In seven years of Seattle area living (including 3 in West Seattle) I’d never once been to Vashon Island. I’d been past Vashon by ferry, offloading in Southworth, but that’s another adventure.
When the opportunity presented itself to explore the island (via picking up new mediation cushions from local fabricator Still Sitting) I decided to make a day trip of it. I love an excuse to get on a ferry, so with camera and a good soundtrack, away I went.
After a quick stop at Still Sitting – where the awesome folks set me up with a truly well constructed, loving made set of cushions I will be proud to spend hours on for years to come – I was free to explore. So where did I go first – the beach!
(You can take the girl out of California…)
Lucky for me, being on an island and all, beaches abounded. Like most residential islands, there are plenty of beaches known only to the locals, but I wasn’t interested in uncovering any local secrets, so I headed to the most obvious choice: Point Robinson Park and Lighthouse. Being a midweek I had the place pretty much to myself. I took a few shots to commemorate the day:
The caretaker quarters, museum and lighthouse…
And then a long walk down the particularly Pacific Northwestern flavored pebble beach. A few gulls let me know exactly how disappointing my presence was, but a curious crow followed me for a bit in the driftwood before heading off to points unknown.
Beachwalk
I stopped at the Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie and wandered through the coffee shop, grocery and bookstore before settling in for a cup. I can’t speak to the quality off the coffee, but they had an impressive wall of teas to choose from. I had a yerba mate chai, which is something I’ve wanted to try for ages. I also love that had and a host of non-baked, paleo-friendly snacks to accompany it.
In the end, it was a short day. It’s early spring, which is kind of like late fall AND winter in the PNW: though the day broke with a slight overcast it gradually became really overcast with definite indication of rain by 1pm. As adorable as the island is, it felt more residential than others, and midweek on a residential island is like being in any other small town where everybody knows everybody else – but you. It’s not that people aren’t friendly, but there’s no disguising the sort of benign “you aren’t from around here” look.
While I contemplated stopping for lunch at the confoundingly named Hardware Store Restaurant (with a tagline like “Great Good Food” who wouldn’t) it started to rain and I decided to make a run for the ferry (last car on, woot woot!) and home, where I knew I had “great good leftovers” hanging out in the fridge at home.
Maybe in the summer, when the weather is nice, and the island is packed and we have to wait 20 minutes for a table…nah.