Ferry yourself to the Lummi Island for garden-to-table at its best

For a peak locavore experience, head to tiny Lummi Island (population 816) just two hours and a 10-minute ferry ride north of Seattle. There, chef Blain Wetzel—who worked at Copenhagen’s Noma (named top restaurant in the world according to the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list)—has turned the Willows Inn into a destination restaurant. Using impeccable ingredients—sockeye salmon caught nearby by Willows Inn owner Riley Starks, for instance, and just-picked fruits and vegetables from Nettles Farm, run by Starks and his wife, Judy—Wetzel crafts meals of supreme elegance and intense flavor. If that weren’t enough, the views are gorgeous: From the main dining room, you can see Rosario Strait and the San Juan Islands, and—if you’re lucky—a pod of spouting whales.