Bainbridge Island: Where Seattle goes for R&R

Bainbridge Island, 35 minutes by ferry from the Seattle waterfront, is an escape from city grit.

For locals, the island (population 23,196) is a haven for affluent commuters. For visitors, it’s an easy day trip with 30 miles of trails, seven wineries and -- as this “A Minute Away” video below shows -- plenty of boats and boat folk.

Once the ferry has pulled into Eagle Harbor, it’s an easy walk up (perhaps a quarter of a mile) Olympic Drive Southeast to Winslow Way East, the main drag of the tiny town of Winslow.

There the diversions begin with the curvy Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (550 Winslow Way East; [206] 842-4451), which opened in June 2013 and specializes in contemporary works with a regional focus. Then come the upscale restaurants and shops, a few of which I tried while in Seattle for a story on Pike Place Market.

Some spots I liked:

Blackbird Bakery (210 Winslow Way East; [206] 780-1322), which has been serving baked goods, soups, quiche and such since 1999.

I bought a hat at Back of Beyond (181 Winslow Way East; [206] 842-9229), which also rents kayaks and canoes.

I prowled the waterfront trail at the foot of Madison Avenue, browsed Eagle Harbor Book Co. and Bainbridge Arts & Crafts, then settled in for late lunch at Doc’s Marina Grill (403 Madison Ave. South; [206] 842-8339), a casual, surfy-turfy place with a big patio overlooking the marina. (Most main dishes $12-$26.)

I had blackberry gelato at Mora Iced Creamery (139 Madrone Lane; [206] 855-1112), part of a three-location Seattle-area chain.

And I vowed that next time, I’ll try Hitchcock (133 Winslow Way East; [206] 201-3789), a locavore restaurant and bar that opened in 2011. Its chef, Brendan McGill, has won a kitchen full of best-chef prizes.

“A Minute Away” is a video series in which nothing much happens -- except you see the world, and hear it, and get a minute’s respite from workaday life. (Actually, some are as long as 1:40.) These are casual moments without talking heads or narration – just natural sound from Machu Picchu, Red Square, the Yucatan, an Alaska float plane or the reading room of the New York Public Library. We add new ones weekly, and we’ve got more than 60 of them now, so if you’d prefer a full hour away…