Last month I (Ally) took a quick trip to Roche Harbor Resort up in the San Juan Islands for work. It was literally a 24 hour trip, but it was my first time visiting so I took plenty of photos as I toured the entire resort.
How do you get to Roche Harbor?
Great question! You have three choices: by boat, by ferry or by float plane. Guess how we went? Float plane of course. Remember my “quick trip” to Belize and the puddle jumper I took? This was exactly the same! We flew out of South Lake Union (where our apartment overlooks) on Kenmore Air. The weather wasn’t great that day, so it was a bit bumpy. Oh, and by the way, I hate to fly! LOL
We were on the larger “Orca” plane and it quickly ran across Lake Union and was up in the air in seconds! Yes, I will have all of the footage on our next YouTube episode!
The flight takes about 30 minutes once you are up in the air, assuming it doesn’t stop. We stopped at Fisherman’s Bay on Lopez and then at Friday Harbor before landing at Roche. What’s even more remarkable about this flight, is our captain is a one man show! He lands and docks all at the same time!
So much water & islands below
One thing you quickly realize flying over Puget Sound, is how many small islands and inlets we have. Some would be a hazard in the wrong conditions! If you recall, when Scott and I came through Cattle Pass from Deer Harbor a few years ago, we nearly hit a reef going 25 knots!
Living in the San Juan Islands would be a dream! Beautiful homes line the coast line.
Finally, we’ve arrived at Roche Harbor Resort!
After I “white knuckled” it all the way to Roche Harbor, we arrived 50 minutes after leaving Seattle. The resort is huge and consists of: marina, hotel, condos, suites, village homes, restaurants, bar, shopping and much more!
My boss, Mark and I were doing a site inspection for our company rendezvous coming up in July. Roche Harbor Resort is very historic with some fascinating stories. Once you arrive, you walk through the docks to the Hotel de Haro to check-in.
Limestone History
Roche Harbor is rich in limestone, which is used to build roads and manufacture concrete and mortar. In 1886, Tacoma lawyer John S. McMillin and his business partners in the Tacoma Lime Company founded Roche Harbor Lime Company. The lime kilns are still present next to the hotel.
The Quarryman Hall Suites is the newest building of the resort and Mark and I were each upgraded to our own suite! Thank YOU to Roche Harbor Resort!
Trying to take pictures of the resort, doesn’t do it justice. There’s so much to see and do, which makes it such a great destination to visit by boat!
The Mausoleum
Roche Harbor Resort also has a family mausoleum. In order to get to it, you have to walk through the resort, past the oldest independently owned Catholic Chapel and into the adjacent woods. This includes passing by the cottages that the lime workers lived in (now available for rent).
John McMillin was a member of the Masonic Order and he built the mausoleum recognizing the traditions of the Masonic Order. As you walk through the forest, it reminds you a bit of the movie “Blair Witch Project“. There are some infant & toddler burial sites throughout the forest.
After you walk along the trail for about a quarter mile, you come across a gravel road. Follow that and you’ll come upon the McMillin Mausoleum. To say that it’s a bit creepy, is an understatement. I should note however, that my boss Mark has an awesome podcast, “Chasing Ghosts on Scooters in Bars“. You guessed it, he’s a ghost chaser by night!
There is significant Masonic meaning behind the entire structure, including the steps up to the table and chairs all of which represent the stages of life. Freemasons are very ritual and deliberate about everything the build and encompass. (In fact, my great uncle was a Freemason.)
The McMillin Mausoleum – Afterglow Vista
As we approached “Afterglow Vista”, the final resting place of the McMillin family, there was a stillness in the air. It was as if someone was watching our every move.
The first thing you will notice is huge marble table with six chairs. This represents the dining table that the family gathered around. There is also one chair and one pillar missing. This symbolizes the son that left the family.
Each chair is also the gravestone for key family members and they hold their ashes.
But there’s more! Remember, I’m in the middle of the forest with my boss who’s a ghost chaser. He decides to see if anyone wants to “talk” to us. He has an EMF app on his phone and he laid his phone in the middle of the table.
Immediately there was all kinds of activity. Then Mark said “speak to us”. He said this a few times and I started to get creeped out as I looked around watching for anything to jump out of the trees.
At the same time, I was leaning against one of the grave chairs and resting my hands on the top of one of them.
All of a sudden, a voice came out of Mark’s app that said “Knight”. Notice that I was leaning on the Knight Templar gravestone. Needless to say, I was out of there! LOL So we headed back to the main resort.
The Rest of the Roche Harbor Resort
Yes, there is much more than just the Mausoleum! In fact, when I head back in July, I plan to spend a lot more time exploring the island and the resort if time allows. Walking around the main part of the resort, you really get a sense of the rich history it has to offer.
Of course there are ghost sightings in the restaurant and hotel. We had a wonderful dinner in McMillian’s Restaurant – the food was amazing and you definitely have to have a Pig War Martini! Collect a pig for each martini you drink!
The resort is operated now by the members of the Tarte Family. In 1956, Tacoma and Roche Harbor Lime Company president Paul McMillin, son of John McMillin, sold Roche Harbor to the Reuben J. Tarte family of Bellevue, which developed the town into a boating resort with a marina, a restored Hotel de Haro, an airstrip (on the former site of the farm), and restaurant (in the former McMillin home).
The Tarte family sold Roche Harbor in 1988 to businessmen Verne Howard of King’s Market and Rich Komen of Restaurants Unlimited; Roche Harbor is now owned by Komen and Saltchuk Resources.
Heading Home
We flew out the next morning – so to say it was a quick trip is not exaggerating. We were there less than 24 hours! But it was enough to convince me, that this is an awesome place to visit!
As we waited at the dock for Kenmore Air, we watched a ferry boat bring in a cement truck and other commuters arrive by boat.
Our flight home, was much quicker as we headed straight for Seattle. The weather was sunny with blue skies. As we flew in, we came in over DT Seattle and made a steep dive onto Lake Union. It was definitely scenic, but for me still a bit nerve wracking.
My flight tour is below. Our rendezvous is in July, so I will be sure to share more details about the resort and things to explore on the island.
As always, thanks for following our blog! Be sure to subscribe for future posts. Next blog, we talk about our inverter and the lessons we learned about our circuit breaker on the boat.
Cheers, Ally
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