The moment you walk into a Pacific Northwest forest, you’ll feel magic in the air. It’s hard not to look under toadstools, inside hollow trunks, or…
San Juan County: San Juan Island Samantha Bryner moved to San Juan Island 44 years ago, and has worked in real estate for more than 30 of those. On her first ferry ride into Friday Harbor she remembers being taken aback by the island’s beauty. “Enchanted. I have to live here,” she remembers thinking. This tends to be a sentiment shared by many islanders. It’s an ideal island for people looking for a quieter, laid-back lifestyle, but still…
San Juan County: Orcas Island Orcas Island, known as the “Gem of the San Juans,” is the largest of the archipelago. It boasts the highest mountains on the…
San Juan County: Lopez Island When visitors come to Lopez Island, they feel like they’re part of the neighborhood. Known as the “Friendly Isle,” inhabitants wave to everyone…
Skagit County: Eaglemont When Denise Hewitt and her husband moved to Eaglemont about 20 years ago there were hardly any other homes. Now, it’s become an established neighborhood. “It’s a great community,” she said. “It started out being mostly retired people and then as the years went by, lots of families [came].” There’s plenty to do in Eaglemont to keep a family occupied. The Eaglemont Golf Course…
Skagit County: Skyline Courtney Blackston and her family moved into the Skyline neighborhood a year and a half ago, and are happy to call it home. The Blackstons are a military family, and they fell in love with Anacortes for the school…
Skagit County: Shelter Bay Danny Hagen grew up in the Shelter Bay house that he now lives in with a family of his own — his wife, Nicole, and their two little ones, Kaysen and Duncan. The Hagens moved into the neighborhood in 2014 because they were about to start a family, and could afford a four-bedroom house in…
Skagit County: North Big Lake North Big Lake was once a summer vacation destination for Margie Holdt and her family, but now it’s home. When Holdt and her late husband began thinking of retirement about 20 years ago,…
Bellingham’s neighborhoods have their own character, but some share a feature you can’t even see: a wide network of underground coal mine tunnels. Hundreds of miles of abandoned coal passageways honeycomb Bellingham’s…
Whatcom County: Columbia The weather is a comfortable middle area, between shedding the last of winter and the opening notes of spring. Residents of the Columbia neighborhood are coming out of hibernation. People are outside jogging, walking their dogs and cycling. Lori Pobuta is pouring a cup of coffee and serving up donuts, observing the quiet commotion from her window. Long before Pobuta built her house in…
In November, a string of home break-ins put Bellingham residents on edge. The burglaries followed a pattern: multiple suspects breaking into homes, particularly on sunny days when residents were out. One neighborhood…
Whatcom County: Sunnyland There’s no such thing as the perfect neighborhood. Everyone has different needs and desires. But for Tina and Kirby White, Sunnyland has it all. Sunnyland is where they live, work, and play. A few blocks away from their home is their restaurant, Homeskillet. It’s a breakfast and brunch place that has gained wild popularity, even outside its Sunnyland borders—Homeskillet is known as Sunnyland’s “worst-kept secret.”…
Whatcom County: Lettered Streets With beer, ice cream, and Bellingham Bay just blocks away, the Lettered Streets neighborhood is one of Whatcom County’s most prized for location. Lisa Kaufman, Todd Eastman, and new four-legged companion Zeke have been enjoying…
Whatcom County: Cornwall Park Imagine a block of homes with blooming gardens and the street teeming with children, surrounded by a park. In the 1960s and 70s, this was Marilyn Mastor’s view from her home with her four children and husband. So many children lived in the neighborhood…
Semiahmoo is more than just a hot spot for retired couples and vacation homeowners. It’s a community for families. Len and Tara Saunders found their home in Turnberry Wood in 2004 after Len’s job led them to the U.S. from Canada. Tara is part of a three-generation family at Semiahmoo. Tara’s grandmother lived in one of the very first homes in that neighborhood…
A city’s downtown may shape its identity to outsiders, but it’s a place’s neighborhoods that give it character. If you really want to know a place, visit its residential areas—their homes, parks, landmarks, gathering places. Neighborhoods are the enclaves we come home to each day. Whatcom County’s neighborhoods range from Bellingham’s distinct, park-rich districts to the jaw-dropping view from Ferndale’s Lawson Church Hills neighborhood. In the San Juans, pocket neighborhoods…
The Illuminati INGREDIENTS: Jameson, Elderflower liqueur, Drambuie, Genepy des Alpes, Angostura bitters, orange flower water, lemon peel garnish. Served on ice. $11 This month’s cocktail will have you raving like Alex Jones. With the number of sweet cocktails out there today, it can be easy to overlook a drink like the Illuminati, which would be a shame. It’s sweet at first but this is a bit tempered by the Jameson Irish Whiskey….
As little as 20 years ago, rosé wines from Washington wineries were, more often than not, likely to be a novelty instead of a tasting room standard. But since that time, rosés have really caught on, almost to the point that they’ve practically become fashionable among Washington winemakers and consumers alike. Can rosés continue to grow in popularity and…
Anelia’s Kitchen & Stage If you’re looking for a cozy restaurant with live music serving up European food with a Pacific Northwest flair, look no further than Anelia’s Kitchen & Stage in La Conner. Jennifer Ferry grew up in Pittsburgh cooking alongside her Polish grandmother, Anelia. Babcia Anelia taught Ferry how to prepare traditional Polish dishes from scratch. She’s the reason Ferry’s potato and cheese pierogies are…
Northwater Comfortable soft blue leather chairs, Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” playing in the background, a classy atmosphere, light entrees, and vast choices of cocktails and mocktails—that’s what’s to be expected at Northwater. Northwater, a modern restaurant and bar which opened in late March, is part of the Holiday Inn and Suites hotel, across from the Bellingham airport. From I-5, take the Bakerview Road and Bellingham International Airport exit (exit 258)…
If you think the compacted-soil, rock-hewn, lifeless plot of land on your property could never support a garden, we have a story for you. More than 100 volunteers recently transformed the empty gravel lot across from the Bellingham Food Bank into a garden in a massive project that included installing a six-foot wood and wire mesh deer fence, 32 raised beds, and…
Lairmont Manor Historic homes can be a focal point for neighborhoods. In Bellingham, few are more famous than Lairmont Manor, in Fairhaven’s Edgemoor neighborhood. Originally named The Larrabee House, it was designed in 1914 for local power couple Charles and Frances Larrabee by renowned Seattle architect Carl Gould. Gould designed a 25-room Italian Renaissance-style estate with sweeping views of Bellingham Bay and plenty of gardens for their four children to enjoy. While Charles died before completion of…
Yoga Brings Peace to Women in Transition In one of the least likely places, the chapel of the Lighthouse Mission, women temporarily forget the harsh realities of their daily struggles while yoga instructor Sarah Willett, face aglow, shares a different set of life skills—ones that involve stretches, breathing, and expansion. While there are no lithe bodies dressed in Lululemon active wear here, yoga instructors have been doing their community time (usually funded by grants) at prisons, women’s shelters, and other…
“You cannot cheat with food. You eat food.” —Robb Wolf When I read those words, I had one of those aha! moments because for as long…
Pearl Buttons Vintage Style THE SHOP Pearl Buttons Vintage Style in Anacortes sells old Hollywood glamour. The ultra-feminine clothing store is decorated with feathers, drop crystal chandeliers, and ruffled tablecloths. The lovely turn-of-the-century-style dressing rooms are complete with plush seats and dressing tables. Don’t be fooled by the name though, their inventory consists of new products in vintage style, not vintage pieces. THE ATMOSPHERE As a woman, walking into…
No Two Blues Alike When the Kittitas Indians shared their discovery of blue agate, it was so stunningly beautiful only tribal chiefs were allowed to wear the vibrant mineral. Blue agate was rare enough to require…
Boxes & Bears You might feel like you’re just passing time when playing a game or working on a puzzle, but there are other cognitive functions at work. In many board games, players work on a variety of skills including logic, memory, deduction, math, planning, and sportsmanship. Playing games in a group setting helps strengthen social bonds. Ask anyone…
Bellingham Railway Museum The sound of children at play filled the Bellingham Railway Museum, along with the recorded sound of a train engine at full speed. The model trains took up a large majority of the room, as they made a circuit through the miniature landscape, highly detailed with trees, stations and logging equipment. Michael Lower, president of the board for the museum,…
Not every 8-year-old has to worry about inviting their third-grade teacher to their movie premiere. But for Kayleigh Finnegan, it was a real predicament. “Where do you have to make sure you end up the next day?” her father, Brian Finnegan asked. “School,” Kayleigh said. While she started acting in 2015, Brian said she’s been with the Bellingham Arts Academy for Youth since she was 4 years old. “There’s a pretty strong children’s…
The Hub Since 2002, the HUB Community Bike Shop has been catering to Bellingham’s cycle-friendly community. But now, after 15 years, the neighborhood looks very different. New apartment buildings surround the HUB’s location at 903 1/2 North State St., and Kyle Morris said it’s a different view than…
Lummi Island Wild Lummi Island Wild is one of few fishing companies to practice the ancient and sustainable practice of salmon reef netting. Reef netting, used in the Pacific Northwest for thousands of years by Native Americans, requires fishers to wait for the fish to come to them rather than the other way around, said Lummi Island Wild president Keith Carpenter. A net is suspended between two platforms over an artificial reef. When “spotters” stationed on…
Elizabeth Park Summer Concert Series The Elizabeth Park Summer Concert Series will be bringing the groove to our summer nights once again starting on June 15. In partnership with the Eldridge Society and Bellingham Parks and Recreation, the free concerts have been a Bellingham summer staple for more than 20 years, said concert coordinator Marla Bronstein. “I live on the park and I remember hearing the music and the families every summer,” she said….
The Curiosity rover has been treading the surface of Mars for more than five years with a team of NASA scientists watching its every move. Part of the elite team of scientists working it is Western Washington University professor Melissa Rice. Rice came onto the Mars Science Laboratory mission just before Curiosity landed. Curiosity’s nuclear power source is an upgrade from the solar-powered Opportunity Rover, which is still going strong…
Mountain Science Prof Who Survived Crevasse Now Leads New Program at Western John All, the founding director of Western Washington University’s new Mountain Environments Research Institute (MERI), says the Cordillera Blanca mountains in Peru is one of the best mountain ranges in the world. “I always go back there because it’s a great place to work,” All says. All’s research has taken him across the globe, to places such as the…
