Holiday season is one of the most boring times for a Single Indian like me. As December 2022 rolled around, I found myself with nothing to do at work until January 2023. To break from the monotony of life, I decided to take a few days off for self-healing and a road trip. I have always wanted to take on an unplanned roadtrip and see where the journey takes me. My friend Costanza (nicknamed after the character George Costanza from Seinfeld, due to her round glasses) was excited to make this road trip happen. She had many interesting prepositions.
After much deliberation and failed attempt to plan a trip, we decided to go island hopping nearby without any solid plan. I have always wanted to checkout these islands but never got around to it. With less an hour to pack, I randomly threw items into my backpack and set off in Costanza's car at 10AM. One important aspect of a successful roadtrip is packing all essentials such as water, a charger, some tasty snacks, a waterproof jacket for the year round rainy season in Washington. Even more important is a good playlist and friends with amazing sense of humor. We created our mashup playlist from Bollywood, Sandalwood to Pop music to keep us entertained.
Our first stop of the trip was Bainbridge island which is a short ferry ride away from Seattle terminal located at Colman dock. We parked our car at the bottom deck of the ferry and made our way upstairs to take in the beautiful views of Seattle skyline and Olympic mountains. The ferry, operated by Washington State Ferries (WSF), is one of the largest ferry system in the united states and carries nearly 200 cars and 2500 passengers per ride. Our 35 minute journey flew by as we chatted, took pictures and enjoyed the view.
Bainbridge terminal is located in the charming town of Winslow. It has many shops, restaurants and art galleries which is right up our alley. We grabbed food at Emmy's Vege House, an all Vegan takeout restaurant. I could not resist the crispy rolls and curry noodles, while Costanza tried the sesame chicken. Once we were well fed, we explored some local shops and got recommendations for our onward journey. We then took a walk to the nearby docking area, which accessible to public and is a nice place to walk around. You can see the Seattle skyline from this docking area too. Our next stop was Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA). This museum, which has free entry, is dedicated to showcasing contemporary art from Pacific Northwest region and hosts a wide variety of exhibitions. We admired some of the art work including a series of embroidered Valentine's day gift from an artist to her husband, which I found to be very sweet. Below is an artwork from a hispanic artist.
We made one final stop on Bainbridge at the Bainbridge Apothecary and tea shop. This cosy tea shop offers a wide variety of interesting tea blends and carries unique gifts and accessories. Costanza chose a fancy, princess-y tea cup, while I chose a footed tea cup to drink our herbal blend tea. We took a moment to discuss the onward journey and admired the decor of the place.
Bainbridge has many more things to offer which we will go back to checkout again in future. At 4:30PM, we started the next leg of our journey to Port Townsend. The drive from Bainbridge to Port Townsend is scenic and picturesque. The Hood Canal Bridge which spans the Hood canal offers breathtaking views of the water and the surrounding mountains. We drove across the historic village Town Gamble and reached our Airbnb by 5:30PM. We were greeted with a beautiful Victorian-style three-story house from the 1891, The Starrett house which Costanza had discovered. Build by James Starrett who was a prominent local businessman and civic leader, the house is well preserved and features intricate woodwork, stained-glass windows, and a large central tower. The former parlor is converted to rental units that accommodates 4-8 guests on the first floor. The room we stayed was very unique with a bathtub in the middle of the bedroom and was the only place to shower. The room also had a wonderful ocean view which was perfect for relaxing and enjoying a book. We spent some time winding down by playing Bananagrams and headed out to grab some dinner at Banana Leaf Thai Bistro. The food was scrumptious, so we ordered a mango coconut rice pudding takeout to eat while we watched People of Earth on Hulu cozyied up in our bed. The show is not something I would volunteer to watch but got invested as the series progressed. We finished watching the first season and called it a day.
Day 2 started off on a relaxed note, as I slept in a bit in the morning. Costanza grabbed some delicious bakery goods, coffee from Pane d'Amore Artisan Bakery. We then proceeded to Better living through coffee cafe to grab some vegan food and coffee. The shop has a beautiful waterview bustling with locals enjoying their morning. I saw many elderly enjoying their time with their loved ones. I got vegan lentil soup, which was an unexpected breakfast option, a vegan cookie and coffee. We spent the rest of the morning exploring the town. The town has many antique shops and cute boutiques. I could spend an entire day, if my wallet got bigger. Costanza got pizza from this well known pizza place, waterfront pizza, which according to her was palatable. We spent our last few moments in this town by Bounty of the bay.
In the afternoon, we started our journey to Whidbey island by taking the ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville. We headed straight to the sculpture park in Coupeville, which had interesting artworks. We spotted a variety of mushrooms and birds here. From there we made our way to the town of Coupeville which has an idyllic Wharf and a historic museum showcasing the beaded artwork describing the Whidbey island and its habitat. The waterfront is lined up with many gift shops, of which many are closed during winter months. But we found Kingfisher bookstore which was open, it is a beautiful two-storied bookstore.
Our last stop on our trip was Langley, and it was a destination Costanza was particularly excited about. We arrived at 5PM, but to our disappointment, we found that most shops were closed. Costanza and I had hoped to buy matching bracelets. We saw this jewelry store Soleil open from where we had parked. Although we did not buy anything, this shop has interesting jewelry collection. We checked out other open stores before we made our way to get dinner.
Costanza wanted to try Ramen from Ultrahouse, which she swore had the best Ramen. I have tried ramen a few times before and have always been disappointed. At this point, I was convinced that I do not like Ramen. While we waited for our reservation, we stopped by a nearby bar. We joined some wonderful people from Langley by the fire pit and introduced ourselves with an alter-ego story. The weather was pretty cold and the cold water I was sipping on, did not help much. For a brief moment, I missed the chaiwala (tea vendor) back home in India, where tea stalls can be spotted every few miles and are open all night. And the chai (tea) tastes so amazing. It's magical to sip on a hot cup on cold nights, sometimes accompanied with Maggi (Instant noodles).
Finally, our reservation was up and we headed to Ultra house. It's an eclectic place that serves hearty ramen soups and sake. They also have a cute gift shop with various Japanese souvenirs. While we waited for our food, we grabbed onto the boxes of anime themed stickers at the gift counter. I searched through the pile to find all the One Piece Characters, while I snacked on the edamame. Unfortunately, I couldn't find Luffy! Just then, our food arrived. I wondered if I could eat so much Ramen. My bowl was filled to the brim. I spotted a few things I liked and tasted the broth. It was packed with flavors and I was blown away. The texture, taste, and warm, soupy ramen was just too perfect to end our trip.
We drove to Clinton to catch our ferry to mainland, Mukilteo terminal. This is the one of the few WSF routes that has managed to turn a profit. As we got onboarded to the ferry, the darkness enveloped us. So we took a moment to reflect on the journey. From natural beauty to antique store shopping, the islands offered a lot of things to do and explore.
Overall, the trip was a great experience. If I have a chance to do this again, I would carry a pair of binoculars. layer up as island can get chilly in the night, go on a bike ride from Bainbridge to Port Townsend and certainly bargain at antiques stores. Last but not the least Costanza drove all the way for 2 continuous days and got ideas for the trip as the trip progressed. So a big thanks to her <3.
Our expenditure for our 2 day trip:
Ferry Rides (For 4 wheeler and an additional passenger) :
Seattle to BainBridge : $26.65
Port Townsend to Coupeville : $17.30
Clinton to Mukilteo : $10.35
Food :
Emmy's veggie house : $47.77
Banana Leaf Thai Bistro : $58 (we went overboard)
UltraHouse Ramen : $42.54
Airbnb : $211.41
Gas : $40
Coffee and bakery : $40
Shopping : ~$100