Parked in the Kitchen: Ranger Review: Whidbey Island, WA Edition

We spent less than 24 hours on Whidbey Island...and we're cheating by telling you about a place we visited before we even got on the Whidbey Ferry, but hey, it's an excuse to shamelessly share honeymoon photos. While normal couples spend a week on the beach on a tropical island, we decided to explore a place we had never been...Seattle and San Juan Island. We arrived in Seattle late in the evening and we made our way to Mikulteo, WA, where we spent the night before taking the ferry to Whidbey Island for the day. We had a wonderful time exploring the island and Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve.

"Ebey’s Landing is the nation’s first historical reserve, created in 1978 to protect a rural working landscape community on Central Whidbey Island. The reserve contains 17,500 acres, 18 working farms, 400 historical structures, native prairies, two state parks, miles of shoreline, a network of trails and the second oldest town in Washington. The Reserve is managed by a 9-member Trust Board ". (thank you, NPS.GOV)

With espresso stands, cards, and cafes on every darn corner the Seattle area is a coffe lover's dream. We took advantage of the ridiculous number of cafes by drinking it early and often. Our first stop in Mikulteo was the Red Cup Cafe.

Who wouldn't want to marry this guy?

On to Coupeville, Whidbey Island for our Passport Stamp!

Knead & Feed, Coupeville, WA

This charming waterside cafe was a perfect stop for lunch. We were visiting in the off season, so the only other diners were locals. We ordered one Front Street Lunch and one bowl of soup with bread. This wasn't just any bread, it was incredible homemade bread to dunk in our homemade soup and chowder.

We didn't have room for the slice of homemade pecan pie that we planned to share, so we packed that up for later. We might have shared it with a milk in a Walgreen's parking lot later that day, but we can't confirm that.

Whidbey Island was beautiful. Despite travelling in the off season, we loved the gray skies (seriously.) and cool weather. We felt like we had the island...and the views of the Olympic Mountains....to ourselves.