an early check in so we headed to our cottage. With it’s view of the water, the hot tub on the deck (each cottage has it’s own hot tub), the king sized bed, the jacuzzi tub, the gas fireplace, and the rainy weather, it was perfect for our weekend getaway.
There is this FANTASTIC taco place in Eastsound, the major commercial area on Orcas Island, called “Tee-Jay’s”. We had read about it on Tripadvisor and it was rated #2 for all the restaurants on Orcas Island. We plugged the address in to our GPS and it took us to a true “hole in the wall” location. It was such a dramatic “hole in the wall” that we almost didn’t get out to check it out. Located in the basement of the Odd Fellows Hall, there were no windows, no signs (other than the “Taco’s” sign in the back of a pickup truck pointing the way at the corner) and the door wasn’t the most inviting site either. We opened the door and walked in to find a long hallway lit only by strings of clear Christmas lights along the ceiling. We could hear voices in the distance so we followed the sounds to find a room complete with 8 or so tables, a kitchen that consisted of a stove, working counter, and prep sinks, and the aroma of refried beans, frying tortilla’s and fresh pico di gallo. The food was divine, it only cost us $16 for lunch and we agreed it was the best find on the Island! Sadly, I didn’t take any pictures there…..hmmmm, what sort of photographer misses opportunities like that? Probably one more consumed by hunger than the need for more pictures.
Saturday we spent the day driving around the island, checking out all the nooks and crannies for found treasures. There are a lot of pottery places, art galleries filled with work by local artisans, several resorts, many farms, and a lot of forested space. The Rosario Resort is one of the more well known places on Orcas Island so we spent an hour or so doing a self-guided tour of the building.
We ended up missing out on our free “Latin Dance” lesson, that came with the lodging, Saturday evening because someone spent too much time taking pictures of the Harbor at sunset. Instead we took advantage of the hot tub on our deck and enjoyed listening to it rain on the roof over us while we stayed warm in the water.
It’s always difficult to return back to the real world after a quiet weekend away. I absolutely love my 3 sons but every once in awhile it’s nice to step away, take some time with my husband without distractions, and become connected again. Ric, I can’t wait until next year!
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