Meandering Along Washington State’s Spellbinding ‘Jewel Coast’ : Historic Bellingham is center of region nestled between San Juan Islands and North Cascades.

Puget Sound was just a name in a high-school geography book for many folks until Expo ’86 in Vancouver, British Columbia. That’s when thousands driving north for the world’s fair learned that the rumors of northwest Washington’s almost surreal beauty were in fact a reality.

The native Salish Indians have known about that beauty for thousands of years, but kept it pretty much to themselves until Spaniards “discovered” the area and the San Juan Islands in 1774. They were followed 20 years later by the British, who promptly changed the name of Bahia de Gaston to Bellingham Bay.

Bellingham, 89 miles north of Seattle, was founded as a lumber and coal port in the mid-19th Century. These products, plus a brief flutter with gold, kept the region going until the late 1800s, when fishing, canning, farming and Western Washington University joined the economic mix. In 1903, Bellingham and three adjoining villages were hammered together into the present town of 60,000. Northwest Washington’s history can’t honestly be called colorful, at least until one gets around to discussing the doings of Bellingham’s Dirty Dan Harris.

Harris was a huge, uncouth, hard-drinking, semi-literate seaman who earned his nickname with infrequent baths and even less frequent changes of clothing. He also earned a fortune in real estate, where he invested the considerable money he amassed at what he really did best--smuggling booze and other products back and forth between Bellingham and Vancouver by small boat, alone and usually at night.

Harris’ entrepreneurial prowess led him to found and buy up the port of Fairhaven, now Bellingham’s most historic district. But after 35 years of being the community’s biggest mover and shaker, Harris sold his holdings and moved to Los Angeles, where he was fleeced of his fortune and died in 1890.

The Jewel Coast, as this part of the Puget Sound shore is called, lies between the Cascades’ Mt. Baker to the east and the 172 San Juan Islands in the Sound. Gentle farmland connects pleasant small towns, each of which seems to cherish its own heritage with pioneer museums and parks, homestead barns, original log cabins and homes, antique gas and steam tractors.

Lynden, 12 miles north of Bellingham and founded in 1891, is almost completely Dutch, with 28 churches (and one bar) for 6,000 citizens, plus windmills, lots of neat flower gardens, raspberry and strawberry farms and a thriving dairy industry. Lynden also shuts down completely on Sundays.

Sundays in Bellingham may find many people in their boats, since there is one for every six citizens. Bellingham also has been the southern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway System’s ferries since luring them from Seattle to Fairhaven three years ago. Dirty Dan Harris would be proud that his old town is still humming.

Getting settled in: On the north shore of Lummi (pronounced Lum-mee) Island, a five-minute ferry ride (leaving every 20 minutes) from the mainland north of Bellingham, the absolutely enchanting Loganita bed-and-breakfast nestles in a fantasy of tulips, roses, jonquils and more than 100 lilac bushes that cluster around a brilliant green lawn sloping down to the water. Views of the Sound, other islands and, on a clear day, Mt. Baker and the Canadian Cascades are spellbinding.

Within this turn-of-the-century villa, everything is all elegance and comfort, highlighted by two gigantic stone fireplaces, shining old silver and crystal, cavernous leather couches and great masses of fresh flowers in antique vases everywhere.

Bedrooms and suites reflect the same exquisite taste of owners Ann and Glen Gossage, and it’s little wonder that executives of some of the world’s most prestigious hotels choose Loganita to get away from the madding crowd. This is the Tiffany of B&Bs;, one that we could cheerfully spends months in.

The Best Western Heritage Inn is a handsome Federal building that carries its colonial theme into bedrooms with cherrywood four-posters, armoires and other tasteful Early American touches. There’s a pool and Jacuzzi, guest laundry, family suites, coffee-and-tea gear in rooms and a free breakfast of juices, fresh fruit, cereals, bagels and cream cheese, and five kinds of breads.

Nineteen miles north of Bellingham on the Canadian border, the small port town of Blaine has one of the region’s largest hotels, The Inn at Semiahmoo. The inn has come a long way from its humble origins as a salmon cannery, and now has 200 rooms and suites, many with fireplace and balcony. Semiahmoo (pronounced Seh-mee-AH-moo) also has indoor tennis, an indoor-outdoor pool, sauna, exercise room, indoor track, an Arnold Palmer golf course and a 250-slip marina. It’s the centerpiece of the 800-acre Semiahmoo Resort.

Bedrooms are unusually large if rather austere, and there are three restaurants, one a delightful little oyster bar.

Regional food and drink: Salmon, salmon and more salmon, whether it’s coho, king, sockeye, humpback or chum, is one of the great seafoods of the world, and this is the place to have your fill. “Singing scallops,” a tiny pink-shelled variety, are found only in Puget Sound, and they’re delicious. They’re also pricey during spring and fall.

Dungeness crab, named for a long spit on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, across the Sound from Bellingham, is considered North America’s finest crab. The variety of other fish and shellfish seems almost endless.

Washington state’s wines are now accepted as excellent, particularly the whites, and Mt. Baker Vineyards east of Bellingham bottles some of the best. But the surprise of our visit was that even the smallest towns have espresso bars--in gas stations/convenience stores, roadside stands, Laundromats. There are even drive-through espresso places. Rejoice, ye coffee mavens.

Good local dining: Dirty Dan Harris’ (1211 11th St., Bellingham’s Fairhaven district) is about as straightforward as ol’ Dan himself, with the accent on “local cuisine” of steaks, ribs and seafood. While the building dates from Dan’s time, the interior today is 1950s modern. Appetizers are mostly seafood (clams, mussels, crab) fresh from nearby waters, most in the $7 range. Steaks run from a 12-ounce sirloin ($12.95) to a garlic-marinated tenderloin for $16.95. But seafood is your best bet here, and the broiled scallops and salmon fillet broiled or baked ($14.95) are very good. Main dishes come with salad, rice or baked potato, vegetables and rolls.

Jeff Margolis, the owner-manager of Everybody’s Store (Highway 9 in tiny Van Zandt) was famous for years for his “nickel pickles,” but he had to hike the price to 50 cents when he found that carloads of folks were each buying one of his crunchy wonders and nothing else. One can build a sandwich here from a baker’s dozen of sausages, including a venison sausage that will keep for months in a shooting jacket, or 40-some types of cheeses. Sandwiches are made on bialys (flat Polish rolls), and one always gets to taste the meat or cheese before committing to the picnic on Mt. Baker.

A fixture in Van Zandt for decades, Everybody’s will bag organically grown produce, medicinal herbs, home-baked goods, wines and smoked salmon, plus books, wool hats and socks, among an encyclopedic array of other stuff.

Stars, the Inn at Semiahmoo’s dining room, makes a specialty of wild game: venison, antelope, pheasant, rabbit and whatever else has been recently taken in the field. The decor features a restrained use of burnished woods and greenery, and the views of surrounding water and Canada are most pleasant.

Local oysters on the shell ($7.75) make a good starter. Follow with the broiled swordfish or small lobster tails sauteed with chives, capers and white wine, both $16.95. Roast antelope with fresh sage and thyme is $15.95.

On your own: Fairhaven is the historic landmark district of Bellingham and not to be missed for its colorful old buildings, diverse dining spots and excellent shopping. Artwood (100 Harris Ave.) is a co-op gallery representing Northwest artists, most working in wood. Literary types should head for Village Books (1210 11th St.), where they may dine at the Colophon Cafe & Deli right among the stacks.

The Whatcom County Museum (121 Prospect St.), built in 1892 as Bellingham’s then-City Hall, now houses art and memorabilia of regional history, Victorian clothing, toys and dolls. The most fascinating display is a collection of stark but magnificent photographs of western Washington loggers, railroads, forests and homesteaders’ cabins, taken between 1890 and 1940 by Darius Kinsey. Many are of Ansel Adams quality in their dignity and compassion.

The 10-minute drive north from Bellingham to Ferndale is worthwhile if only for a visit to Pioneer Park--a superb collection of original 19th-Century homes, a school, general store, granary and assorted other log buildings. They’ve been gathered from around the county and kept up by dedicated local folks interested in perserving their pioneer heritage.

Plan a short trip or picnic to the glorious Mt. Baker area, 58 miles east of Bellingham and adjacent to North Cascades National Park. Stop at Everybody’s Store for provisions on the way up, then at Mt. Baker Vineyards on your return.

No visit to the Bellingham region is complete without time on the water, either cruising or fishing. One may visit Victoria, British Columbia, via the San Juan Islands on Grey Line Cruises, spend a few hours in the provincial capital and return. The six-hour round trip is $74 for adults, $69 seniors, $37 kids. Call (800) 443-4552.

GUIDEBOOK

Ringing in Bellingham

Getting there: From LAX, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines offer service to Bellingham via Seattle. An advance-purchase, round-trip ticket costs $235. It’s a 40-minute flight from Seattle to Bellingham.

Where to stay: Loganita (2825 West Shore Drive, Lummi Island, telephone 206-758-2651; $85-$135 B&B; double, suites $125-$175); Best Western Heritage Inn (151 E. McLeod Road, tel. 800-528- 1234; $69-$79 double B&B;); The Inn at Semiahmoo (9565 Semi- ahmoo Parkway, Blaine, tel. 206-371-2000; $135-$195 double).

For more information: Call the Bellingham Convention and Visitors Bureau at (800) 487-2032, or write (904 Potter St., Bellingham, Wash. 98226) for a 70-page visitors guide listing sights and their descriptions in Bellingham and all of Whatcom County, plus accommodations, dining and upcoming events, including maps of Bellingham and the county.