I am not naturally drawn to charming, rustic, old-fashioned inns; I'm more of a lux-contemporary/boutique hotel kinda person, but when I saw the screamin' deal for the Captain Whidbey Inn on Whidbey Island, it seemed like a great way to spend the beginning of the new year.
We drove north on Friday and crossed Deception Pass on what was unfortunately a misty, gray day, but poor weather is part of the
charm of a wintery Northwest getaway. When we turned off Highway 20 to get to the inn, I was expecting to see a gingerbready house and maybe a garden; what we found was a spectacular log cabin built in 1907 perched on the edge of Penn Cove. Our room was in the main building but there were also small cabins and a building facing a lagoon on the property where other accommodations were located. Our room was small but had a lovely view of the water, and it was cozy and comfortable. We'd had a big, late lunch in Oak Harbor on the way over so we hunkered down for the afternoon and evening in our room, reading and relaxing and watching shows on the iPad, since in-room TVs of course do not come with such rusticness.
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| did we order the "large" or the "trough"? |
On Saturday we went looking for the Mukilteo Coffee Roasters which we had seen during a random internet search of the area, and were rewarded by an exceedingly lively, warm, artsy cafe packed full of locals and serving exceptionally good coffee and good food. This place was in the middle of nowhere. We turned off the highway and went down a lovely wooded road then turned into a small industrial park where the actual roasting operation is located, with the cafe next to it. We ended up staying for about two hours (it took that long to finish the gi-normous mocha we ordered), getting some work done (G) and catching up on some reading (me).
After that, we went into Coupeville, a quiet (off-season, anyway) minuscule town with a few shops and small restaurants before heading back to the inn for a nap. My only goal for the weekend was to catch up on my reading and napping, and due to the chilly and misty weather and the fact that Gary and I were both getting over colds and didn't really want to exert ourselves too much - mission accomplished.
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| road to Mukilteo Coffee Roasters |
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| Inside the charming cafe |
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| some art work in the kitchen |
