Traveling Solo on San Juan Island – Guest Blog

It all started about 9 years ago when I went through a significant life change. I suddenly had time on my hands and nobody to travel with. I was skittish about traveling solo. Will everybody in the restaurant feel sorry for me having dinner by myself? Will the front desk at the hotel hand out my room number to strangers at night? When I ran out of excuses of all the ways the world was too dangerous to travel and had to admit that I’m really just afraid to be alone with myself, I booked my first solo trip and I have been hooked ever since.

There is an awareness, a stillness I only experience when traveling alone. It became a place within myself I crave, where I feel truly free and present.

Let me tell you about my recent trip to gorgeous San Juan Island and share a few solo traveling tips along the way.

Friday Harbor

The quaint town of Friday Harbor on San Juan Island is hands down the cutest and safest place I have ever been to. Everybody is friendly and welcoming, waves at you, starts a conversation or asks if you need help. According to some locals nobody ever locks their car or their house.

The Washington State Ferry lands right in the heart of town, making bringing a car optional. Everything--restaurants, bars, shops, boutiques, galleries, museums, as well as the hotel I stayed in, is in walking distance. I love walking to dinner at night and not having to find parking. The place has a touristy, festive feel, while remaining authentic. There are no fast food chains, no traffic lights, yet hanging flower baskets all through town. Local fishermen and farmers get sandwiches at the same places the visitors do. When I drove up Spring Street to my hotel, a deer crossed the road.

^{The beautiful gardens at the Earthbox}

The Earthbox Inn & Spa

I prefer to stay at family or women owned hotels. Usually the people working in such a place are not just doing their job. They genuinely care about their guests having a good time and make you feel like family. This was exactly the experience I had with the Earthbox Inn & Spa, a renovated retro motor inn with a full-service spa and a pool. The front desk staff was super friendly and helpful. My room was small, clean and stylish. I loved going for a hot tub and a swim in the heated pool in the mornings, then visiting the staff in the comfortable lobby for a fresh cup of coffee and to chat about my plans for the day.

Solo Travel Tip: Let the Front Desk know what you are up to!

While there is great cell phone service in the town of Friday Harbor, as soon as you venture out of town, service gets spotty. Let the front desk know what you are up to, just in case your car breaks down or you twist your ankle on a hike, so somebody knows if you are missing. Plus, the Earthbox Front Desk has an abundance of cool tips on what to do and where to visit.

^{“My” seat at the bar at Topsl}

Favorite Place to Eat – Topsl Seafood Bar

Okay, I’ll admit it: I ate here three times. Topsl is a sushi and seafood place above the Cask & Schooner public house right by the water. You can sit at tables overlooking the harbor or at the bar with Master Sushi Chef Kazu from Japan. I can’t decide which view is better, that of the Salish Sea or the fresh fish and watching a true master at work. I love the pace of sushi and started each night with a seaweed salad and raw oysters in the half shell, followed by whatever Nigiri Kazu recommended that day. I fell in love with the Sake-spiked Mojito and the fact that I was greeted by name on my last night there.

Solo Travel Tip: Sit at the Bar

I don’t feel awkward dining alone anymore, but I do feel weird sometimes taking up an entire table in a small, busy place. I love to eat at the bar, strike up a conversation with the bartender or the chef. Service is usually faster and I often meet other solo travelers that way.

^{The different shades of blue on South Beach}

Favorite Place to Draw – South Beach

I recently started to dabble in watercolors. It’s way too early to unleash my work on the world, but I bring my tiny easel with correctly-stretched paper, a few brushes and paint to work on my clouds and ocean waves when I’m on the road. South Beach, on the southern tip of San Juan Island, is an amazing place to do just that. This wild drift wood beach amidst rolling hills of prairie grass is home to just about every seabird you can imagine. There are Bald Eagles soaring high, as seals and otters meander on the beach. The place is vast and even on a busy day, you can find an absolute private place with no human in sight. I just wish there were more blues to draw the ocean, the sky and the Olympic Mountains on the horizon.

Solo Travel Tip: Situate yourself so you can see the trail

I tend to forget the world around me when I’m drawing and don’t like to get startled. I like to sit where I can see other people and especially their dogs coming. Not everybody follows the leash laws and a curious puppy nose has no place on my drawings.

Favorite Place to Read – Lime Kiln State Park

San Juan Island’s so-called “Whale Watch Park”, on the west side of San Juan Island, is supposedly the best place in the nation to see Orcas from land. It has a light house, beautiful interpretive trails through old Cedars, Douglas Firs and Madronas, and lovely places to sit along the steep cliffs. I spent my day here reading a novel, while leisurely letting my eyes wander over the Salish Sea, watching the light and the tide change, hearing only the waves and the seagulls.

^{Lovely island-made souvenirs at the Earthbox gift shop}

Favorite Souvenir – San Juan Island Sea Salt

I “found” San Juan Island Sea Salt in the gift shop at the Earthbox Inn & Spa. It’s fluffier than the French sea salt I usually favor, and tastes like the ocean, in the very best of ways. My little decorative tub of island salt makes me happy every time I season my food with it. It makes me feel as if I brought a piece of San Juan Island home with me.