Come the 2010 winter Olympics, hotel prices in Vancouver will go through the roof. Stay in Bellingham, drive the hour, save a couple hundred bucks a night. That won't work for events in Whistler; the Olympic ski slopes are a bit far. But Vancouver is a hop.

And so are the San Juan Islands. In 1859, about 30 miles offshore from Bellingham, the U.S. and the British fought the Pig War over ownership of the San Juan and Gulf Islands. The States got the San Juans, now offering some of the best kayaking anywhere, plus a chance at spotting some of the nearly 100 resident orcas that swim among Shaw, Lopez, San Juan, and Orcas Islands. The largest settlement, Friday Harbor, on San Juan, is a town of art galleries and shops. Head to Lime Kiln Point State Park for shore-based whale-watching; the local San Juan Island Vineyards makes a nice Riesling—fine for a picnic. Then head back to Bellingham, a place that recalls 1970s Seattle, before it got discovered: a small town that likes being a small town.

•LOGISTICS: Bellingham has an international airport. You can also fly into Seattle or Vancouver and drive from there. Fairhaven Village Inn, from $129, www.fairhavenvillageinn.com; Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro, www.bbaybrewery.com; Ski to Sea, www.skitosea.com. Pizza'zza, www.pizzazza.com. Access the San Juan Islands via the Washington State Ferry, out of Anacortes, about a 50-minute drive south from Bellingham, www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries.