Puget Sound Destination, Blake Island

Puget Sound Destinations: Blake Island 

(I kid you not: Raw-Natural-Simplicity)

Last week, I wrote that I am going to do a series of three blogs about Puget Sound destinations. Here goes #2: Recently, we took the clan to Blake Island, which is due west of downtown Seattle. To give you an idea of where it is: just head west from downtown Seattle, right out through Elliott Bay, and you will see a rugged little Island all covered with trees. Yep, it is All-Natural. One-of-a-kind. Organic. There are only a couple of Tillicum buildings on the island and from what I know, only one house which is for the Park Ranger. 

What a dream job – Blake Island State Park Ranger!

The island is covered with hiking trails so the lack of cars, bikes, and roads doesn’t matter. Walking feet are happy here and the views and beaches are awesome!

Even more about this raw Puget Sound classic: the easiest way to get to Blake is to hop on an Argosy Cruise boat in downtown Seattle and join Argosy for their Tillicum cruise and dinner (though time on the island is limited). Also, boaters can moor their boats  in the harbor and you can stay up to a week. Overnight mooring and beach camping is also available. Once you get there you could stay for a really long time, potentially (well, a week, anyway).

Salmon cooking by the open fire

On the Island, at Tillicum village, you can eat at a yummy salmon bake. This particular trip is the first time that the clan has had dinner at Tillicum. In former visits, we just hike and play. It was so fun to eat there this time. The chefs cook the salmon the traditional Native American way around a fire - the perfect bbq. The salmon is spun for even cooking.  When arriving, a hot mug of steamed clams are a great appetizer for the feast! 

The meal boasts of an abundance of everything Northwest (Salmon, fruit, creative veggies, artesian breads, salad, and blackberry cobbler). 

Yum on a plate!

The dinner also includes entertainment, which is a great touch. The Native American dances and stories open up a history-book about the Puget Sound area and it’s people from the local tribes. Traditionally, the tribes of the Salish community: Duamish, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Puyallup, Snohomish and more met on Blake (of course, it wasn’t called Blake Island then; that came later with European Explorers). They met for their elder meetings at the Long House, which is now part of Tillicum village.

The hiking on Blake Island is great and it preserves its all-natural raw presence in the Puget Sound. It is a place of historical importance and natural living. For years, Blake has been a favorite of mine. #howCoulditNotbe… I hope that it becomes a Puget Sound favorite of your happy walking feet, too.