When I’m heading up north in the summer, I’m not usually thinking of colors. If I were asked to, however, the colors that would probably come to mind are green for the trees, blue for the summer sky, and maybe white for those great afternoon cumulus clouds. Lavender would not be on that list.
If you ever head up to Washington Island, you might want to think of lavender. On that little island north of the tension line you will find two reasons for doing so: Fragrant Isle Lavender Farm and Shop and Island Lavender. Both of these businesses have fields of lavender for you to view as well as shops selling items ranging from sprays to creams to insect repellents to teas and jams to ice cream to…, well, too many things to describe and more than I would have imagined.
Since I’m more interested in photography than in shopping, I enjoyed walking around the grounds of both establishments trying to capture images of flowers, bees and butterflies. Fragrant Isle had a barn where the harvested plants were hanging up to dry. We also saw an interesting copper distiller used to produce lavender oil. Island Lavender is located at the historic Island Dairy, where, in addition to lavender products, you can find interesting artwork and learn about the history of Washington Island.
The two businesses are adjacent to each other, so, instead of trying to decide which one to visit, I’d recommend you stop at both and look around. You won’t get the blues.
