Next time you're heading north on I-5 past Bellingham and you see the exit for Lummi Island, take it. You'll be in for a very pleasant surprise, and you will quickly want to turn your delightful little side trip into what will almost certainly be an equally enjoyable overnight getaway experience.
Lummi (pronounced like yummy with an L) is the most northeasterly island of the San Juan archipelago and often the most overlooked of these natural gems. Yet it is easily the most accessible. A small county ferry, the Whatcom Chief, whisks visitors off the mainland for a scenic, five-minute crossing to the island.
At two minutes before departure one recent Friday afternoon, I drove up to the ferry landing at Gooseberry Point and onto the boat. No long lines, no extensive wait, and the price was right: $4 per car and driver. I was giddy with elation, but before I could fully digest this emotion, I had reached land and was soon driving off the ferry onto a picturesque, wooded island.
Once a fishing and hunting mecca for the Lummi Indians, Lummi Island has kept much of its rural character over the years. It was charted for the first time in 1792 by Spanish explorers; eventually it fell into the hands of the Americans. The island has had several names, but in 1853 the U.S. Geodetic Survey officially bestowed the name it currently has, a name the Lummi tribe took as its own. It is believed that the name referred to the luminara, or large bonfires, which were seen by the Spaniards when they first arrived.
Navigating Lummi is rather simple, and for directionally dyslexic individuals like me, it's a relief to know you really can't get lost on only 18 miles of country roads. As I wound my way around the island, glimpsing tranquil beaches and sleepy houses, I reveled in the natural beauty of the area. I encountered a total of four cars on my way to the only full-service accommodation on the island, Willows Inn. With a mere 900 residents, traffic jams are unheard of on Lummi.
Having read about the Willows Inn in a guidebook and its promises for a restful retreat, I was eager to spend a night there to escape my harried, urban existence. The fact that the inn is also known for its fine dining and "farm to table" experience was another compelling reason for me to stay there and satisfy my curiosity about the place. After all, no one I had spoken with prior to my trip had ever heard of the island, let alone the inn, so I saw myself as the intrepid explorer sent out on a fact-finding mission (one that, of course, might involve the hardships of good eats and plenty of relaxation!).
The Willows has been operating as an inn since 1910 and is a Lummi Island landmark. During the 1980s it underwent complete restoration. In the spring of 2001, it was purchased by current owners, Riley Starks and Judy Olsen, of Nettles Farm. The couple, who have lived on the island for a number of years, had established Nettles Farm in 1993 for the purpose of providing healthy foods to the community. Starks and Olsen grow and produce certified organic foods for markets and restaurants around Puget Sound, as well as for the inn's restaurant and for the Beach House Café (the other full-service restaurant on Lummi, also owned by the couple).
They specialize in gourmet pasta and ravioli, pasta sauces, eggs, pastured poultry, a variety of salad mixes and veggies and locally caught reef-net salmon. Slowly, Nettles Farm has acquired a reputation for flavorful, al-ternative foods, using only the freshest ingredients. "We're blessed with so much good food here," says Starks, "and we care about what we serve people, so our guests know when they stay here that what they eat at the Willows or over at the Beach House Café is the best we can source and prepare.
"Both Judy and I don't settle for mediocre when it comes to food. We're into peak experiences, and we want our guests to share these experiences with us."
As I approached Willows Inn, I envied its spectacular view of Rosario Strait and the San Juan Islands. The place is perched on a small hill, surrounded by woods, and has an expansive deck that looks right over the water - a perfect spot for whiling away the hours with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. A comfortable lobby with a fireplace welcomes visitors to the main house. Accommodations include four rooms, all en suite, each with an attractive, homespun décor and painted in soothing pale tones. Behind the main house are the Cottage, a cozy hideaway equipped with a kitchenette, and the Guest House, a larger cottage suitable for families and groups, with a full kitchen and two bedrooms.
Meals are served in a charming, candlelit dining room with a picture-perfect view of the water. A full breakfast is included in the room rate, but I highly recommend you stay for dinner (served Thursday through Sunday only), which I guarantee will be a memorable experience. The menu changes each week and features Nettles Farm organic produce, chickens and pastas, as well as other local specialties such as live crab, sockeye salmon and spot prawns.
I started with a plate of earthy greens tossed in sherry vinaigrette and topped with pumpkin seeds, followed by seared Lummi reef-net coho salmon on top of a bed of velvety-soft polenta in lemon white wine sauce, with a side of the tastiest rapini I have ever eaten. Everything was moist, fresh and packed with flavor. Luckily, I saved room for a dish of melt-in-your-mouth crème brulé.
As night fell, the lights of Point Roberts twinkled from across the water, and I continued to linger at my table, reluctant to depart such an intimate ambiance.
In addition to enjoying the inn and its offerings, there are plenty of activities around the island to keep guests active during the day. Lummi is a bird-watcher's paradise, with more than 165 species of water and land fowl. Whales can be spotted during late summer and early September from many of the island's beaches. Biking and kayaking are other pastimes, as well as simply walking along the rural roads or on paths at the Heritage Trust Otto Preserve.
The island also is home to many artists and artisans, including sculptors, potters, painters, glassblowers and others who represent a wide array of crafts. Three times a year they get together to sponsor the Lummi Island Artists' Studio Tour, opening their studios for public perusal (Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends and the first weekend in December).
During my stay, I spent time traipsing around the Sculpture Woods, the studio grounds of sculptor Ann Morris. On the 15 acres of Northwest forest that surround Morris' studio, there are 15 figurative bronzes, which seem to emerge from the ancient earth. The sculptures emphasize the connection between the cycle of nature and people and present myths of the origins of humankind. As I went from one dramatic piece to another, I was struck by the spirituality of Sculpture Woods. Each bronze was placed discreetly to take advantage of its natural surroundings, and the light from the dwindling late-afternoon sun gave the place a mysterious quality that I found both haunting and mystical.
At Good Thunder Arts, I chatted with potter Ria Nickerson and viewed her array of decorative and functional pieces featuring Northwest motifs. Over at Windy Hill Art, I was delighted to get a personal tour of the kinetic works of Michael Oppen-heimer by the artist himself, who took time to explain the concepts and design behind each of his creations. Oppenheimer's pieces are installed outdoors, allowing visitors to note their dynamic qualities and the ways in which the weather, particularly the wind, affects them. Each installation has scientific, artistic and musical qualities inherent in it, from "Chime Lines," a wind chime made up of pipe-chimes tuned to a musical scale, to "Wind Wave," a piece consisting of two 25-inch poles with a series of vertical ropes suspended between them, which trace the movement of the wind in a graceful ballet.
I could have spent hours gazing at these works, mesmerized by their interactions with the wind. Lummi Island may not have all the bells and whistles that its grander cousins have, but its lack of pretense is what makes it a precious jewel and worthy of attention.
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