Exploring Northwest US and Canada: Week 3, Day 15, Back to the US, Friday Harbor

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7/25 Friday Harbor. We slept late for once. Took our time showering and packing before checking out of the Discovery Inn where we left our bags with the manager, Katy, who assured us she would make sure they were put on a taxi at 4 to be left at the dock. (She did!) We walked 5 blocks (thankfully mostly downhill) to the Rocky Bay Cafe that our hostess Katy recommended for breakfast saying this is a favorite of the locals. That’s what we wanted. We were warned there might be a line but since we arrived around 10:30 am we got a table right away. This popular restaurant had great designs on the walls. I opted for the "Senior" breakfast: one egg, 2 bacon, one pancake with real maple syrup and good coffee. Dave had a large breakfast sandwich that he couldn't finish likely because he was not feeling his best.

After breakfast we walked across Spring St to the pharmacy. There was a pharmacy consult window where I asked the very kind pharmacist advice for Dave. She recommended a generic Musinex DM (to loosen chest and help clear up the cold) and generic Benadryl (to sleep through coughing). We were grateful!

We walked down Spring St to the docks where the Clipper Sea Watch Whale Cruise boat was due to arrive. The boat was late so we waited for her arrival and then for passengers to disembark along with the luggage containers (off first). Even though we were first in line to board, the passengers already on board from Seattle had the best pick of seats. That didn't really matter since Dave slept and I was mostly standing on the top deck. The Harbor sparkled in the morning sun as we cruised into the channel. We were quite a ways out until the ship's captain got news of a pod of orcas.

Orcas are the largest species of dolphin. In captivity they only live in about 25 years but in the wild they live into their 40s to 80s and some have lived into their 100s. The orcas stay in their own social groups and the female is at the top of the social group. Female orcas stay with their mother all their lives, males less so. We saw families of orcas in the J Pod. This group was using a stranded harbor porpoise as a hunting toy for their young to practice hunting. There were smaller boats on the water that got closer to the pods but because our ship was large we did not get very close so the orcas were best viewed with binoculars or a telephoto lens. I did get some shots of orcas breaching but it required diligence.

After our Sea Watch WhaleCruise we returned to Friday Harbor with an hour and a half to kill. I started combing shops for t-shirts and found the best prices and designs at Joe Friday's Shirt CO. Next we looked for food or something to bring on the ferry finding Friday Harbor Chocolates, a great little chocolate shop where we did our due diligence helping the local economy and adding weight to our luggage (and my waist).

I called Bob's Taxi (and Katy at the inn) to confirm our luggage pickup and delivery, then waited on a bench in the shade near the docks for our bags to arrive. We didn't have our printed boarding passes for the Clipper Ferry (the same ship we took for the Sea Watch) since they were emailed after we left home but I spoke to the crew who thankfully let us enter in group one with our large and heavy luggage that would be stowed on board. On our way to Seattle, we sailed the Salish Sea and as we passed into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, we passed a rocky island with a large sea lion basking in the sun keeping the sea birds company. Some of the islands were nearly devoid of trees. Our onboard naturalist guide said the barren landscape was due to the strong winds in these areas blowing pine cones and seeds to other parts of the region. The food on the boat is not terrific but the Macrina Bakery granola Bar cookies were amazingly good. I had a $1 bratwurst (a first come first served sale) and some peppermint tea.

We arrived in Seattle around 7:30pm and hailed a cab to take us to the 11th Ave B&B in the multicultural Capitol Hill area. The cab ride took longer than anticipated because so many streets had been torn up due to (we were told) constant construction. Our cab driver said that even locals attempted turns only to find the street was closed. With bags settled in the room we took a little walk to get our neighborhood bearings then, again, collapsed into bed in our 2nd floor walkup called the Emerald Room.

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Photos

San Juan Clipper
It was a smooth sail from Friday Harbor to Seattle