Getaways

Make Mine Bellingham

Adventure Awaits in Washington

    It’s a Friday morning, and I’m hunkered down inside the cabin of a 27-foot ocean-going sailboat. Outside the wind is raging, and rain is pelting down. If we were on the high seas, this would be quite an adventure.
    But we’re not. I’m with the boat’s owners, and we’re tied up safe and tight, same as several hundred other sailboats of varying shapes and sizes, in Squalicum Harbor, Bellingham, Wash. Sailing is big around here. “It’s one of the best cruising grounds in the United States,” says skipper/owner/author John Vigor who has 10 published books about boating to his name and who is not about to give me a high-seas experience.
    The reason we’ve clambered aboard and closed the hatch is to keep dry. November, I learn, is not the best month to vacation in Bellingham, if you want sunshine. “It’s when we get half our annual rainfall,” Vigor grumbles, not so much annoyed at the rain as by my poor timing. While there are the crazies who sail year-round, according to Vigor—who has the credentials to be credible—the best months to go island hopping up here, north of Seattle and close to the San Juan Islands, are April through October.
    Ah, well, better to go visit a place when you can than not at all. Lucky for me, I love to walk in the rain, given that one of the city’s most talked about attributes is its many walking trails. As a sign in a Bellington store window advises: “There is no such thing as inclement weather if you’re dressed for it.” Bellingham boasts two downtowns—Fairhaven and Bellingham’s business district—and both have arts and crafts galleries and used bookstores to explore, plus restaurants, coffee shops and more—rain or shine.
    Bellingham, a couple of hours by road north of Seattle and close enough to Vancouver for popping across the Canadian border for dinner, has been called one of the 10 top dream towns in the United States to live and work in  and visit by Outside Magazine. AARP The Magazine named Bellingham among its 10 top spots for boomers to reinvent themselves in retirement. Men’s Journal has listed it among the 50 hippest, healthiest and most adventure-packed small cities to live in and Kiplinger Magazine ranked it one of the best college towns in the nation for retirement.
    “Having the university means there’s a lot going on—an excellent symphony orchestra, good theater and a surprising number of shows plus a number of bars supporting local music,” June Vigor tells me a few days into my visit. She’s the co-owner of the boat in the storm, the skipper’s mate and a Bellingham Herald staffer.
    We brunch at the Mount Bakery, a favorite local eatery where the Slow Food logo on the menu signals the ingredients are fresh and local. The cafe’s name is a play on Mount Baker, the famous summer hiking and winter skiing resort about 90 minutes by road inland, where snowboarding competitions originated.
    Curious about what wins this city its magazine accolades—particularly for boomers and retirees—I asked around. Mount Baker and the summertime sailing and gunkholing options are no-brainers. Young retirees Lynn and Ray Gobush, who moved to Bellingham from Indiana seven years ago, enthused about the city’s location. “Less than an hour away, we have what feels absolutely like a European city,” they say, referring to Vancouver. “We often go there for dinner.”
    And everyone talks about the two downtowns.
    Exploring the Fair­haven downtown can easily take up a day. The Bellingham Cruise Terminal is here, and it’s the kick-off point for island cruises, whale- watching trips and the weekly ferry to Alaska. Up the street from the ferry are the trendy boutiques.
    Check out the gifts and diaphanous clothing at Arabella’s Fashions and Accessories; stop in at the big red London bus for fish, chips and an espresso; have a drink in the grand and gracious Skylark’s Hidden Cafe and Wine Parlor; and find shelter from any storm for days in Village Books. This place is amazing, with three floors to read your way through, a kitchen store, a top-floor cafe with a view and the ground-floor Colophon Cafe serving good “real” food and luscious desserts. Don’t forget to sit on the bench outside with Dirty Dan, a legendary rogue who once bought up most of the town and then, after he became a respectable figure in the community, lost all that he had acquired.
    The less touristy Bellingham business district downtown can easily take another day. To check your e-mails and keep in touch, The Black Drop Coffeehouse (www.theblackdrop.com) has free Wi-Fi. If you’re a fan of fresh-made ice cream, treat yourself at Mallard on Railroad Avenue. Near to everything, the Whatcom Museum of History and Art (www.whatcommuseum.org)—one of two landmark buildings (the Mount Baker Theatre, www.mountbakertheatre.com, is the other)—has a permanent collection plus traveling exhibitions. We saw the artwork of Rodin when we visited.
    For an experience certain to fascinate both adult and kids, take in the American Museum of Radio and Electricity (www.americanradiomuseum.org). This collection stems from the passion of two men, one who has spent his life collecting and learning about old radios and the other who is passionate about the history and development of electricity dating back to its origins in 1600. The museum invites a hands-on, interactive experience.
    Bellingham itself is quite an experience. While the city may get lots of ink from a retiree’s perspective, I checked out the sights in this small city just south of the Canadian border and found it a lively, all-purpose, multigenerational getaway.
    If you’re looking for a great vacation escape, you may want to make yours Bellingham.