These are the sailor sentry bears that great guests in the Shaw Suite. The Shaw Suite is decorated as a boat so they are so appropriate. Last week’s guests were so enchanted by them that they renamed them Gaye and Carlton, their own names.

We host many weddings at the Harrison House each season. Here are some photos from a wedding this fall in our San Juan Suite.

The table settings. In the background, the dessert table is the backdrop for the wedding cake.

Favors for the Guests.

The San Juan Suite can comfortably seat up to 35 guests for dinner.

Our Garden Room Cafe is a perfect setting for appetizers.

Most of our guests do not take the time to post their impressions of their stay on travel sites and blogs. We thought we would use this space to share the written entries from our guest books or the electronic entries we receive via email. Here is an email we received last week:

you really couldn’t have done anything better for us!!!!!!! we had a great time and have told everyone we see and work with about your place!!!!! we will be out there every year if we get the chance. thank you again for everything to you guys and your entire staff!!!!! we haven’t been that relaxed in a long time. i was actually depressed at work (tulalip casino) for a couple of days after we got back. LOL. great place and keep it up!!

george and misty, marysville, WA

Hi!

We launched our first e-newsletter last night. This morning when I checked my email, I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of responses from those of you who have stayed with us over our 5 year journey as innkeepers. Thank you so much. It is so heartening to hear how your stay on San Juan Island touched you. We are thrilled to reconnect and hear where life has taken you. We were saddened to hear that several of our guests who visited for repose from life threatening illnesses have relapsed, others have lost their jobs while others have moved to the area and are almost neighbors. We have learned over the years, that this business is not about the money, but about people and friendships that you forge over the years. Our door is always open! am

We were thrilled to be able to prepare a local wedding feast for Adam and Shannon yesterday at the Harrison House. We served a butternut squash soup with coconut milk and roasted pepitas, smoked lamb satay with Brazil nuts, Smoked Synergy Farms chicken with rosemary and roasted garlic, homemade manicotti, Blue Moon Farms broccoli, stuffed roasted acorn squash with wild rice, currents, and pepitas, and a wonderful salad from three local farms. The couple chose a cheesecake as their wedding cake so we tiered it and decorated it with fresh edible flowers from Waldron Island. One cheesecake was a traditional New York style and the second a bit lighter was an Italian Cheesecake made with Ricotta Cheese. Blue Moon provided three huge buckets of flowers and the family transformed the San Juan Suite with vases of flowers, flower pedals and floating candles. It was a lovely celebration for their new life together and we were so happy to have been a part of it. Shaylynn was busy photographing and will post some photos shortly.