The 41 Places to Go in 2011
© 2011 The New York Times Company
2. San Juan Islands, Washington
Bold-face restaurateurs vie with unspoiled nature. Nature wins.
The big draw for the San Juan Islands this year just might be its dining scene. Blaine Wetzel, a former chef at the wildly acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant Noma, took the reins at Willows Inn on Lummi Island (due to reopen on Feb. 10), while Lisa Nakamura, who has trained with big-name chefs like Thomas Keller, opened Allium on Orcas Island.
But the eternal lure of the San Juans — what brings chefs out as well as tourists — are the landscapes. On islands from Shaw to Decatur, pastoral hills give way to broody forests and scrappy escarpments that overlook fjordlike inlets. Thanks to an active land preservation effort by organizations like the San Juan County Land Bank, each year new areas are protected from logging or unruly development, and in turn provide fresh terrain for the public to explore.
Last year, the San Juan Island National Historic Park grew by 312 acres with the purchase of densely forested Mitchell Hill. On Lopez Island, a 50-year lease signed by the state Department of Natural Resources in 2009 now protects the Lopez Hill area from logging; a web of public trails winds past mossy conifers and madrona trees with peeling cinnamon-red bark. And some smaller parcels have the air of a secret about them, like the spectacular Watmough Bay Preserve on Lopez, with a trail that leads to a strip of beach on a wooded inlet, its moody water as magically lighted as a Bierstadt painting.
— SARA DICKERMAN
Bold-face restaurateurs vie with unspoiled nature. Nature wins.
The big draw for the San Juan Islands this year just might be its dining scene. Blaine Wetzel, a former chef at the wildly acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant Noma, took the reins at Willows Inn on Lummi Island (due to reopen on Feb. 10), while Lisa Nakamura, who has trained with big-name chefs like Thomas Keller, opened Allium on Orcas Island.
But the eternal lure of the San Juans — what brings chefs out as well as tourists — are the landscapes. On islands from Shaw to Decatur, pastoral hills give way to broody forests and scrappy escarpments that overlook fjordlike inlets. Thanks to an active land preservation effort by organizations like the San Juan County Land Bank, each year new areas are protected from logging or unruly development, and in turn provide fresh terrain for the public to explore.
Last year, the San Juan Island National Historic Park grew by 312 acres with the purchase of densely forested Mitchell Hill. On Lopez Island, a 50-year lease signed by the state Department of Natural Resources in 2009 now protects the Lopez Hill area from logging; a web of public trails winds past mossy conifers and madrona trees with peeling cinnamon-red bark. And some smaller parcels have the air of a secret about them, like the spectacular Watmough Bay Preserve on Lopez, with a trail that leads to a strip of beach on a wooded inlet, its moody water as magically lighted as a Bierstadt painting.
— SARA DICKERMAN
10 Best Trips of Summer 2011
© 1996-2011 National Geographic Society
3. San Juan Islands, Washington
Summer in Washington’s San Juan Islands is all about the weather, whales, and water. The Olympic Peninsula’s rain shadow effect (basically, the mountains block rain-producing weather systems) produces dry, clear, comfortable days on the archipelago’s four named islands—San Juan, Orcas, Lopez, and Shaw. Hike in Lime Kiln Point State Park on the west side of San Juan for shore-based orca whale watching or join a Sea Quest kayak tour for a porpoise-level view. Ferry hop to Lopez for leisurely biking, then spend the night on Orcas at Turtleback Farm Inn, a bucolic working farm bordering the 1,576-acre Turtleback Mountain Preserve. The islands are accessible via direct 30-to-45-minute flight from Seattle, or choose the drive-on Washington State Ferry to travel along the San Juan Islands Scenic Byway. The route follows traditional Coast Salish tribal canoe channels via marine highway from Anacortes to San Juan, then continues as two separate driving tours on San Juan and Orcas. Ferries are packed in summer, so arrive early and stay patient, especially on the eastbound ride back to reality.
Summer in Washington’s San Juan Islands is all about the weather, whales, and water. The Olympic Peninsula’s rain shadow effect (basically, the mountains block rain-producing weather systems) produces dry, clear, comfortable days on the archipelago’s four named islands—San Juan, Orcas, Lopez, and Shaw. Hike in Lime Kiln Point State Park on the west side of San Juan for shore-based orca whale watching or join a Sea Quest kayak tour for a porpoise-level view. Ferry hop to Lopez for leisurely biking, then spend the night on Orcas at Turtleback Farm Inn, a bucolic working farm bordering the 1,576-acre Turtleback Mountain Preserve. The islands are accessible via direct 30-to-45-minute flight from Seattle, or choose the drive-on Washington State Ferry to travel along the San Juan Islands Scenic Byway. The route follows traditional Coast Salish tribal canoe channels via marine highway from Anacortes to San Juan, then continues as two separate driving tours on San Juan and Orcas. Ferries are packed in summer, so arrive early and stay patient, especially on the eastbound ride back to reality.
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