Orcas Island - Fourth of July 2026
This was our second year of exploring more temperate climes for the Fourth of July. Last year we visited the Black Hills of South Dakota. This year we stayed a bit closer to home.
The San Juans (named by some Spanish folks from the late 1700s) are a group of islands northwest of Seattle in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. They are well known to PNW locals and the sailing community around the world, but for most they are a hidden gem… just difficult enough to get to such that they have remained quaint.
My folks arrived in Seattle just in time to watch the USA play Bosnia and Herzegovina for the World Cup 2026. We went over the offsides penalty one or ten times 😆 on the way to a USA victory.
We battled rain and traffic all the way to Anacortes the next day, but once we were on the ferry, everything slowed down. No more worrying about ferry ticket lotteries, work, or airport logistics. We adjusted our clocks to island time.
Though I’d hoped for a beautiful sunset illuminating the western face of Mt. Baker, rain and fog gave a classic PNW moody ambiance which has its own level of charm. The glacial islands rise almost straight up from the water into the fog. An offload and a 25 minute drive later, we were situated in our AirBnB, discussing how the bathroom placement could have been improved.
May Scouting Trip
Rewinding a couple of months, I was on the same ferry with my buddy Po. In the late evening the day before, we had the hare brained idea to wake up at 3am and take our bikes across on the early morning ferry.
We confirmed that Orcas Island was damn hilly for cycling, but we had a great time exploring and scouting for the upcoming Fourth of July trip.
⏩ Fast-forwarding back to the Fourth of July trip…
Whale Watching
The highlight of the trip was on our first full day: an incredible whale watching experience in Lopez Sound. We started slow with some seals (Rock Sausages) and bald eagles which are pretty common for the area. However, the morning progressed quickly when we saw spray in the sound.
This was my first whale watching trip and my first time seeing a whale in the wild. A huge gray whale’s tail flopped out of the water. However, nothing compared to the show the orcas put on for us 20 minutes later.
We motored alongside a pod for about 30 minutes, watching them porpoising through the water. They even had a little calf with them!
It got even more impressive when a different pod started hunting nearby. This involved them fully breaching over and over in order to confuse their prey. It was incredible! I don’t think I can ever go on a whale watching trip again. I’ve peaked.
That evening we had a lovely dinner at Mijitas Mexican Kitchen before catching some of a Tom Petty cover band in the park. As the show ended it was getting dark, so we walked to the waterfront park to catch the surprisingly big fireworks display over Eastsound.
Fourth of July
On the Fourth of July it is Dayton family tradition to make huevos rancheros. Sadly no American flag toothpicks this year, but the eggs were yummy!
We spent our afternoon wandering around Eastsound. We walked through the “farmers market” which ended up being more of a local artist expo. We visited the Orcas Island Museum to read up on the history of the island: tl;dr they used to make a lot of jam there. And finally, we watched the Eastsound Fourth of July Parade.
It was a lovely parade. It felt incredibly wholesome with all the local groups represented: Pickleball club, firefighters, the mayor, the senior women’s hiking group, etc. The event could have been pulled directly from a scene in The Sandlot.
Lum Farm and Mt. Constitution
After a quick afternoon slice of pizza, we drove down the road to Lum Farm to see the animals from the scouting mission. There were cute goats, well-endowed boy pigs, and sheep still wearing their Pride outfits (tie-dyed) from the month before. We chatted with the owner briefly before buying some delicious goat cheeses.
We then drove back to our lobe of the island to summit the formidable Mt. Constitution [by car]. We had some beautiful views at the top from the CCC tower built in the 1920s. Still no good views of Baker or Rainier, but we could see Vancouver to the north.
Steak (and Oyster) Night
That evening was our big cooking night, so we fired up the stove and made a wonderful spread of oysters with mignonette, goat-cheese crostini with pear jam, rosemary potatoes, asparagus, and steak. 😋 We sat around the kitchen table, drinking wine and telling stories about things like growing up in Tennessee, becoming a fighter pilot, and recent mountain trips.
Side Quest: Oysters
I bought a LOT of oysters thinking there would be more help in eating them. There was not.
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And though I would have loved to share more of them with the family, I wasn’t exactly sad when I found myself standing in front of the sink with a couple dozen PNW fresh oysters and homemade mignonette all to myself!
On our last morning, we explored the north beach of Orcas near Eastsound as well as Deer Harbor briefly before boarding the ferry back to the mainland. The trip was a success, checking pretty much all the new Fourth of July must-have boxes: good weather, good food, good locale, good family time.
It seems we continue to find beautiful new pockets of Washington in our explorations. Nat and I are excited for future trips to the San Juans as well as wherever Fourth of July 2027 takes us!
