Lummi Island Lovely

Wow, where to begin! We spent this past weekend at friends Jim and Jen’s house on Lummi Island (one of the smallest islands in Washington’s San Juan Island’s). They bought a little house which they are in the process of renovating to perfection. Gavin, Marc and I drove our food and wine packed car onto the ferry on Saturday morning and no less than 6 minutes later were driving round the island. To make a long and lovely story short, here are some impressions. Jim and Jen, thanks again for being such perfects hosts – we had an amazing time!
Below, the gate across the street from their house which leads right to the beach

Our perfect adventure started out with lunch at Tweets in a little town called Bow which is basically a one horse town but maybe from a dream of mine because it had 3 art galleries, a couple of bakeries, a gourmet store (or two?) a “curiosity” shop and an antique shop. What more could you ask for?

It seems we did wait a little bit for our food at Tweets but when it came it made the wait worth while. Marc, Gavin and I all had the vegetable gratin with a simple but delicate cheese sauce. Plus a really good hot cup of tea (and it was a bit chilly so that was perfect). And, rustic as it was, they even had a gorgeous chandelier!

After debarking the ferry we took a short ride around the entire island – I was surprised at how small and totally cozy the island really is! The island has a general store, 2 restaurants, a library, you get the idea! Look – even Jim and Jen’s mailbox is cool!

We immediately checked out the beach right across the street from the house and doggy Sage woulda liked to play fetch well, forever but we had to pick up some wine at the one wine store on the island before it closed! We also managed to and swing by the Full Bloom farm to buy some fresh eggs for the following morning. You gotta love the Honor System!!!

Jim had bought a freshly caught Lingcod for dinner and wanted to experiment with “freshly foraged” nettles which just happened to grow on the beach path. Off we went to pick some and I quickly learned my lesson why they are actually called “stinging nettles” – those little suckers will get you if you don’t watch out. Jen brought a pair of gardeing gloves and we managed to pluck a whole bowl with not too much drama and no 911!

Jim ended up making a Nettle pesto which with it’s earthy spinachy taste was a perfect accompaniment to the fish. We all helped do whatever needed doing for the preparation of dinner. I shucked the fava beans and had fun rummaging through all their great dishes to help set the table!

Needless to say, may bottles of wine were consumed that night and we threw many logs on the fire. Because that’s just what you do on Lummi Island. Tomorrow would undoubtedly be another cozy day and I couldn’t wait!