Thanks to Lakedale Resort and Visit San Juans for hosting our trip.

Although you can make your way around San Juan Island in probably two hours or less, just because it’s small doesn’t mean it isn’t one of the more spectacular destinations in the Pacific Northwest. Located inside the rain shadow between the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges, it’s about 80% sunnier than most of the Seattle area making it a great way to get away in the spring and summer. It pours on the charm in its small port towns of Friday Harbor and Roche Harbor, but the adventure really begins before you even arrive.

Sailing on Washington State Ferries

If you’re not flying in, you’ll most likely be taking the ferry from Anacortes, which follows a stunning route through the island passages. To give yourself a smooth start to your weekend, make sure you book your ferry reservation well in advance—but do keep in mind that open reservations are released in waves, so keep tabs on the Washington State Ferries website.

Best Restaurant on San Juan Island

Floating in just in time for happy hour, Michele and I headed to Downriggers for drinks and appetizers on the pier. It became our favorite restaurant on the island—we went a total of three times in three days. Sorry, not sorry! Their spicy margaritas, crab tots, and tacos were absolutely worth it. We had a lot of great food during our weekend, but you can’t beat the views and the vibes at Downriggers.

FROM Friday Harbor to Roche Harbor

My dad happened to be working on nearby Henry Island the same night we arrived. Driving from Friday Harbor to Roche Harbor to meet him, we got to enjoy a full overview of the two main towns on our very first night! Having been a few times in my life, I was pretty familiar with Friday Harbor, but Roche Harbor was new to me, and I was blown away by its charm.

As we learned later at the San Juan Museum of History, Roche Harbor was dominated by lumber and lime mining until it was privately purchased and turned into tourism paradise. The marinas are breathtaking, and all of the businesses and buildings dotting the shoreline are a beautiful weathered white. Getting to meet it for the first time at twilight just as the twinkle lights were switching on was absolutely magical.

Stopping at the go-to Roche Harbor hangout, Madrona, we enjoyed a few more snacks and drinks while catching up with my dad, who then took us on a quick harbor cruise just before the sun went down.

RELAX AND EXPLORE AT Lakedale RESORT

After our busy afternoon and evening, we finally checked into our home for the next two nights—Lakedale Resort. I detailed our yurt glamping stay in this post, but there is so much more to the resort I want to share! They have such beautiful grounds and so many options of places to stay. One of my favorites were their glamping tents, located right on one of their three lakes.

They have activities for every age level all throughout the summer and plenty of places to tuck yourself away with a good book or just to sit with the sun. Roast marshmallows, make tie-dye t-shirts, play giant chess…Lakedale really is a summer paradise!

If you’re more interested in staying in town, there are a ton of adorable hotels and B&Bs both in Roche and Friday Harbors. Visit San Juans has made it super easy to find available accommodations on their website no matter what you’re looking for.

Now that we’ve got all the basics down—where to stay and where to eat—I can’t wait to share Part II of our trip next week! I couldn’t fit the bazillion photos we took in one blog post, so next up I’ll be highlighting a few of my favorite things to do on the island and more. Stay tuned!

It's not often I head into a new city without having done a significant amount of research. Montreal is a place I've always wanted to visit, but I didn't have a running list of places to go or things to see. All I knew that it held a lot of French history and culture, and since it's a much easier destination to get to than France itself, I figured Montreal would be a great place to moderately satisfy Paris wanderlust between transatlantic trips.

We picked up our Enterprise car rental late morning the day of our departure and drove five hours north from Boston. I was never loyal to a car rental company—I just always went with whatever was cheapest—until I realized Enterprise was the cheapest every time I searched. After renting from them so many times both traveling and at home in Seattle, I realized I was an Enterprise Plus member and almost always get a free upgrade from whatever car I requested online. I'm excited to work with Enterprise later on this year, and very glad we got to partner on this little east coast road trip.

Hôtel Place d'Armes was our home for the weekend (right around the corner from Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica where Celine Dion was married, a popular tourist spot), and I knew we made the right choice when we were greeted by cake pops in our stunning executive suite. I'm always ready for a late afternoon sugar fix. The room itself is very dark and moody, but it felt like it represented the city we discovered very well. Montreal, especially Old Montreal, has an elegance about it, and our first evening's activities fit right in. We drove into downtown and ate a hearty albeit average-tasting meal (I had pasta, Emily had a burger) at Upstairs Jazz Bar, but the vibes were just what we were after. We hung for an hour or so, at a back table next to the musicians who were up next or just finishing a set. Afterwards, we stopped next door at N sur Mackay for an early and delicious nightcap. 

We only had one full day in Montreal, and after I turned to my gracious Instagram friends for recommendations, the day filled up fast. Of course, it began with bagels at the famed St. Viateur Bagel bakery (sesame and rosemary were delicious—of course I got two!). Myriade coffee is right next door in the Mile End neighborhood, and is a light & bright coffee shop with a great cappuccino and pretty greenery. 

After that, we had about 12 shops to stop into on Boulevard Saint-Laurent. The shopping in Montreal is such a delight—even if the boutiques have some brands you've seen before in the States or elsewhere, the stores are arranged so beautifully and they all smell incredible. So many of them have truly unique housewares and trinkets. It would be easy to fill up an extra suitcase to bring home. Some standouts were Vestibule, Annex Vintage, and Général 54.

All along Boulevard Saint-Laurent, I was both surprised and delighted to find a ton of murals! If you're familiar with truelane, you'll know that I've spent the last two years becoming somewhat obsessed with murals and street art. It turns out Montreal has a huge arts community, and their own yearly mural festival, which I hope I get to go someday! There were so many pieces around every corner that I was borderline giddy, especially when I saw work by artists I recognized.

We stopped for a snack at Bar Darling before our next adventure for the day began: the Montreal Biodome. I am a big Olympics nerd, so seeing that they were able to take an arena that was built for track cycling for the 1976 Games and turn it into a wildlife experience that houses replicas of four ecosystems that are found in North America completes my wildest nerd dreams. Although I have severely mixed feelings about seeing animals in captivity, it was an interesting experience and incredible to see how they can transform and reuse an entire building that was built for one single purpose. The entire Olympic village is pretty interesting to walk around—the pool is still there and in use!

Emily and I also took what is probably the most hilarious picture of our friendship just before we went in to see the penguins.

The evening was reserved for exploring the beautiful and charming neighborhood of Old Montreal. Still craving my afternoon sugar rush, we stopped at an adorable and well-loved patisserie, Maison Christian Faure, for a snack before refreshing for dinner back at Hôtel Place d'Armes. The Mont Blanc was one to remember! We counteracted the afternoon indulgence by going to an all-vegan restaurant for our evening meal. LOV was just a ten-minute walk from the hotel and offered a great wine list and delicious food options. I had the veggie burger with fries while Emily decided on an Asian noodle bowl, and we split Brussels sprouts as an appetizer. Then, of course, neither of us had room for dessert. 

We did have room for one more nightcap though—cocktail culture in Montreal is just as serious as any other big city, and we had an amazing time at an unnamed speakeasy tucked underneath a pizza place. It has a hidden door in a brick wall that swings open when you apply pressure to the right brick. We had a great time playing cards and sipping cocktails, feeling like we had strolled straight into the 1920s. 

Before we set off on our Sunday drive back to Boston, we made one more important stop at the iconic brunch place, Arthur's Nosh Bar, which describes itself as "Jewish classics served with a twist and a whole lot of family pride." With a twist indeed—they were bumping top 40 rap tunes all morning. However, they have reason to be proud...I'll remember those cottage cheese pancakes for years to come. Until I go back, really. 

With just a few hours left in the city and needing to make room before poutine, we stopped at the highly recommended St. Joseph's Oratory for views of the city and an impressive pipe organ. Although it's barely a hundred years old, it's an impressive building and the largest church in Canada. Again, it was strange to have a list of recommendations that I hadn't made myself—I didn't know a single thing to expect before I arrived in Montreal. I didn't even know that all the signs would be exclusively in French! I was expecting it to be like an airport—one sign in French, and one right next to it in English. It was definitely an exercise in language and even driving, but one I hope I get to experience again very soon.

Thanks to Hotel Place D'Armes and Enterprise for supporting out trip!

My third trip to California, I was entering new territory—Redondo Beach. I've spent most of my time in SoCal around Beverly Hills, downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Laguna Beach, so the coastal cities just outside of Los Angeles were unexplored territory. I was stoked to discover our gem of a hotel, The Redondo Beach Hotel, was right across the street from the beach. As soon as we pulled in to the parking lot, exhaustion from the flight was gone and my sister and I were ready for adventure.

Riding around on cruisers along the beach was the warmest welcome to Redondo Beach. I would know, I got sunburn all across my face! Elyse and I rode down to Captain Kidd's legendary fish market, where you can order basically any seafood you want, cooked any way you want. We had corn on the cob and French fries on the side with a cold beer to wash it down—I have never been more blissed out in my life. Biking there and back was the best way to wake up after a long flight!

 Our bikes from The Redondo Beach Hotel were super comfortable, and cost just a few dollars to take out for a couple hours. After lunch, we headed over to explore the bustling Redondo Beach pier. Everyone was out eating ice cream, churros, iced coffee and cotton candy. Elyse and I got gelato to keep our energy up before our next leg of cycling. 

The ride to Hermosa Beach is about eight minutes up the coast. I had just seen La La Land for the first time and recognized a ton of filming locations from the movie, which was an unexpected surprise. After a few hours of exploring, we zipped back to the hotel for their free Thursday happy hour. It takes place Monday-Thursday and includes free beer and wine, as well as snacks like trail mix, cheeses, charcuterie, hummus, and fruits!

There's nothing like a beach day to remind you that you're in California, so that was the plan for our next day in Redondo Beach. We packed up umbrellas, beach blankets, a few games to pass the time, and grabbed two of our best SoCal buds, Mik and Spencer, to spend the day with! The sand and waves in Redondo Beach are just about unmatched, and it was the perfect setting to spend some time with friends. Afterwards, we were so exhausted we headed back to the hotel to nap by the pool after stocking up on snacks and drinks.

Long days in the sun always leave my stomach rumbling, and Elyse and I were craving pizza like crazy. After looking up the best places nearby, we decided on Locale90 and watched the sun set just beyond our patio chairs. I've seen a lot of sunsets, and the one this night was the absolute most spectacular I've ever seen. The full spectrum of Roy G. Biv was in there. It was stunning!

For our last morning in Redondo, we enjoyed the hotel's continental breakfast at a lovely patio table. It was one of the better ones I've ever had—bagels, yogurt, waffles, cold cereals, oatmeal, fresh fruit...and don't forget, lots of hot coffee. However, we still had to visit the very popular ROMANAROMA cafe up the street...and let me tell you, it is not to be missed. I ordered an espresso con panna off the menu (just ask for a single espresso with ice and whipped cream on top!), and it was everything I wanted. They have a gorgeous and shaded patio space outside the light and bright interior, where Elyse and I finished our coffee before one last bike ride to the hotel to check out. I even made it on their Instagram page!

Some places have the power to truly transport you away from the doldrums of everyday life, and The Redondo Beach Hotel is one of them. The staff there is helpful and cheery, and a huge part of what makes it feel like such a home away from home! Although I don't normally get to wake up to balcony views of palm trees, a dazzling marina, and endless waves, The Redondo Beach Hotel makes it extra special.

Thank you to The Redondo Beach Hotel for hosting our stay.