As a born and bred East Coaster, I never expected to find myself on Washington's rugged Whidbey Island, a sizable chunk of land in the Puget Sound 30 miles north of downtown Seattle. But on a clear fall day in late September, that is indeed, where I was lucky enough to be headed to celebrate Filson's 125th Year Anniversary. Visitors can get to the island via Highway 20 or ferry, but I arrived by seaplane. Carrying luggage over a wavy dock, I made my way to the entrance of the historic Captain Whidbey Inn, a persevering property perched on the westernmost shore of Penn Cove where it overlooks waters teeming with world-famous mussels and vistas that, I admit, only the West Coast can deliver.
Whidbey Island itself is 14,000 years old, inhabited by the Lower Skagit, Swinomish, Suquamish, and Snohomish tribes before white colonizers claimed the land in the mid 1800s. The island has since become a hidden outpost emblematic of the Great Pacific Northwest, capital letters, but with vibes entirely of its own. Popular destinations include Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, a 19,000-acre span of private and public protected lands, Deception Pass, a state park with beaches and forested-hills, and rustic seaside towns still saturated in maritime and agricultural history. Not to forget the locals who may begrudgingly accommodate your presence.