Deer Lagoon makes up a small portion of Useless Bay near Langley, Washington on Whidbey Island. It's a great natural habitat for shorebirds. On the day friends and I visited, a squadron of white pelicans graced the blue water. A wonderful walking trail parallels the lagoon and leads to Double Bluff Beach overlooking Useless Bay.

Coupeville on Whidbey Island is a small seashore community on Penn Cove. Its main street is lined with shops and eateries. The only one over the water is this one, Kim's Restaurant.

The Knead and Feed Bakery on Coupeville's main street

Admiralty Head Lighthouse is located on Whidbey Island on Admiralty Inlet, a strait connecting Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Sitting on the grounds of historic Fort Casey, now a state paark, it is no longer active, but attracts tourists for its stately beauty. Fort Casey was a fortification in both world wars to protect the entrance to Puget Sound.

The Red Barn Lavender Farm, Ferndale, Washington

In the very northwestern corner of Washington state, within hollering distance of the Canadian border, is Semiahmoo Bay. The Semiahmoo spit stretches into this bay and includes Tongue Point, the location of the picturesque remnants of Whatcom County's first salmon cannery, built in 1881, which later became the Alaska Packers' Assn Cannery. It's also the landing point of the MV Plover, a 17-passenger foot ferry, which, today, takes tourists across the bay into Blaine harbor and to the city of Blaine. The Plover, built in 1944 and since refurbished, was used to transport cannery workers across the bay.