Our Anniversary Getaway!

Our anniversary weekend started with a ferry ride over to Roche Harbor. The weather was beautiful with the sun shining bright! 

When we arrived at the resort, we had about an hour to explore our cabin and it's surroundings. The cabin was an adorable 2 bedroom/1 bath quaint getaway. It felt like home the minute we walked in. 

We then headed over to the local restaurant for a luxurious 4 course meal. Starting out with their crab and artichoke dip, followed by a shared caeser salad and crab bisque. For dinner Ben had their all too famous prime rib, while I had their morale mushroom crusted tenderloin. Both were heavenly. We each received our own dessert from the restaurant, I had the very last piece of their delicious apple pie and Ben had the berry cobbler. All in all dinner lasted a glorious 3.5 hours, during which time we enjoyed watching two otters play of the dock. It was a wonderful way to spend our first night. 

The next morning we had breakfast on the pier before heading out on our whale watching trip. While walking to the boat, this little guy decided to say hi.

The first wildlife we saw out on our whale watching trip were harbor porpoises. The captain followed them around for a bit trying to get them to play in the bow wave, but he was unsuccessful. It was fun to watch them hop in and out of the water though.

Half way through our trip, there were two young humpback whales spotted near the coastline. We were able to watch them for a few minutes until they went under for a nice swim.

When they came up again, they were so close to our boat putting on our own personal show. Humpbacks are rare in these waters as they have been on the endangered list for many years following humans hunting them to nearly extinction. In recent years their numbers have been increasing and young pups like these show us they are surviving well.

After our humpback spotting we took a leisurely trip back in along the coastline. We saw a few bald eagles in the trees with their massive nests and a few seals beached out on rocks catching some of the last sun rays before fall.

The naturalist on our boat told us that there were sightings of the J,K, and L pods of Orcas the day before from the lighthouse on Lime Kiln Point. Ben and I took a scenic drive up the coastline to see if we could see any. Unfortunately there were no Orcas, apparently they moved north towards B.C., but the view was beautiful. 

We did see an odd site while at the lighthouse, a turkey vulture (which are normally around when the weather is warm) swim in from the water and perch on the rocks to dry out. There was a wildlife rescue lady watching him to ensure he was not injured, because swimming in water is not normal behavior. He eventually took flight just over our heads, showing us he was in fine health.

When Ben and I came back "home" I started making butternut squash risotto and while that was cooking we enjoyed a great pastime game of Candyland. Ben got schooled several times but was a good sport about the whole thing. Eventually after game 5 or so, he was able to beat me. Better late then never I guess.

When cooking was wrapping up, Ben built us a fire out front to enjoy while we ate dinner.

With the fire at our backs, we enjoyed a toasty dinner while the sunset over the harbor. Dinner was the perfect taste of fall, a recipe we will definitely be making again!

After dinner the fire had perfect coals for s'more making, so that is exactly what we did. Instead of eating them like normal people, we stuck them in the freezer to have under ice cream later in the evening.

 We ended the evening with a few games of Monopoly. While Ben may have again been beat severely, he kept on playing and eventually won. This and Candyland will be a great addition to our families games! 

On Monday morning we checked out of our new home away from home hideaway and went on a nature trail through the sculpture park.  It was quite an odd site to come across a dragon in the woods, but this little guy was one of Ben's favorites (shocker I know).

After our nature walk we headed into Friday Harbor to walk around while waiting for our ferry. We stopped into my favorite lavender shop and bought some massage oil to use during childbirth for assisted relaxation. Neither Ben nor I had been to Friday Harbor for a few years and while a few things about it have changed, it is still a cute little town to walk around in. When we finally boarded the ferry, we were the front car and had a pretty stellar view. 

On our way home we stopped for dinner in downtown Snohomish at the Cabbage Patch restaurant. We had only previously been here for breakfast, but had heard that their dinner setting was just like home, with a menu to match. It was very relaxing and enjoyable and truly was just like being at home. The perfect ending to the most perfect weekend!