So here are some pictures of Whidbey Island (some taken by me in the past and some shamelessly stolen from other web sites):
The ferry from Mukilteo (the town on the mainland where my parents live)
to Clinton (the town on the island where I live)
There are several small towns on the island. The two most picturesque are Coupeville and Langley. Langley is the town I think of as my island home town. Here is First Street in Langley:
One of the best known landmarks in Langley is this bronze sculpture by local artist Georgia Gerber of a boy leaning against the park railing with his dog at his feet chewing on a tennis ball.
It is absolutely mandatory for all tourists in town to have their picture taken leaning on the rail next to him, looking out over Saratoga Passage, where grey whales migrate through in the spring.
Coupeville is another little Victorian-era seaport town. Here is a picture of Front Street.
Coupeville pier is right at the end of Front Street, and offers whale watching tours as well as a way to get out over the water of Saratoga Passage for fishermen and crabbers.
Clinton and Freeland are other small towns without the cutesy Victorian charm but with public piers and beaches as well as businesses we locals use on a daily basis.
Freeland is home of the only real industry left on the island, now that the sawmill is closed. The Freeland-based Nichols Brothers Shipbuilding builds everything from yachts to tug boats to ferries to fishing boats and small cruise ships.
Clinton is where the ferry comes in. Clinton is also the site of an annual chainsaw sculpture festival.
This funky lowbrow art-form is ubiquitous on the island thanks to my neighbor Pat McVay who has been carving signs for businesses and homes as well as making sculpture for public and private display since at least the 70's. His work ranges from cornball comical 
to sensuously sublime.
The island has several small lakes that are good for fishing, swimming, and boating:
Deer Lake (walking distance from my house):
Goss Lake:
Lone Lake:
Of course, like all other non-urban parts of the Pacific Northwest, it is densely forested with the native cedar-hemlock forest with its understory of ferns and berries.
At the north end of this very long island there is a bridge to another island (Fidalgo Island) over a wild stretch of swirly tidal strait called Deception Pass. It is a beautiful spot, and is one of the most photographed features of the island
Then there are the lighthouses. This one is in Mukilteo, right next to the ferry dock:
And this one on Whidbey Island which is called the Admiralty Head lighthouse:
And it wouldn't be an island if it didn't have beaches. Here is my favorite picture of my favorite beach - Double Bluff beach (it's a leash-free dog park so there are almost always a few happy canines ecstatically chasing balls in the waves or barking at seagulls. It's on the north end of a bay called Useless Bay because it is a shallow tidal basin that almost empties at low tide, providing a great place to hunt for shells or sea glass, dig for clams, or just walk on the damp, firmly compacted sand).
Puget Sound, the body of water surrounding Whidbey Island, is a large fjord off the Pacific Ocean. It is salt water and is subject to tides. All the usual sea life that lives in cold coastal waters can be found here (sea lions, seals, whales, dolphins, crabs, octopi, etc). The water is too cold for comfortable swimming, although in the hottest part of summer a few hardy types will brave it. I am very fond of wading in it, but rarely go for the big plunge. Here are a few more beach shots from around the island:Maxwelton Beach (closest public beach to my house) looking toward the Olympic mountains
South Whidbey State Park
Fort Ebey park beach
Well, that's it. A quick tour of my other sweet home. Next post will be from Montana.
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