|
|
|
 |
|
Home / Washington Business - March/April 2004 / The San Juan Islands - The Emerald Brooch of the Evergreen State |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
The San Juan Islands - The Emerald Brooch of the Evergreen State |
|
|
|
Written On: March/April 2004 |
|
|
|
Written By: By Scott Carlson |
|
|
|
What is it about San Juan County that draws tourists from the “mainland” to a remote set of islands in the northern Puget Sound? It could be the trendy little shops that line the cozy streets of Friday Harbor. It might even be the quaint carriage rides on Orcas Island just before dusk. However, not much could beat cruising over Shark Reef Park on a sunny morning as you land at Lopez Island’s airport for a day of exploration.
According to Friday Harbor Mayor Gary Boothman, it’s a mix of the above coupled with the island’s natural environment. “I think the environment is number one in everything,” said Boothman. “It’s what brings people here, and it’s what keeps people here.”
For many San Juan tourists, the journey out to the islands begins at the ferry terminal in Anacortes.
“We’re the hub for the Washington state ferries that travel to the San Juan Islands, and we also have an international ferry that travels to British Columbia,” said Anacortes Mayor Dean Maxwell “About a million and a half people a year are coming through Anacortes either heading to Sidney or out to the islands.”
The trip to Friday Harbor takes roughly 65 minutes. For a little more than an hour, ferry-goers assume the role of nautical spectators, witnessing some of the Pacific Northwest’s most pristine landscapes, homes and views of Mt. Baker and the Olympic Mountains.
Some tourists will spend a majority of their time in the area looking to capture these scenes and many more, said Friday Harbor Coldwell Bank Owner Steve Buck, a member of AWB since 1999.
“If you look at the West Coast, how many places can exist where you can go out exploring on your boat?” Steve asked rhetorically. “There aren’t many places. There are some inlets and rivers here and there, but there’s nothing to really explore.”
Here’s a little test. How many seasoned sailors can name all the San Juan Islands? Let’s see … San Juan, Orcas, Shaw and Lopez – right? Close, but no cigar. Even though those are the most famous of the Puget Sound’s emerald-green isles, there are plenty more to be discovered and explored by Northwest newcomers and San Juan regulars.
In fact, there are roughly 700 islands and reefs that make up the San Juan Archipelago, with 450 islands large enough to be named.
“This started off really becoming more of a desired area for boaters,” Buck said.
Two of the regions most popular water-borne activities are whale watching and sea kayaking.
More than 80 orcas make their home in the waters surrounding the islands, typically from late April through late September, according to San Juan Islands Visitor Bureau Director Deborah Hopkins. “One of the best places to spot them from land is on the west side of San Juan Island at Lime Kiln Point State Park, also known as Whale Watch Park. Whale watch/wildlife tour boats can be found on Orcas and San Juan Islands.”
For those who get queasy thinking about boating in high seas far from land, the islands themselves hold more than enough entertainment.
“Boating is a big part of life here,” Buck said. “But the beauty of the island is probably one of the largest draws for people to come up here. There are a lot of different activities you can do in the area.”
Simply bringing a bike and pedaling across the small islands, which cover a mere 174 square miles combined, will treat many visitors to a more than enriching vacation. It will even burn off a good amount of those unwanted calories from a long winter’s hibernation.
Other activities to be enjoyed on land include horseback riding, hiking and a community events calendar that is packed from May to November. These are the prime months for the islands’ tourism and retail industry.
“We have a good chunk of tourists that come through here in the summertime. We have a fair amount of tourism that happens in the shoulder seasons and a little bit that happens in the winter,” Buck said.
“Tourism is one of the major economic engines in San Juan County,” said Orcastar Software Publisher Jeff Struthers, a new member of AWB. “However, it varies seasonally and cyclically as does tourism elsewhere. There is a need here to supplement tourism with additional sources of economic growth appropriate to the unique conditions of San Juan County.”
In the summertime, there are some long hours for those running businesses, but they are glad to have it, he added. And the locals don’t mind having the visitors on their island.
“For people who are just out enjoying themselves, it’s fun to mix with tourists, and it’s fun for the tourists to mix with the locals,” Buck said. “Tourism is very important to our economy. Most of us are very thankful for that. It helps us live here year round. But in the shoulder seasons and winter, we have the place to ourselves, which is pretty nice.”
When the tourists leave for the winter, a calm, serene state of being seems to take over the islands. Locals stop to chat with one another in the middle of a quiet street during their short walking commute to work. They meet at Herb’s Tavern after the workday is finished to have a beer and talk sports. It is almost like a scene from the Andy Griffith Show. Everyone seems to know each other.
“There’s something very magical about living somewhere where you’re surrounded by water,” Boothman said. “There’s something about being an islander.”
The residents with long ties to the islands come from a hardy breed of people who settled in the area generations ago.
“It took a lot of fortitude to pioneer here,” Buck said. “Even up until the 1960s, we didn’t have a tourism base here. It was difficult to make a living here.”
Up to the 1940s, agriculture was a staple industry on the islands. The area was the number one apple producing region in the state. Strawberries and peas were also crops grown by locals.
“San Juan salt air peas were famous,” Buck said. “They were sold in the finest restaurants. Fishing was also a big part of our economy until the 1960s and ‘70s.”
Nowadays, pay dirt is in the generated revenues from outsiders to the area who come to find a peaceful place to kick their feet up in one of the local bed and breakfasts or quench their thirst for adventure by encountering a pod of killer whales on a kayak.
“There is a natural draw that keeps people coming to and coming back to the islands,” concluded Buck.
“You could build a wall around the islands and people would be climbing over it to get here,” Boothman said.
So what will it be that draws you to the islands?
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
