When we first moved to Seattle, we would see a new sight every weekend.  Hikes.  Parks.  Tourist attractions. Everything was shiny & new.  The beauty of the Pacific Northwest was captivating.  We saw quite a bit… a lot of which is documented in my exploring seattle posts.

But last year was different.  Crazy nausea in my first trimester kept me on the couch.  When I finally started feeling human, we had out-of-state trips planned to visit family & friends that wiped me out.  It was a gorgeous summer, but unseasonably warm, and the thought of being pregnant & hiking in heat didn’t sound appealing.  Thus, we spent most of our weekends at home while I focused on growing a baby as gracefully as possible [in other words… sweating like a pig and complaining about life with NO air conditioning!]

To kick off 2015, John & I brainstormed a list of sights we couldn’t wait to see in the Pacific Northwest.  Some are longer trips that’ll require planning and vacation time.  But others are quick day trips to keep in the hopper for when the mood strikes.

Last weekend, we ventured to Vashon Island.  A quick 20 minute ferry ride from West Seattle.

Colin is at a perfect age to be mesmerized by the ferry and I hoped he’d connect it with the one we’ve read about [over & over & over again] in Larry Loves Seattle.  After we boarded, he was GIDDY with excitement… running back & forth along the deck, shrieking… his excitement bringing smiles to everyone.  [I’m convinced seeing things through the eyes of a toddler is the best way to see the world.]  We could have ridden the ferry in circles for the entire day, I’m sure.

what to do on vashon island

Once we arrived on the island, we headed to The Hardware Store for brunch.  Delicious.  Kid-friendly.  Cute.   Definitely recommend.  Afterwards, we walked around ‘downtown’ for a couple minutes.  It’s not a big place.  Didn’t take too long.

Then we drove the length of the island to Point Robinson.  The drive was spectacularly beautiful.  There was a moment when we came over a hill and Mount Rainier rose into view… GAH!… I honestly couldn’t contain my excitement.  John was laughing.  I don’t get like that often, but when I do I guess it’s funny.  [Actually, it probably looked similar to Colin riding the ferry for the first time…]

We walked along the beach, admiring the ridiculously gorgeous views, on an insanely beautiful January day [what?  I guess those do exist]!

Then we returned to the ferry.  During the drive back we noticed a sign for Vashon Winery and made a mental note to check that out on our next visit.  Because there will absolutely be a next visit… probably sometime in July to check out the lavender farms or strawberry festival!

This was the PERFECT day trip from Seattle because it felt like stepping back in time… a brief departure from the over-crowded city for a small, quaint town.  I had to keep reminding myself that we were only a TWENTY MINUTE ferry ride away!

[All photos in this post were taken with my iPhone 5S.  Check out my tips for taking better iPhone photos.]