I really need to write a little day trip guide for Bellingham. There's so much to see and do, mostly free and all easily reached by foot or bus from the train station.
Just a quick sketch for now but the Alaska Marine Highway docks referred to, is well worth a visit, actually called the Cruise Terminal but we call it the Ferry Terminal building, really a very beautiful new building and underutilized.
You can walk right over there, just across the tracks and a parking lot, it's very spacious inside with a restaurant, the current version has halibut fish and chips and sandwiches, not sure what days or hours they are open but there's a big area with tables by the huge windows and you don't have to order from the restaurant to sit there.
There's a great area upstairs with padded comfortable seating and an atrium where they host events, some people get married there and then get right on the ferry for their honeymoon.
All around the outside a big deck wraps around over the water with great views of the bay, the islands and downtown. Great place to drink your coffee that you got either at the restaurant at the terminal or the coffee shop in the train station.
There are a couple of companies that run boats out to the islands from the docks at the Cruise Terminal, San Juan Cruises goes to Victoria and Friday Harbor and does whale watching excursions, they used to do a bay tour a few years ago, that was really great, wish they still did.
Near the terminal and the train station is Marine Park, it is not clearly marked how to get down there but it is a one block walk from where the train tracks cross the road right there by the station. I really like Marine Park, it has a little beach and a covered picnic area with restrooms, there are rocks and logs to sit on and picnic tables, it is very peaceful and there are usually a lot of blue herons there, also a good train watching spot as the trains go right on the water right by there.
At the train station there's a bus stop for the 401 line which is a ten minute run on scenic State Street along the water to downtown Bellingham. You could hop on that for a dollar and go downtown and walk around, within 2 or 3 blocks of the bus station downtown are big used bookstores, several record stores, all kinds of restaurants and coffee shops, a drugstore, anything you need really, it's all right there. There are often street festivals and events going on in the summer with craft fairs, art exhibits, live music, etc. Some good thrift stores to shop in too.
Between Fairhaven and downtown there is a very popular walking trail, about a third of it is a dock built out over the water, that's the part between Fairhaven and Boulevard Park, it has benches all along it where you can sit over the bay and watch the parade of strollers, joggers, bikers and dog walkers. At Boulevard Park there's a coffee shop and a couple of different sets of public restrooms, it's a busy destination on any nice day year round.
