Roche Harbor Resort

Special thanks to Roche Harbor Resort for hosting our stay and to San Juan Safaris for hosting our amazing whale watching adventure.

Mr. Orchard Slope and I took a quick trip up to the San Juan Islands a few weeks back, and it was HEAVEN!!! I cannot believe I have lived in Washington State for 40 years and have never experienced the upper left-hand corner. We called Roche Harbor Resort our home for the weekend and fell absolutely in love with the slow-paced island life of the sleepy resort town. I can honestly say that Roche Harbor is in my top 5 vacation locations EVER and I will FOR SURE return with my kiddos!!!

WHERE IS ROCHE HARBOR RESORT??

Roche Harbor is located in the San Juan Islands, off the coast of Washington State and ALMOST to Canada. The ferry dropped us off in Friday Harbor (the BIG city of San Juan Island with around 2,000 residents) and we made a quick 20 minute drive through the STUNNING scenery to Roche Harbor. If you have never experienced a ride through the San Juans on a ferry, you REALLLLY need to add it to your bucket list…it was so gorgeous!! The Roche Harbor Resort is made up of a quaint little historic harbor village that once housed the Roche Harbor Lime Works. With over 100 years of history, the resort was like a candy store for a history nerd like me.

Where to stay in Roche Harbor??

We stayed in the McMillin Suites while visiting Roche Harbor and had a view of the Harbor that was UN-real!! (You can see our sweet little home tucked up into the trees in the picture above). We had a panoramic view of the Harbor, a birds-eye view of a wedding down below, and could even see the nightly flag ceremony from right off of our back deck. But truly the best part of being perched RIGHT above the harbor was the unbelievable sunsets. There is just NOTHING like an ocean sunset!!

Our adorable suite was once a 2 story home and still holds all of the historic charm and SOOOO much character. The room was a great mix of modern convenience and old fashioned style and my FAVORITE part was the ENORMOUS clawfoot bathtub. I am a total bathtub snob, but this was the LARGEST comfiest clawfoot I have EVER seen!! Our suite was perfect. We had a living room (with a cozy fireplace), bedroom, HUGE bathroom, and a large walkout deck. We were VERY spoiled.

Things to do:

We had a blast just enjoying the scenery and the beautiful ocean, but there was also no end of things to do in Roche Harbor. There are cute little shops, a lovely spa, the company store, bocce ball, a heated outdoor pool, hiking/walking trails, kayaking, whale watching, boating…the list goes on and on. One of our favorite things to do was to stroll down to the marina and check out the FABULOUS yachts docked in the harbor. It was like walking into an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!!

We were lucky enough to have the time to drive around and explore the area surrounding the resort and it was AMAZING!! Every twist and turn in the road had another postcard perfect view. I have always known Washington was pretty amazing, but these islands are a WHOLE OTHER LEVEL of gorgeous. One of my favorite spots near by was the Lime Kiln Lighthouse. I LOVE LOVE LOVE a good lighthouse and this one was picture perfect. ANDDD a big plus…the park around the lighthouse is PERFECT for spotting whales. Inside the lighthouse, there was also a whale watching expert as well as ALLLL the information you could EVER need about whales and whale watching. I wish we had had more time to explore the area and enjoy the amazing cliff views.

Where to EAT??

Our suite was located RIGHT up the steps from McMillin’s Restaurant, so we made the no brainer decision to try it out. The restaurant is located in the historic home of John S. McMillin and was built in 1886. If we thought our ROOM had a good view, holy moly, the view from the restaurant was magnificent. My suggestion…make a reservation for just before sunset…you will not regret eating a little later!! And if you are up for taking suggestions, GET THE CHOCOLATE CAKE!! It was so good…and trust me I KNOW chocolate!!

We were too busy exploring to try out any of the other eateries in Roche Harbor, but we DID hit up THE COMPANY STORE for a late-night snack. The Company Store has been open since it served the lime workers in the late 1800’s and is still just as cute and friendly as I imagine it always was. We were able to find all sorts of fun local treats including cookies from Canada, Oregon made ice-cream, and ANYthing and EVERYthing shaped like a BIGFOOT.

My favorite parts of The Roche Harbor Resort??

If I had to pick ONE favorite, it would be the church. It was THE CUTEST little church I have EVER seen. I wanted to pick it right up and bring it home with me…it would make an adorable SHE SHED!! I just loved imagining the many weddings, baptisms, picnics, socials, and dances that must have taken place in that sweet little chapel. PLUS (oh yes there is a BIG plus) the church had the most adorable bells. The bells would ring on the hour and twice a day the bells played music. It was fantastic. On our last day, I even got little tears when we heard the bells for the last time (yep I am a crier, don’t judge).

Another favorite of mine was the Roche Harbor nightly announcements. It is hard to even imagine, but each night the town has announcements and a flag ceremony down by the Marina. They announce birthdays, upcoming events, etc. Following the announcements, there is a flag ceremony complete with a cannon blast that will scare the daylights RIGHT out of you if you are not ready for it. It is such a quaint little tradition and adds so much heart to the sweet little resort town. Truly a one of a kind experience.

And because I cannot really narrow down my favorites, I also REALLY adored The Hotel de Haro. The hotel has been open since 1886 and is the longest-continually operating hotel in Washington State!! It is just so darn pretty and I honestly could have taken pictures of it for hours. The balconies, the flowers, the old fashioned architecture…JUST SO DREAMY!! And if we REALLY want to get technical, the hotel at night is amazing. There is JUST nothing prettier than a GORGEOUS historic hotel ALL lit up with twinkle lights RIGHT by the ocean…can you picture it?? TOTAL SWOON!!

Whale Watching:

One of the most exciting parts of being in such a beautiful and remote location is the NATURE. The beauty of the trees and ocean and of course the wildlife. We headed up RIGHT at the end of peak whale watching season, but were still able to spot a humpback whale while we were there…which was a BUCKET LIST item checked off for me. There are whale watching tours RIGHT from the harbor on both tour boats as well as kayaks. Todd and I were able to tour with San Juan Safaris (you can read more about our whale watching adventure HERE) and they were INCREDIBLE. We left from Friday Harbor, saw SOOOO much of the more remote areas of the San Juans, viewed some amazing wildlife, spotted our Canadian neighbors, learned a TON about the local Orca population, and got to watch a humpback swimming in the sea. It was INCREDIBLE.

All in all, Roche Harbor Resort was a dream. I cannot wait to take my kids back to experience it for themselves. It seems like the type of place that you make into a tradition and return to year after year. I have ALWAYS wanted to live back in an earlier simpler time…and for the weekend I was able to do just that at Roche Harbor Resort. What a little slice of Heaven. Sadly it is back to reality again until our next adventure. Let’s chat soon. Jess

Don’t forget to catch our YouTube video ALL about Roche Harbor and the beautiful San Juan Islands, as well as our whale watching video with San Juan Safaris.