Friday Harbor is a city located on San Juan Island in the state of Washington, and it is the county seat and only incorporated city in San Juan County. With a population of only around 2500 people, Friday Harbor is a small town, but is important because of its unique geography, history and settlement pattern.
Friday Harbor, like the rest of the San Juan Islands, is on unbridged islands that can only be reached by sea or air. It is about 15 miles in a straight line from the ferry terminal in Anacortes, but that can be deceptive, as the fractal nature of the San Juan Islands makes the journey an indirect one. Along with the public ferry system, the city can be reached by private boat or by air (Friday Harbor has both an airport and a seaplane base. Given the demographics of the San Juan Islands, and Friday Harbor in general, flying in by private or charter plane might not sound so incredible. The main economy of the San Juan Islands is tourism, both in the form of people taking short trips there, and as a retirement community. According to the US Census, the average home price in the county is $650,000. According to what I have seen on Zillow, it is even more.
This was a basic history I knew, and that can be easily researched--- the evolution of the San Juan Islands from obscure fishing and farming community to being an exclusive retirement community for the elite. But what I was curious about is- what would it actually look like and feel like to be there? Would it be a misty rustic hamlet with friendly and eccentric locals, cut off from the homogeneity of modern society? Or would it be something else? So in 2023, for my birthday, I decided to visit the region and take a ferry to Friday Harbor. I was born in Washington, actually in the nearby town of Mount Vernon, and I had spent a lot of my time in the area. But getting to the San Juans can be a task, and for that matter, I didn't know many people who had visited, either. So for my 44th birthday, I decided to visit Friday Harbor.
This is kind of a story in itself---I took the Amtrak Cascades to Mount Vernon, and then branched out over several days, going to Bellingham, and then heading to Friday Harbor. On the day I did it, I was actually planning to visit more than one islands, first going to Orcas Island, but the interisland ferry was not in service that day, so I ended up going to just Friday Harbor. My ferry started late, and it was at least a 90 minute trip to Friday Harbor. The delay didn't bother me, as it was a warm and sunny day and the ferry ride through the many members of the San Juan chain is beautiful, and the Washington State Ferries are full of good energy, as they can be filled with hundreds of happy travelers. Even though the trip was nice, I still was happy to get into Friday Harbor. There was quite a traffic jam from exiting cars as I got off at the Friday Harbor ferry terminal, but as a foot passenger, it didn't bother me. In Friday Harbor, I took a quick circuit around the downtown area, and found the city's one grocery store, which wasn't quite as expensive as I thought it would be (all goods coming into Friday Harbor come by ferry---which can drive up prices), and then took another circuit, seeing the cute shops and cute restaurants. I tried to hike outside of Friday Harbor, to see if there was any natural areas or beaches accessible by foot, but what with all the delays, I realized I only had 2 hours in the city! So after walking for a while, I turned around, viewed Friday's Harbor from a vantage point, and then saw Sunken Park, a recessed, one block park near downtown. At first it surprised me that there was not any direct beach access, or any easily reachable natural parks from the ferry terminal, but I realized it makes sense--- except for the most intrepid travelers, Friday Harbor is not a day trip, and most tourists are affluent, dedicated, or both. Most people visiting Friday Harbor are going off to visit the rest of the island for some time, not taking a stroll around town. And so Friday Harbor is mostly a stopping off point, and it is probably a fun place if you are an affluent tourist, willing to pay a lot for hospitality. As a day traveler, while I enjoyed seeing a geographically unique place with beautiful scenery, there wasn't a lot for me to do there! Not that I was complaining, when it was finally time to board the ferry (which was late again), and make it back to the Anacortes Ferry Terminal. It was a long, but good day, of riding ferries, and even though my visit to Friday Harbor was only two hours, I felt that I saw enough to understand a little better.
I am creating this as a log because obviously my brief experience there obviously doesn't give me enough information to describe what it is like to actually live in the town. Some of the basic demographics and geography are easily checkable, of course, but I don't have a complete picture of what life is like in Friday Harbor. I can say, however, that while it is a unique experience, Friday Harbor itself was not really made as a destination for day travelers. Probably really appreciating the town, and the rest of the island(s) takes more time and money than most people have!