A Buzzy Washington Meadery Is An Idyllic Seattle Getaway With U-Pick Flower Fields And Rural Charm

If your idea of a perfect day is cloud watching, picking wildflowers, spotting farm animals, and sipping mead all to the buzzy sound of bees in the background, Wilderbee Farm near Seattle is for you. The idyllic getaway is a nature-frolicker's dream, rolling a farm, u-pick flower fields, and a tasting room all into one. Sunflowers, yarrow, and zinnias are just some of the gorgeous flowers you can pick there, while the tasting room offers seasonal pours described as the "best mead I've ever had" on Google. For those who are unfamiliar, mead is a delectable libation made from honey, water, malt, and yeast. Evidence of mead-making dates back at least 9,000 years, but since then, techniques and flavor profiles have come a long way. Wilderbee Farm's meadery has an extensive collection ranging from pink chai-spiced blends to honeysuckle and vanilla to peppery-oaky complexes.

Leave early enough from Seattle to Port Townsend, and you can spend as long as you like at Wilderbee Farm getting your fill of its mead and rural charm. The quickest way takes about an hour and a half via Bainbridge Ferry from the Seattle Ferry Terminal and then driving north from Bainbridge Island, an artsy island with a bustling wine scene and eclectic boutiques. Alternatively, you can take the Edmonds-Kingston Ferry and then head north beyond the Puget Sound, where small towns rest, like Hansville, a charming waterfront community with sweeping island views. The family-run, 12-acre property sits just west of Port Townsend, about 10 minutes from the center of town.

Explore the grounds at Wilderbee Farm, and you'll see how well everything goes together there. After taking a peek at the apple orchard, head to the fields where you can make a bouquet from certified organic flowers, herbs, and edibles. The garden is helped along by the farm's on-site native pollinators and honeybees, and bouquets are only $9 at the time of writing. You can fill your basket with as many flowers as an 8-inch twist tie can fit, picking from dahlias, mint, dill, amaranth, nigella, strawflower, and more. Each flower in the rainbow-esque selection appears to stretch eagerly, begging to be chosen. You can take your pick from mid-July through September.

Starting out with the honey from bees they were already keeping, owners Casey and Eric Reeter began brewing mead in small batches in their pantry. Today, the farm's year-round, elegantly designed (yet still rustic somehow) tasting room offers flights and pours Friday through Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. With a rotating mead selection, Wilderbee guests can take their pick of everything from dry to sweet, including autumn elixirs that can be served cold to hot, and pours aged in bourbon barrels.

The autumn meads pair excellently with a visit to the farm's fall pumpkin patch, which, although not on Islands' list of the best pumpkin patches in America, it probably should be. The farm has Sugar Pie pumpkins for fall pastries, and Owl's Eye, whose flat bottom makes it easy to display a festively carved jack-o'-lantern. They also have Uchiki Kuri squash from Japan and Blue Crown squash from New Zealand. After garden-picking to your heart's content, head to Wilderbee's store and gift shop. You can stock up on lavender-infused oils, lotions, creamed and raw honey, handmade wood crafts, and, of course, mead.