My sister Laurie and I decided to test whether we could share a hotel room (and if we snore) before committing to a Christmas Market Cruise in Europe. The last time we’d slept in the same space, we were 11 and 14, crammed into a tent somewhere in Washington.
I’m convinced it was Mount St. Helens; Laurie insists otherwise. My air mattress popped, and I spent the trip sleeping in the car, which is why I swore off camping forever. A single night in Blaine, WA, seemed like a safer trial run.
Day One
We left around 10:30 a.m. and stopped in Mount Vernon for lunch at Calico Cupboard Café & Bakery. Laurie went for the ‘Grown-Up Grilled Cheese’ and a peanut butter cookie. She said the bakery side of the café was the real gem and thought I missed out by skipping it, but I don’t like sweets. I was starving and went straight for a BBQ bacon cheddar burger. It was so good I ate the whole thing, despite planning to save half, which later ruined my appetite for dinner.
From there, we wandered through Hovander Homestead Park in Ferndale. The historic house and gardens looked nice from the outside, though Laurie pointed out the website hadn’t been clear about the house being closed. I was more interested in the animals, though disappointed I couldn’t pet the bunnies.
By late afternoon, we checked into Semiahmoo Resort, grabbed coffee at the Seaview Café, and took some time to walk the beach and explore the hotel grounds. Dinner was a short drive away at the Great Blue Heron Grill, where I went classic with a wedge salad, Laurie ordered wild halibut with saffron risotto and shared a seasonal bruschetta.
Afterward, we returned to the resort to catch the sunset. Wanting to enjoy it with a hot cocoa in hand, we stopped at Packers, the on-site restaurant and lounge, but discovered outdoor service had already ended for the evening, well before the sun went down.
When I asked about it, our waitress seemed more irritated than helpful, which didn’t exactly add to the experience. Still, we found our own spot and watched the sun sink into the water, which was as pretty as promised, before finally calling it a night.
Day Two
The morning routine was staggered: Laurie showered and went to breakfast while I lingered with coffee. After checking out, we stopped at Birch Bay State Park, then drove through Bellingham. For me, the highlight was circling the Western Washington University campus. My time there had been short, but I remembered the steep hills vividly. At least my legs had been in shape, even if my college career wasn’t.
We had lunch at Storia Cucina, where I ordered pepperoni pizza and Laurie went for a savory bread pudding. Midway through, the skies opened up, and we ended up finishing our meal under a shelter in the rain. Laurie didn’t mind. She thought Bellingham was the most interesting town of the trip and said, laughing, “We’re Northwest girls, of course, we love our rain.” By mid-afternoon, we were back on the road and home not long after 3.
Resort Report
Semiahmoo certainly has its strengths. The setting is beautiful, with long beaches, views stretching to Point Roberts, Vancouver Island, White Rock and the Peace Arch (with the line) and plenty of parks and trails nearby.
Families seemed to be having a great time with the lawn games on the grass and roasting marshmallows at the fire pits after dinner. The check-in process was smooth, parking was easy, and most of the staff were friendly. The sunsets were as good as advertised, the kind that make you pause and actually stay outside until the light fades.
Still, for $422 a night, I came away expecting more. The bathrooms were so small they felt like they belonged in a budget motel rather than a resort and spa. The pool was undersized and quickly crowded with kids, and the soundproofing wasn’t great.
At one point, it seemed the children in the room above us were staging their own late-night trampoline practice. Even the dining side had its quirks, stopping outdoor service before sunset, which seemed like the very moment guests would want to be out there.
Laurie agreed about the bathroom, but she also noted the hotel itself seemed nice and clean. The bedding and pillows weren’t deluxe, she said, but they were comfortable, and she appreciated the extras for families like bikes, lawn games, and s’mores kits.
In the end, I’d call the whole experience “adequate.” It was perfectly fine, just not quite worth the price tag. Or as I put it: Semiahmeh.
Sister Verdict
We learned we can share a hotel room without disaster. We both snore, argued a little on the freeway, but otherwise managed just fine. For two sisters who hadn’t slept in the same space since our early teens, that felt like progress. The European cruise isn’t happening this year; we procrastinated too long to book, but at least we came away with useful intel: we can, in fact, survive a night together without one of us threatening to sleep in the lobby.
The trip also reminded us of summers past, when our dad traveled for work and parked us in small-town hotels to pass the time at the pool or nearby parks. Families were doing the same thing all around us at Semiahmoo, and it felt oddly familiar. Different decade, different place, but the same rhythms.
So while the resort itself didn’t quite live up to the price tag, the sister experiment was a success. In the end, we confirmed we can share a room, survive the quirks, and even come home with stories worth telling.
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