Rosario Resort Orcas Island - Washington State

Rosario Resort Orcas Island – Washington State

We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast within walking distance of Rosario Resort and Spa. We were sadly misinformed by my mother that they’d closed so we didn’t even check there for lodging. While the B&B was fine, it was more expensive and we loved the ambiance of Rosario’s so much more.

We had lunch on the deck (a pricey $30 for a fish & chips and veggie burger) but the scenery was worth it. We plan to go back some day and stay there. We spent hours watching the otters and birds, jelly fish and star fish, and checking out the flowers. I have tons of photos to post and hope to get to it soon.

The property is stunning and we loved the MORAN MUSEUM at Rosario which is free and tells the story of how the resort came to be. It was originally the private residence of  Robert Moran.  He was a Seattle shipbuilder and later Mayor of Seattle.  He built the house between 1906-1909.  This island is remote in 2011, so I can’t imagine how tough it was to build in this location so early in the century.

The house is amazing.  The doors and walls thick and stately, as if they need to stand up to weather we don’t have here in WA.  Perhaps it was his shipbuilding prowess that made the house look like it could withstand anything.  You can take the self-guided tour from 9 am – 9 pm daily and currently at 4pm there’s music in the amazing music room along with historic photos of the property.

Rosario Resort & Spa is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and rightly so.  This history here is amazing but it’s also brought back down to earth with the ugly newer buildings with the sad siding.  Still, overall this is a place worth travelling to.

But for today, here’s view of the marina. It’s small, but active, with lots of boaters coming in for lunch. What a great afternoon.  Check out the Resorio Resort webcam  – it faces the marina which is shown on the right.  I’m standing at the end of the jetty/dock looking toward the webcam.

:me: