Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Around Bellingham
Lynden
'Welkom to Lynden,' reads the greeting on a shop wall in Front St. Here in the state's
dyke-fortified, tulip-embellished northwest corner this unconventional spelling is the
proud expression of the region's Dutch culture. Yet Lynden, a small town of 9000 people
5 miles south of the Canadian border, wears its Low Countries credentials with under-
statement.
First settled in the 1850s, Lynden received its first wave of Dutch settlers in the early
1900s - a steady trickle of Calvinist farmers who arrived from the Netherlands via brief
stopovers in the Midwest. United by raspberries (the town produces 60% of the US
crop), they formed a Christian Reform Church and set up mixed farms on the kind of flat
pastoral fields that would have had Van Gogh grasping for his paint palette.
Don't show up here on a Sunday: Christian Lynden's shops are all closed for the day
and even the main drag is like a ghost town.
As well as competing for the prize of 'cleanest town in the US,' Lynden also excels in
historical preservation. Handsome Front St includes a 72ft windmill, a mall with a canal,
various Dutch eateries and the inspired
Lynden Pioneer Museum
(
www.lyndenpioneermuseum.com
; 217 Front St; admission $7; 10am-4pm Mon-Sat)
. For real
Dutch immersion, come to Lynden in early June for the ecstatic
Holland Days Festival
.
Rumor has it that people from as far away as California plan pie sorties to
Lynden
Dutch Bakery
(421 Front St; 7am-4pm Mon-Thu, 7am-5pm Fri & Sat)
in an old-time shop
on Front St. Accommodations can be found in the tall windmill that doubles as the
Dutch
Rooms are comfy B&B-style if a little dated. The check-in is in the adjacent gift shop.
Lummi Island
POP 822
Not technically one of the San Juan Islands, but with them in spirit, Lummi is a five-
minute ferry ride (passenger/car $7/13 round-trip) from the mainland at Gooseberry
Point (10.5 miles off I-5 exit 260). A slender green finger of land measuring approxim-
ately 9 miles long by 2 miles wide and supporting a population of just under 1000, this
tranquil dose of rural realism is home to the world's only reef-net salmon-fishing opera-
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