We had another wonderful, revitalizing weekend on Orcas Island, the kind you’re almost afraid to talk about, for fear of ruining the place with popularity.  Fortunately, the readership of this blog is sufficiently small that I can comfortably share our favorites.

We stayed at the Beach House on Orcas.  If you could pick the perfect stretch of shoreline, and build your dream house by hand, it would come out looking very much like the Beach House, which gets rave reviews on Trip Advisor.   (The owners, Paula and Mal, really did do most of the work on the house themselves.  They’re extremely helpful and knowledgeable about the Island.)

 
View from the Beach House on Orcas

We had breakfast at Rose’s Cafe (382 Prune Alley, 360- 376-4292). Fantastic!  Poached eggs, handmade bread and pastries, great coffee with organic whole milk, etc.

Pastries and Quicke at Rose’s

The Saturday Farmer’s market has both crafts and locally grown food.  We got a bunch of strawberries (amazingly still in season and picked that morning) that reminded how good fresh, locally grown food can be.  (NPR recently reported that the average vegetable travels 1600 miles before being eaten; no wonder typical supermarket fruit has been crossbred with a baseball.)

Fresh Strawberry from the Saturday Farmer’s Market

Pottery making at the Saturday Farmer’s Market

Moran State Park has not only Mount Constitution but also a freshwater lake that’s great for swimming and trails with waterfalls.

Waterfall at Moran State Park

The Orcas Island Funhouse is “is a not-for-profit communitycenter that fosters fun and learning with dozens of hands-on kid-friendly science exhibits.”  The kids had a great time there.