Le Chic En Rose

A pleasant ferry ride across the Puget Sound from Seattle Docks, Bainbridge Island, is a popular destination for a day trip from the city and a magnet for tourists visiting the area.

We went on a Sunday, which was quite busy, but not unpleasantly so. Perhaps the lingering smoke haze from the nearby wildfires in the Washington State hills had deterred visitors. We noticed quite a few people taking their cars across on the ferry. The short boat ride takes just over half an hour. I sat up on deck rugged up hoping the sea breeze would help my flu symptoms (alas not).

The island is quite small (27 square miles in land area) and has a number of different attractions. There are popular walking and hiking trails in particular the Grand Forest and the Fay Bainbridge Park and Campground in the north east of the island, which is a beautiful marine park overlooking the Puget Sound. Since I was feeling quite unwell and feverish we couldn’t do any of the walking trails – it took all my energy to walk the few minutes from the ferry terminal to the “Main Street”, which as its name suggests is the centre of town. I did find a good guide to the “12 Top-Rated Things to Do” on Bainbridge Island here.

Along the Main Street, there is a laid-back arty vibe with plenty of quaint shops and eateries. There are also several museums and places of cultural interest, namely the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island Historical Museum and the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial. The Suquamish Museum is actually just across the water on the mainland from Bainbridge Island but you can make the short drive across the Agate Pass Bridge which links the Port Madison Indian Reservation (on which the museum is situated) with the island. The Suquamish are the original inhabitants of the Puget Sound area, “the People of the Clear Salt Water”. The Suquamish Museum sounds a fascinating place in which to discover more about the land, the people and their culture and traditions.

After a brief walk up and down the street and a bit of window shopping we headed into the Amelia Wynn Winery and Bistro for a platter and sampling of some of their delicious wines! Monsieur did more of the wine tasting than I did – the staff were really friendly and welcoming and the ambience charming and laid back.

It was such a pity that I was feeling so under the weather I couldn’t enjoy our visit to Seattle or Bainbridge Island as much as I would have liked. Hopefully the pictures from this post and the previous ones here and here have given you an idea of some of the potential activities on offer and a feel for the area.

We did manage a short stroll by the waterside en route back to the return ferry to Seattle (where we met some local chickens!).

Unfortunately I had to spend the next couple of days in bed trying to recover from the flu (luckily Monsieur was absolutely fine). We did do the short trip on the Seattle Center Monorail out to the Space Needle one afternoon but for some reason I can’t find any photos!

The next day we headed back to Vancouver on the Amtrak Cascades Train.

King Street Station Seattle is an impressive building which deserves a mention – I’ll finish with a few photos of the station and a couple of slightly blurry ones of the journey up the coast back to Vancouver (from where we flew back home to Perth).

Copyright © 2022 Rosemary Thomas Le Chic En Rose