With gifts to wrap, families to visit and cookies to bake, it’s hard to squeeze in a day away during the busy holiday season.
But to avoid turning into Scrooge, getting out to enjoy some holiday cheer should be on your holiday list.
Michael O’Leary / The Herald
A Christmas comforter in the bedroom and other decorations (below) give a holiday touch to Maine Stay in Langley.
Whidbey Island has a lot to offer visitors during the season. After a quick ferry ride from Mukilteo, you’ll find Christmas arts and crafts, bed-and-breakfast tours and holiday art walks.
If you’re still shopping for holiday gifts, check out Greenbank Farm’s holiday market.
This arts and crafts extravaganza will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. the first three weekends in December. It features local artists and crafts people showing off their wares in the farm’s 1904 barn.
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Greenbank Farm Holiday Market, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 4 and 5, 11 and 12, and 18 and 19; 360-678-7700; www.greenbankfarm.com.
* “A Christmas Story,” Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, 565 Camano Ave., Langley; 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3, 4, 10, 11, 19, and 20, and 2 p.m. Dec. 5 and 14; tickets are $10 to $15; 360-221-8268.
* Oak Harbor Yacht Club’s Christmas Boat Parade; after dark Dec. 4, weather permitting; 360-675-1314.
* The Greening of Coupeville and Christmas parade; 4 p.m. Dec. 4; 360-678-5434.
* The Coupeville Art Walk; 5 p.m. Dec. 4; 360-678-9200.
* The Langley Holiday Art Walk; 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 4; 360-221-2978.
* The Langley Holiday B&B Tour and Tastes; Dec. 5; Visitors take their booklet to collect the recipes they taste at each of the 10 establishments; $15; 360-221-6765.
* Coupeville’s Holiday Home Tour; Dec. 11; tickets are $15 for adults and children over 12, $7.50 for ages 7 to 12, free for children under 6, available at Island County Historical Museum, 908 NW Alexander St., Coupeville, on the day of the tour; 360-678-3310. * The Maine Stay, 619 First St., Langley; 360-221-8173.
* The Whidbey Island Vineyard and Winery, 5237 South Langley Road, Langley; 360-221-2040; www.whidbeyislandwinery.com.
* For events on Whidbey Island, visit www.donothinghere.com. |
Greenbank Farm, with its 522 acres of rolling fields, forest and wetlands, was formerly the world’s largest loganberry farm.
When your feet are tired, stop by the Whidbey Pies Cafe, conveniently located next to the barn. Soup, sandwiches and a slice of the cafe’s renowned loganberry pie might be just what you need to recharge the batteries.
Speaking of the loganberries: If wine is on your shopping list or sampling sparks your interest, try the wine tasting room at the farm. The farm carries only wine from family-owned vineyards within 20 miles.
Up the road, Coupeville offers a fun-filled Dec. 4 as residents host the Greening of Coupeville, a holiday bazaar, the official tree lighting and a small-town Christmas parade at 4 p.m. featuring Frosty the Snowman, fire engines, tractors and marching cows.
Visitors can enjoy the holiday lights and decorations against the backdrop of historic Coupeville’s beautiful Victorian houses and quaint main street.
The Coupeville art and antiques walk will also be held Dec. 4. Eight galleries and a half-dozen antique shops will be open for visitors from 5 p.m. to browse through. Meet artists, have refreshments and enjoy the holiday cheer that Coupeville has to offer.
Langley will also host its Holiday Art Walk from 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 4. Ten galleries will open their doors to visitors for a look at local artists’ work.
For a satisfying tour of inns, guest cottages and bed-and-breakfasts consider the Langley Holiday Bed and Breakfast Tour and Tastes on Dec. 5.
It’s a chance for visitors to take a peek at the various hostelries decorated in their holiday finery and to sample a signature dish at each one.
Visitors collect a recipe card at each location and add it to the booklet they receive with their tickets for this self-guided tour.
Suzanne Paulson, owner of the Maine Stay, a Victorian bed-and-breakfast, is one of the innkeepers opening her doors for this annual event. Paulson offers a full breakfast at the Maine Stay, so she will have her Maine Stay French toast with spicy apple syrup out for sampling.
Christmas decorations at the B&B will include holiday quilts. Visitors will find the quilts hung over chairs, sofas and beds.
The Whidbey Island Winery is just outside Langley, less than a 10-minute ride from the ferry. It makes 12 wines and has a tasting room that is open year round. At this time of the year, hours are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, through June.
After dark on Dec. 4, weather permitting, the Oak Harbor Yacht Club will have its Christmas Boat Parade. Boats leave the Oak Harbor Marina and sail over to Penn Cove.
If the weekend of Dec. 4 doesn’t suit you, consider taking in the Coupeville Holiday Home Tour on Dec. 11. The event is sponsored by the Island Historical Society. Tickets are available the day of the tour at Island County Historical Museum, 908 NW Alexander St., Coupeville.
Whatever you have in mind for the holidays, Whidbey Island’s quaint and quiet towns will put you in the holiday spirit, whatever your tastes.
Reporter Christina Harper: 425-339-3491 or harper@heraldnet.com.
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