Savor the San Juans: A Medley of Food, Art & Culture All Month Long

From Barbara Marrett
Communications Manager, San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau

Please join us this October for our fifth annual, month-long movable feast for the senses in the San Juan Islands. “Savor the San Juans” is the theme for autumn festivals and specials. Artstock the first weekend and The Great Island Grown Festival, featuring agricultural events all month, are major draws.

Local food and winemaker’s dinners, dining out specials of “3 Courses/$30 or $35,” Saturday Farmers’ Markets, a Fall Farm Parade, farm tours, cooking classes, community dinners and demos are a few of the culinary components. Art gallery events, theater performances and presentations are happening all month; for kids, scarecrow-making, pumpkin carving, a sleep over at The Whale Museum, hayrides and Halloween storytelling, will keep them entertained.

In addition to a cornucopia of culinary and cultural choices on Lopez, Orcas and San Juan Islands, lodging and moorage specials and packages make it easy to “Savor the San Juans,” specials can be browsed online. Check out the “Savor” page of the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau website at (www.VisitSanJuans.com/savor) for links to participating restaurants, B & Bs, inns and hotels plus additions to the calendar and details on all events. The online calendar is being updated almost daily as events and specials are added.

A sampling of Savor the San Juans October events:

• 1-31 The Great Island Grown Festival, Celebrating Farms & Food in the San Juans
• 4 Lopez Locavore Dinner, Savor Island Bounty & Celebrate Local Farmers, Lopez Island Schools
• 5 & 6 Shellfish Farm Hatchery Open House and Tour, Sweetwater Shellfish Farm, Lopez Island
• 6 Fall Farm Parade, Scarecrow-Making Contest, Harvest Chili Cook-off, San Juan Island
• 6 Orcas Horns, Orcas Center, Orcas Island
• 6 San Juan Island Oktoberfest, County Fairgrounds, Friday Harbor, San Juan Island
• 6-7 Artstock, A Fall Festival of Art, Friday Harbor Galleries and San Juan Island Artists’ Studios
• 7 Harvest Meal on the Green, Prepared by premier Island chefs, Eastsound, Orcas Island
• 9 Cooking Class: Tricks of the Trade for Fabulous Entertaining, Orcas Island
• 10 Food for Thought Community Dinner, Student Chef Program, Friday Harbor HS, San Juan Island
• 11 Enchanted Forest Mystery Cabaret, Orcas Center
• 11-15 Chiaroscuro Circus Mixed Media Art Retreat, Friday Harbor, San Juan Island
• 13 Barn Dance with Squares and Contras, West Sound Community Hall, Orcas Island
• 13 Shellfish Farm Tour and Lunch, Sweetwater Shellfish Farm, Lopez Island
• 13 Farm-to-Cafeteria, School’s Sustainable Garden Tour & Lunch, Orcas Island
• 13 Ciderworks & Distillery Tour and Tasting, Westcott Bay Cider and SJI Distillery, San Juan Island
• 13-14 Orcas Island Triple Ripple Trail Running Festival, Moran State Park, Orcas Island
• 13-14 Tour of Historic Barns, Orcas Island
• 14 Film: “Deconstructing Supper: Is Your Food Safe?” Port Stanley School, Lopez Island
• 16 Cooking Class: Canning and Preserving Summer’s Bounty, Orcas Island
• 17 Farm History Walk, Various Farms, Lopez Island
• 20 Salmon Hatchery Tour & Picnic Lunch, Glenwood Springs Hatchery, Orcas Island
• 20 Ciderworks & Distillery Tour and Tasting, Westcott Bay Cider and SJI Distillery, San Juan Island
• 20 San Juan Vineyards Harvest Fest, tentative date, San Juan Island
• 21 Farm History Walk, Jones Family Farms Tour, Lopez Island
• 23 Class: Sweets for the New Age, Orcas Island
• 27 Harvest Dinner Potluck Event, Keynote Speaker – Author Vicki Robin, Lopez Community Center
• 27 Great Pumpkin Saturday, Pumpkin Carving Contest, Hayrides, Spooky Stories, Orcas Island
• 27-28 Halloween Pod Nod Sleepover, The Whale Museum, Friday Harbor, San Juan Island
• 28 Thornbush Farm Tour, Permaculture Orchard, Innovative Cultivation and More, San Juan Island
• 30 Cooking Class: Seafood Primer – All local salmon, shellfish and more, Orcas Island
• 31 Halloween Trick or Treat for children, Eastsound Shops, Orcas Island

Plus, every Saturday there will be Historic Friday Harbor Guided Walking Tours and Farmers’ Markets on Orcas Island and San Juan Island.

A few of the dinner specials include: Friday Harbor – “3 courses $30/$35” at Vinny’s Ristorante and “3 courses /$35” at Coho and Duck Soup Inn; Lopez – “3 courses /$35” at The Bay Café, Lopez Islander 4 courses for $30; Orcas Island – Inn at Ship Bay, Octavia’s at Orcas Hotel, 3 courses for $35.

Friday Harbor’s Coho Restaurant will offer two winemaker dinners: October 12 – Cana’s Feast, Tuscan-inspired Northwest wines, paired with an autumnal Mediterranean-style dinner; October 26 – San Juan Vineyards’ wine will pair with a fall harvest-inspired menu. Dinners are six courses, $45 p/p + optional 5 wine pairing $25 p/p, tax and gratuity excluded.

Lodging specials so far include: Lopez Island – MacKaye Harbor Inn, complimentary bottle of wine or the inn’s cookbook; Bay House and Garden Cottages, half off a 2 night booking; Lopez Islander $99 queen or $129 king rate.

Orcas Island – Old Trout Inn, dinner and 2 night special rates; Blue Heron B&B, Chess Tournament and room discount; Swannies Inn $75 per night, 2 night minimum.

San Juan Island – Inn to the Woods, stay two nights and get the third night free; Earthbox Inn & Spa, $99 Savor rate; Tucker House / Coho Restaurant, attend a winemakers dinner on October 12 or 26, enjoy a $99 room rate including a 3 course breakfast; Island Inn 25% off best available room rate; Best Western $139.99 per night for a 2 night booking. Warfside B & B 2nd night half price. Island INN at 123 West free electric bicycle rental and picnic lunch for two with two night stay.

Port of Friday Harbor Moorage Special – spend $100 on San Juan Island, in one day, and get a free night’s moorage, (alcohol and cigarettes excluded).

Please continue to check out (www.VisitSanJuans.com/savor) as tempting dinner specials at fine restaurants, lodging specials in cozy cabins and elegant inns, and fun fall festivals are being added regularly.