Although we live nearby, we haven’t done much in Skagit County. Last year we drove up for the Highland Games, but it was only for the festival and we didn’t take a lot of time to explore or enjoy the nearby towns.

After our morning at the Tulip Festival and our salmon barbecue lunch in Mount Vernon, we spent the afternoon getting to know Anacortes and La Conner.

We headed to Anacortes first because my mom had tagged the Quilt Walk as one of our weekend to dos.

Many of the shops downtown had quilts on display. We had a small map and walked around, popping in and out when we came across a shop that was participating.

There were several restaurants that seemed to be busy the whole time we were there. We had already eaten lunch, but I wouldn’t mind going back for a meal.

After we visited all the shops and had checked out a nearby church bazaar we headed to the harbor.

It was really warm out but we walked down and along the water to admire the boats. There were several restaurants and quite a few people grabbing a late lunch but not as many people out on the water.

While I don’t know much about boats, I do love any opportunity to look out over the water and see the mountains in the background. I never get tired of that view.

After admiring the boats we headed back to the car and over to La Conner. I really enjoyed this little town! It was a little busy from a traffic perspective and a bit tricky finding a parking spot, but we ended up on the main street and before I knew we were window shopping and enjoying an afternoon ice cream.

Some of the stores had the craziest handmade items, from woodwork to outdoor crafts made out of old oil barrels. We also popped in a general store to buy a few things and took some time in a side room to do an olive tasting– yum! Did you know black olives aren’t natural–it’s a dye? I tried a couple different olives, one from California and one from Europe. They were delicious and my mom and Brian both bought some just before the tastings wrapped up and the shop closed.

I couldn’t believe everything closed at 5 p.m. on a Saturday–there were still tons of people walking around. It seemed like a huge loss of business, but I understand the shop owners probably want to enjoy their weekend as well.

We decided it would be rather late for dinner by the time we got back to our house so we grabbed seats out on the back patio of the La Conner Seafood and Prime Rib House to enjoy a seafood dinner on the water. I wasn’t starving, given my afternoon ice cream and olive tasting, but my appetizer crab cake was perfect– delicious and just the right portion size!

The sun was starting to set so we drove back to Picnic Point to watch the actual setting over the water and Olympic Mountains. It was beautiful!

Our last stop was at the Root Beer Store, which we’ve been wanting to try for some time. My mom and I picked out some root beer, ginger beer, cream soda and other types of soda we had never heard of before to take home for a later tasting while my dad and Brian ordered root beer floats to enjoy while we shopped.

It was a fun-filled day, and I’m glad we got to learn more and see more of Skagit County. There are several cute little towns to explore, and we’ll certainly be back!