Last Thursday, I decided to take a day off from work so that Paul and I could go to Mt. Vernon and enjoy the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. I’ve been a big fan of the festival since Paul took me to my first one back in 2008, and I was excited to see the beautiful gardens again.
A little history: the Tulip Festival began in 1984, and now runs every April 1st-30th. Thousands of people come to see the tulips, journeying from different states and even from different countries (in 2012, there were visitors from 53 foreign countries!).
We picked the Roozengaarde garden. There is an admission fee of $5/person, but I felt it was well worth it as they had a great variety of tulips in addition to fields of daffodils. Paul caught me in a photo as we checked out the daffodils.
 

 
 
I took some amateur photos with the camera Paul got me for Valentine’s Day, but the pictures Paul himself shot were the most breathtaking ones. His gallery is available here.
After we had toured Roozengaarde, we drove to La Conner for lunch. We were both pretty hungry, and were drawn in by the smells of the La Conner Pub and Eatery. Paul had a burger while I enjoyed a French Dip.
After lunch, we walked out to the waterfront and watched as seals frolicked in the waters of the Swinomish Channel. When the seals went on their way, we did as well, stopping in at the Courtyard Gallery on our way back to the car after some of the glass art displayed in the windows caught our eye. When we were in Hawaii, we had gone into a Wayland gallery which also displayed glass art, and Paul had seen some glass waves that he absolutely loved. We were excited when we saw that the Courtyard Gallery also had glass waves, undoubtedly made by the same artist we’d seen the work of in Hawaii (I did some checking and the artist is David Wright). While in the gallery, we also fell in love with a Red Salmon Chandelier made by artist Scott Chambers. I would definitely recommend a trip to the gallery to anyone. They have beautiful pieces!
We moved on from La Conner, making one more stop at Deception Pass before we headed home. I love Deception Pass! On a sunny day, the views of the turquoise water and surrounding scenery are fabulous!
Our day out was fabulous. It was a great way to spend time together and enjoy spring!