Not much more than an hour’s drive north of Seattle you can get to a place that feels worlds away. My mom and I recently met midway between Vancouver BC (where she lives) and Seattle, WA (where I live) on Camano Island for a mom and me adventure for an early Mother’s Day celebration. My mom took up painting during the Covid times and she’s going to take part in her first art show in June. I heard that Camano Island is a place that is full of art and nature so I couldn’t imagine a better spot for us to hang out together for a few days. We were hosted by Tourism Whidbey and Camano Islands and my mom and I had such a lovely trip-we even brought Scout (my 5 pound Yorkie Poo) on this trip too.
Camano Island has a Studio Tour Weekend May 12-14
Not only does Camano Island have a studio tour weekend coming up for Mother’s Day, this is the 24th annual studio weekend it’s ever hosted so this has been going on for a very long time. And if you can’t make May 12-14th (between 10am-5pm) they have an encore weekend May 20-21. You can see all the participating artists and their locations in this brochure and the website breaks it down even further if you want to see specific types of art like ceramics or paintings.
Hopefully we’ll be able to pop back to Camano Island that weekend and I’ve signed up on the website for the brochure for next year so that I’m reminded early and can make plans.
Matzke Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden is open weekends if you want to visit an art gallery but aren’t able to come for the studio tour weekend in May
Matzke Art Gallery was on our itinerary to visit while we were in Camano Island. We arrived in the area a bit early and had a cinnamon bun, warm scone and coffees at Cama Beach Historical State Park at their Cama Beach cafe. I picked up a new annual Discover Park Pass (they last a year from purchase date) and it’s pretty amazing how many parks we can visit in a year with a $35 pass. You can even stay at really cool cabins at Cama Beach right on the water but you have to pre-book and they can be tough to get in summer months. (It’s worth a try though? These are one of my dream places to book in a state park as well as the ones near Newport Beach in California-the Crystal Cove Cottages. Have you ever stayed at one of these?)
Matzke Art Gallery ended up being such a gem of a place. I was so apprehensive as we drove up the road because it felt like we were just driving into the wilderness-I even told my mom we might turn around. But we started to see some beautiful sculptures and we ended up in a parking lot with other cars. And the gallery was perfect. It reminded us a little of a mini version of a sculpture park we went to in Hakone Japan years ago. I noticed that they have Raku workshops and I totally want to try this one day as well. A raku workshop at Matzke Art Gallery would also make such a perfect Mother’s Day gift. My mom had such a great visit in the art gallery as well and if this is not part of the studio tour make sure you add it to your itinerary if you are on Camano Island on a weekend. (I think it’s only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, make sure you check the website before you visit to make sure.)
Do you love shopping little farmstands? Camano Island is full of them
We were a little early for farm stand season but we still found a handful of adorable farmsteads to shop while we toured Camano Island. Kristoferson farm had the biggest farmstand with jams and cheeses and even an attendant. Black Dogs Harvest was a smaller stand but I bought some soap here. And I think they will have more produce and flowers soon as well. The cookies at ShoeBox baking company were also so delicious and I was surprised at the range in variety of cookies as well as their reasonable prices.
Camano Commons is like a giant farmstand and an easy place to spend a few hours on the island as well
Camano Commons is a big reason why I wanted to come to Camano Island in the first place. I saw a picture from their bakeshop and realized this was an interesting market not too far from Seattle that I never knew about. It is a great place to stop and shop for a bit after a day on the beach, visiting galleries or going to farmstands.
And where did we stay on Camano Island?
There aren’t many hotels on Camano Island, and I actually only found Camano Island Inn for sure. But there are the Cama Beach state park cabins and plenty of Airbnbs. And we stayed in a cozy, clean and comfortable airbnb with beach access, kayaks and a hottub. We didn’t use the kayaks or hottub this time because the weather was a little breezy but just knowing they were there made it feel like a special holiday. Our stay was perfectly pup-friendly and the beach had such a beautiful sunset.
This place would be great if you are in the area for the tulips too-it’s only about 30 minutes from the tulip fields and if you’re from Vancouver BC, the tulips would be an easy stop on your way home.
My mom and I had a trip to remember. It was a great adventure for both of us and I think it would be such a fabulous experience gift if you’re looking for a local idea for Mother’s Day too. Have you ever been to Camano Island?
(PS here are all the places we visited and found delicious food on Camano Island too!)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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