Posted by Nancy D. Brown

Legendary Character Dirty Dan HarrisMy favorite tips and locations for visitors to Bellingham, Washington. Thank you to Caroline Kinsman and Annette Bagley of Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism for their assistance with this post.

The first place I take a visitor from out of town is to Taylor Avenue Dock, a raised  board walk that sweeps across the edge of Bellingham Bay. The Taylor Dock trail leads to and from the Fairhaven Village Inn.

To escape work I take a long lunch or early dinner in Bellingham's Fairhaven Village, offering six blocks of eclectic dining and shopping. Many of the historic red brick buildings were constructed more than a century ago, when Fairhaven was a frontier town originally owned by Dan Harris. Today the district's artistic side prevails with shops that feature pottery, woodworking and glass.

When I crave Bellingham cuisine, I turn to the Whatcom Food & Farm Finder. Here you can find 132 local forms, restaurants, cafes, bakeries and delis featuring locally grown products. The guide is produced by Sustainable Connections, a grass-roots organization committed to maintaining a local economy built on sustainable business practices. In typical Washington style, Bellingham restaurants have joined forces to present an Eat Local series on Thursday nights from May through October.

Raspberries from the Bellingham Farmers MarketBellingham is my one stop shop for local raspberries. Surrounding farms in Lynden and Whatcom County produce more than 90 percent of all individually quick frozen (IQF) raspberries grown in the United States. More than 57 million pounds are harvested in Washington each July. Although many are gobbled up by locals, the vsat majority become raspberry juice used by Ocean Spray and Smuckers. Here in California, Driscoll's, based in Watsonville, produces about 90 percent of our fresh berries.

If you come to Bellingham, get your picture taken on a sailboat with the city's skyline in the background. Bellingham was settled from the shoreline inward, so the best views of the city are from the water. Early pioneers arrived in this region by boat, as the original trees were too thick to travel between with a horse and wagon. Today, several charter companies operate out of Bellingham. Sail Away Custom Sailboat Charters is skippered by Captain Charlie DeWeese on his 50-foot wooden-hulled sailboat, Happy Talk.

If you have to order one thing off the menu at Fino, get the peppered pork tenderloin with mushroom polenta and chianti sauce. Keep in mind that the menu changes every couple of months to reflect whatever is fresh.

Chocolate Rockettes Molten Lava Cake With Edible Chocolate LegsFor a huge splurge, go to Silver Reef Hotel for Caesar salad prepared tableside,  an enormous steak and save room for the molten Chocolate Rockettes or the Flaming Cherries Jubilee.

 When I'm feeling cash-strapped, I go to the Bellingham Farmers Market where I can discover new recipes form local chefs and hear live music.

Photo ops in Bellingham include the concrete "Welcome to Bellingham" sign set into the hillside on State Street. Although it appears to be in a random location today, this is where the original settlers landed by boat. They climbed a series of stairs to the mainland, which was covered in towering evergreens. Photo ops also include the Whatcom Museum and Mount Baker Theater buildings, as well sa 10,778- foot Mount Baker to the east and the San Juan islands to the west.

The best vantage points are taken by walking to the top of the lookout tower in the Sehome Arboretum, or riding the elevator to the 14th floor of the Bellingham Towers building. You can also check out the Nimbus restaurant, providing areal views and a dinner menu featuring in-season, local ingredients.

The most random thing about Bellingham is the piano races at Dirty Dan Harris Days in the Historic Fairhaven District.

In Bellingham, an active day outdoors involves biking on either the Interuban Trail or Galbraith Mountain in the morning and sea kayaking on Bellingham Bay in the afternoon.

My favorite walking route is the Fairhaven to downtown trial through Boulevard Park.

Bellingham's best museum in the Whatcom Museum of History and Art, which will open the new Lightcatcher Building in November 2009 to feature art exhibitions, as well as a famiy interactive gallery  for young children.

For a night of dancing, go to the Wild Buffalo.

Skylark's Hidden Cafe is the spot for late night dining.

To find out what's going on at night or on the weekends, read the Bellingham Herald or Cascadia Weekly newspapers.

You can tell a lot about Bellingham from visiting downtown and watching an Art Walk event on the first Friday of the month from 6-10 p.m. The Downtown Bellingham Partnership also hosts Downtown Sounds summer concerts and the Bite of Bellingham wiht Allied Arts La Bella Strada Arts Festival in August.

In the spring you should attend the Ski to Sea Festival on Memorial Day weekend. Don't miss the 90-mile relay race from the snow fields of Mt. Baker to the waters of Bellingham Bay. Seven legs include cross country ski, downhill ski/snowboarding, running, road bike, two-person canoe, mountain bike and sea kayak.

In the summer you should attend the Raspberry Festival in Lynden on the third weekend in July for raspberry sundaes in this Dutch-style farming hamlet. For something different, don't miss the raspberry and blackberry wines at Samson Estates Winery, just east of Lynden on Van Dyk Road.

In the fall you should visit the Fall Fruit Festival at Cloud Mountain Farm, the first weekend in October. Taste 200 varietes of apples, pears, grapes and uncommon fruits, as well as cider, nuts, jellies and sauces.

In the winter you should go to the symphony, the Mount Baker Theatre and the independent Pickford Film Center. 

A hidden gem in Bellingham is the Big Rock Sculpture Garden. This 2.5 acre wooded park includes more than 35 permanent sculptures by local and international artists.

For a great breakfast treat or expresso, go to the Wood's Coffee in Boulvard Park overlooking Bellingham Bay.

Just outside of Bellingham you can visit Mount Baker and have lunch at Everybody's Store in Van Zandt. The 58-mile Mount Baker Scenic Bayway, also known as Washington State Route 542, reaches from Bellingham's coastal city limits to snowy slopes of the mountain. In the summer months, the highway ends at a 5,140 foot parking lot known as Artists Point. Everybody's Store is a short jog south on Highway 9 for a nice lunch break.

Kids Climb Rocks at Boulevard ParkIn you have kids, you won't want to miss Chocolate Necessities or climbing on rocks and beach combing at Boulevard Park.

Photos by Nancy D. Brown