Play. Shop. Eat. Orcas Island in Eastsound, WA (Plus: Ferry Boat Horror Stories You Need to Know Before You Go)

Photo: CopyStrands

If a trip to Eastsound, WA otherwise known as Orcas Island (in the San Juan Islands) is in your future this list will help you discover how to play, shop and eat in a town without stoplights.

Play

Fly a kite, have a picnic or beach comb for seashells at Cresent Beach Reserve. Go for a hike or drive up Mount Constitution for panoramic mountain views. Or rent a scooter or a bike and zip through the quaint, slow paced island.

Shop

Darvill's Bookstore, with its picturesque backdrop of glistening water, is a reader's gem.

Olga's features Anthropologie-inspired clothing, jewelry and home decor.

Tres Fabu! offers clothing and accessories with a French twist.

Nest is a flower and garden decor store with beautiful glasswares and more.

Boheme has affordable clothing for women with some men's clothes mixed in.

Eat

Rose's Bakery & Cafe offers breakfast and lunch with seasonal ingredients, try the baked eggs with ham.

Bilbo's Festivo (Mexican) is one of the most popular places to eat dinner on the island and they make a mean margarita.

Passionate for Pies organic pies crafted with the finest ingredients.

72 Hours in the San Juan Islands
For more about the San Juan Islands visit my About.com article titled "72 Hours in the San Juan Islands."

Ferry Boat Horror Stories
If you plan to use the Washington State ferry system to get to any of the San Juan Islands it is important to know that according to island locals the holidays seem to attract ferry breakdowns. If you plan to go be prepared for delayed and broken ferry boats especially during holiday weekends.

And be sure to plan your trip around a ferry schedule that offers a second run within a couple hours (even if you are walking on versus driving). Because if a ferry breaks down you will have a shorter wait for the next boat. If there is a four hour delay between boats don't set yourself up for a long wait by taking the boat just before a four hour delay. Island locals told stories of busy holiday weekends having six to eight hour waits between boats due to breakdowns with no more runs scheduled for four hours or more! Our walk on trip involved a broken boat mid-morning and the next sailing was not until mid-afternoon. We waited six hours to walk on a boat at the terminal before one arrived. And the cars waiting to get on were in worse shape than those of us walking on the boat. In fact, almost every boat that day was late arriving to the terminal.

Unfortunately, according to island locals, the state provides the San Juan Islands with the poorest boats and several locals mentioned their embarrassment of this. Finally, the state does not supply enough runs during busy holiday weekends so keep that in mind.

Note: It's not a budget issue causing delayed boats and breakdowns in the San Juan Islands. Since they pay their employees triple time (upwards of $140 an hour!) it is their own fault for mis-managment of salaries. Can you say "foul on the play?" Washington State ferries in the San Juan Islands need to get back on track.