I love to travel and it’s a running joke with my husband that I’m always scheming of some sort of adventure. Right now, traveling looks a little different and we’ve been keeping it much more local for a variety of reasons but mostly because:
- We have two toddlers = two carseats. Parents, need I say more? That ish is heavvvvy.
- There is a pandemic happening so we are not taking flights atm. This trip was actually our first airbnb and trip in a looong time!
I’ve been following the renovation of the Dahlia Bluff Cottage over on Fiona Margo’s IG. She is a family photographer who takes gorgeous mountainy portraits. I’ve been following her photography work for awhile but when I saw this amazing house she was renovating on a bluff overlooking the water on Bainbridge, I knew that we had to check it out.
We booked the cottage back in November and I’m so glad that we got it on the books because it looks like the availability is basically slim to none for the rest of the season. Hoping they open their books beyond September sometime soon (and if you follow me on IG then I will be sure to let you know haha)
Bainbridge Island was the perfect destination for our family pod of 4. It involved a very short drive and ferry ride from our home in Seattle. The house was AMAZING, immaculately clean, modern and every inch curated to perfection. Deluxe towels, gourmet kitchen appliances and cookware, cookbooks, children’s books. I could go on and on. I was ready to move in. I can’t wait to come back to this little piece of heaven with my closest girlfriends. I have so many new ideas for our upcoming kitchen renovation and the clean living space was SUCH a nice refresh for our fam during a stressful year during the pandemic. It was really nice to treat ourselves to a special getaway after being stuck at home for so long.
TIPS:
Ferry: We actually decided to take the Kingston/Edmonds ferry instead of going through downtown Seattle as the time looked to be approximately equal and we decided that it would be easier for our family to grab dinner (lol we ended up getting happy meals) or get out of the car at the Edmonds ferry line. Definitely recommend doing it this way if you have small kids. It was WAY easier and no ferry line either direction.
Booking: Book early! It’s a super popular listing with amazing hosts and they have the airbnb “superhost” rating. I can’t wait to book as soon as they release dates for next season
Food: We were pretty lean on the food we brought and part of that was admittedly, poor planning on our part and looking back I would have loved the opportunity to have cooked more and bigger meals in the kitchen while we were there. Next time I will do a better job on meal prepping and planning but not beating myself up this time around. We made pizzas and yummy coffee (that they provided BTW) every morning. It was a dream.
Don’t forget your bathing suit for their saline tub on the deck with a view. Ahhh just writing this I NEED to go back STAT.
Link to Airbnb listing HERE **BOOKMARK THIS** and then I’ll let ya know on IG whenever they open their books again – I’ll be on top of this 😉
Sign up for AirBnB with THIS LINK and save $65 on your first listing
Photos by yours truly (taken with iPhone), but see other work HERE www.aleeshawiestphotography.com
