Whidbey Island Day 1 - 9/18/2025
- sridgway38
- Sep 18
- 5 min read
Updated: Oct 11
We got an early start today, taking an Uber to the rental car facility at SeaTac to pick up our car. We enjoyed not needing to drive and park in Seattle; we walked most places, and for the few places that we needed to Uber, it worked out fine. The Uber driver was able to drop us right at the rental facility, so that was also easy—no need to get on a shuttle bus.
We had reserved a standard SUV, which they didn't have any of at the time, so they upgraded us to a larger SUV. We loaded up and headed out, and within a mile, the check tire pressure light went on, and we realized that we had a very low tire. So we turned around, went back, and moved all of our stuff to another car. Glad that we found it early, but also feel like it's something that could have been easily checked before renting out the car. We headed out again to the Mukilteo Ferry terminal to Whidbey Island. We arrived just as a ferry was getting ready to load, so we loaded up quite quickly. We found the Washington Ferry website very useful for schedules as well as the current status of ferries running behind. We bought tickets for all of our ferries ahead of time, and only the one from Whidbey to Olympic needed a timed reservation.Once onboard the ferry, we went up to the passenger area hoping to get some pictures coming into Whidbey, but it was too foggy to see much. It was also pretty cold, but the ride was quick, and in less than a half hour, we had arrived on Whidbey Island. We had some hikes planned, and it was quite a while until check-in time at our hotel, The Langley Inn and Spa in the town of Langley. We decided to stop at the Whidbey Island Bagel Factory just off the ferry and grab a bagel and coffee so that we didn't have to stop for lunch and could get in a hike. We then drove over to see if we could leave our luggage so that it wasn't in the car while we hiked.
The Langley Inn and Spa is a small boutique hotel with 28 rooms, and we had reserved a corner king room, of which there are 2 on each of the 4 floors, so 8 total. When we asked to leave our luggage, they said of course we could. When she looked in the computer, the room that we were assigned had been empty the prior night, so it turned out to be empty and ready, and they let us check in quite early. The hotel is overlooking the Saratoga Passage. Many guest rooms at The Inn offer views of both the water and the Cascade Mountains, and it was gorgeous. We were on the corner of the building; the room had 2 bedrooms, one of which we didn't use, a huge bathroom with a beautiful shower, a nice indoor seating area, a fireplace, and a very cozy outdoor balcony, which we spent a good bit of time on. The water was just below us, and the waves were lapping. It was a peaceful, quiet spot.
We dropped our bags and headed to Fort Ebey State Park to do the Bluff Trail. We noticed as we drove that there were constant fighter jets overhead and found out that there are multiple military locations on the island. Although Fort Ebey isn't the main base, there is a spot there that is ideal for fighter pilots to practice carrier takeoffs and landings, so that's what we were seeing and hearing.
We arrived at the park and used AllTrails to guide us to the Bluff trail. It was a relatively easy 3 mile trail along the bluff above the beach overlooking the Puget Sound.
We really enjoyed Fort Ebey and the Bluff trail. It was a bit muddy in spots and had some rocks and roots but it was manageable, there was some elevation gain and loss in areas but also fairly moderate.
We then headed to Fort Casey where we wanted to see the Admiralty Head lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1903 with thick brick walls to handle the booms from the nearby Fort Casey guns, but it was retired from service in the 1920s. Now it’s quiet and calm, just the wind and the wide-open view where the Puget Sound meets the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
It was a nice open park where you could picnic or just walk along the sound enjoying the views.
We headed back to Langley and got more settled in our hotel. We had stopped a grocery store on the way back to pick up some wine that we could enjoy while watching sunset so we got ourselves unpacked, and spent some quiet time on our balcony.
The tides near the hotel were varied and we enjoyed both the low tide view as well as high tide which brought the waves right up underneath us and we could hear them lapping.
We then walked into the small town of Langley which was a very short walk, and had dinner at the Spyhop public house. It looked like a locals bar when we arrived but the vibe was welcoming and the people were very nice. The food was bar type food but very good, we enjoyed the chicken wrap and the fish and chips, both were very good. We headed to a little ice cream place in town and had a bit of ice cream before returning to the Inn to enjoy the evening on our balcony. It was quiet and peaceful. They had cushions for the chairs and lap blankets that we could use on the balcony so while it was cool, it was also cozy.
We have more hikes in store for the morning on Whidbey Island.