The San Juan Islands of Washington State are no longer a secret. They are a tourist destination of some renown, luring bicyclists, boaters, and other pleasure-seekers to their shores year-round.
Fine restaurants and resorts have sprung up over the years on Orcas (home of Rosario Resort and Mount Constitution), Lopez (still bucolic, but home to several upscale B&Bs and a couple of good eateries), and San Juan itself (home of bustling, tourist-friendly Friday Harbor, as well as numerous restaurants, resorts, inns, and shops). But there are other islands in the chain, including 7.7-square mile Shaw with its campgrounds and population of 200; Cyprus, a protected nature preserve, and James, a marine state park. And just north of the jumping-off town of Anacortes is a little plot of land seldom discussed in the "travel rags:" Guemes Island.
Guemes Basics Guemes (GWAY-mus) is a residential island a stone's throw off the shore of Anacortes. The county-run ferry that makes the 5-minute trip to Guemes is different from the state-run ferry that travels to the better-known San Juan Islands. The little 22-car raft zips back and forth between the Guemes dock and the Anacortes dock about two dozen times daily to take residents from their island homes to work and shopping on the mainland.
On the island, commercial services are pretty much centered in one small general store and restaurant combination at the ferry landing. Some 15 miles of paved roads complete the island's traffic infrastructure. There are a couple of parks -- Schoolhouse Park at the island's center and Young's Park at the north end --but no public campgrounds.
Guemes Island Resort at the island's north shore -- a simple collection of houses and cabins with kayaks for rent, but little else in the way of services -- is the only other tourist facility. The rest of the island is comprised of homes, some for the 550 year-round residents, others for an approximately equal number of seasonal residents. Much of the waterfront property on Guemes is privately owned. When I go there, I stay with friends or rent a private home from a seasonal owner.
History Primer The aboriginal inhabitants of what is today known as Guemes Island were the Samish Indians. The Island was discovered and named by European settlers in 1791. Credit for naming Guemes and its adjacent Padilla Bay goes to José Narvaez of the Eliza Expedition. Exploration in the area was brisk toward the end of the 18th century; it was in the following year that the Vancouver Expedition came through the area and George Vancouver and Joseph Whidbey discovered and named nearby Deception Pass and Whidbey Island. The seagoing mammals, including otter and beaver, drew fur trappers to the area. Early European settlers planted fruit trees and cole crops, and began raising cattle on the island.
Amos Bowman founded Anacortes (naming it for his bride, "Anna Curtis") in the late 1876. He envisioned the port town as a shipping Mecca, the Pacific terminus of the transcontinental railroad. Rumors of his grand dream brought a boom to the area by 1890, and the city was incorporated in 1891. While the town became a modestly successful shipping port, the main transcontinental lines were built to Seattle, some 70 miles to the south. Anacortes grew up around fishing, shipping, fish processing, lumber, and shipbuilding, bringing the nearby island of Guemes along for the economic ride.
When the town of Anacortes initiated an annual Arts and Crafts Festival in 1962, Guemes became recognized in the arts community as a fine, quiet, and inspiring place to live and create. Today, artists, craftsmen, and writers populate the island and sell their wares in Anacortes and beyond.
Why Go To Guemes? In a word: the quiet. Guemes residents, for the most part, like their solitude. You won't find anything resembling nightlife on Guemes, although Anderson's store/restaurant at the ferry landing does have occasional live music on Friday nights. The hottest ticket in town on New Year's Eve was a local homespun band playing at the community center at a cover charge of $5, and children were welcome.
Until mid-2006, the final ferry to Guemes was in the early evening, around 6 p.m., making the island impractical as a bedroom community for dot-commers from the Seattle suburbs. Changes in the schedule (not universally popular among Guemes residents) now enable on-and-off-island traffic until midnight most days.
Yet Guemes, with its many beachfront homes (from humble to grand) and its 15 miles of sleepy 2-lane paved roads, remains a perfect getaway for writers, artists, and others seeking the inspiration of the water and the calm of another era. It's a place to refresh, recharge one's psychic batteries, and renew one's connection to the rhythms of nature and the sea.
Sally O'Neal Coates is a Washington State native who lives, hikes, and rambles the backroads of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. She has written four Pacific Northwest travel guidebooks and over 300 columns for The Sportsman's Guide website, sportsmansguide.com.