Why You Should Visit the Original ‘Practical Magic’ Filming Location This Fall
It’s exactly as I imagined it. Winding roads lined with Douglas firs and wildflowers. The air perfumed by sea salt and shoreline kelp. Quaint towns that consist of little more than a main street and a sign that reads “see a whale, ring the bell.” Whidbey Island is peak Pacific Northwest. A profusion of charm! I’ve come here by way of ferry from mainland Washington on a crisp, late-August morning, praying to spot an orca and daydreaming about the world-famous Penn Cove mussels that await me.
But the real reason I am here is to pay homage to one of the great cinematic masterpieces of our time: Practical Magic. If “midnight margaritas” or “witch, witch, you’re a witch” means anything at all to you, welcome—you’re in the right place. This 1998 film directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman might bear a 30% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but real ones know to ignore it.
With its fabulously chaotic plot, quintessential ’90s costume design, and quotes destined for a coffee mug (“hang onto your husbands, girls!”), it’s a total time capsule. And despite the story—adapted from the book by Alice Hoffman—taking place in Massachusetts, Dunne chose Whidbey Island as the filming location for its historic seaport backdrop. (Which, I can attest, feels so similar to the New England coast that a Boston friend thought I was in town when she eyed my Instagram story.)
I was first introduced to Practical Magic through a middle school ballet recital set to the film’s score by Alan Silvestri (a real earworm, by the way).
As I got older and added the movie
As I got older and added the movie to my annual Halloween watchlist, its preeminence in the whimsigoth canon became ever clearer. And now, with a sequel in our midst (and spooky season on the horizon), it seemed like a fine time to visit Whidbey Island. Not only to see the original movie’s filming location, but to bask in the bewitching atmosphere of the landscape. After a one-hour drive from Seattle-Tacoma Airport to Mukilteo, I steer my rental onto the ferry and glide across Puget Sound to reach Whidbey Island.
From there, a breezy 15 minutes to The Inn at Langley, my home base for this Practical Magic pilgrimage. The 28-key retreat, which originally opened in 1989, was acquired by Akin Hospitality last year and underwent an impressive renovation before reopening this July. With its cedar shingles and earthy interiors, The Inn at Langley is a soothing swirl of Japanese design and Pacific Northwest craft.
All of the rooms face the Saratoga Passage and come with a private balcony (where I take my breakfast each morning). Despite being pared back, the interiors are no less praiseworthy—a fireplace framed by olive green glazed tiles, plush chocolate brown carpeting, and a fresh floral arrangement of primrose and bluebells are among the loveliest details. After a leisurely bite at the nearby Saltwater Fish House & Oyster Bar (clams served in a white wine sauce with ham and piquillo peppers), it’s off to Alma, where I fail to resist the siren call of a vintage cream cable-knit sweater.
(Very Sally Owens coded!) Later, a bath
(Very Sally Owens coded!) Later, a bath in the deep soaking tub is thwarted by a shout from my neighbor’s deck. “Whale!” I throw on a robe and rush outside to get a better look. It isn’t an orca—probably a humpback—but the sighting is nothing short of magic. The following day begins as all good days do: at the spa. I’m greeted by Misha and Marilyn (the latter—the director—has been with the hotel since the 1990s and possesses a calming aura that resembles the Owens aunts).
The 90 minutes that ensue are a revitalizing symphony of massage and scrub called The Langley Reset, breaking down myriad knots and soothing my nervous system with scalp and foot rituals. I emerge feeling deliriously relaxed and, most certainly, reset. I hop in my car en route to the town of Coupeville (where the majority of Practical Magic’s filming took place) and switch on the movie’s soundtrack for the 40-minute journey north.
Upon arrival, a hand pie from Little Red Hen Bakery and cold brew from Crabby Coffee fuel me for a day of meandering town highlights like the Kingfisher Bookstore, historical society museum, and the Coupeville Wharf overlooking Penn Cove. When Dunne and his crew first arrived in Coupeville, they painted the buildings on Front Street white to match the Cape Cod aesthetic. After filming, they were reverted back to their original colors, which is how the buildings appear now.
Even still, moseying about town is like
Even still, moseying about town is like a Practical Magic scavenger hunt. There’s the fictional Verbena Botanicals shop, which was housed inside the 1866-era Sedge Building. And Toby’s Tavern, which was styled as the Catch and Fry for the movie and occupies the Whidbey Mercantile building circa 1875. What’s now The Beary Scoop was the barbershop in Practical Magic. And fun fact: the hanging ice cream sign outside Kapaw’s Iskreme was built as a movie prop and remains to this day.
(Rather devastating: the Owens Victorian home was an architectural shell built by Roman and Williams and was torn down after filming.)
I pop inside the chamber of commerce and explain why I am in town. “Let me show you where the sausage is made,” the woman working says with a grin as she unlocks a cabinet. Tucked inside is a shrine to Practical Magic with original film props, including bottles from Verbena Botanicals.
She tells me there have been more like me, traveling to Coupeville in honor of Practical Magic, and that the island’s prized Blue Fox Drive-In theater has already sold out for the September 10th premiere of the sequel. Tickets included chocolate cake, entry to a ‘witchy wardrobe’ contest, and—most crucially—margaritas. That evening, I’m seated below a monastic Noguchi lantern at the hotel’s restaurant, Passage, facing the open kitchen where Michelin-starred chef Johnny Spero and his team prepare a tasting menu that celebrates the region’s forests, waters, and farms.
Also: Spero’s newly refreshed garden out front, which
And also: Spero’s newly refreshed garden out front, which smells of sweet alyssum. It kicks off with a cup of amazake, topped with a fragrant bay laurel leaf. Then, a fever dream of Pacific Northwest flavor: scallop in a frozen gazpacho, arranged inside its gradient shell; geoduck (the largest burrowing clam in the world) dressed in a sauce of mussels, black garlic, and epazote; Haenuki rice (flown in from Japan) with egg yolk, sweet peppers, and spot prawn; and steelhead trout in a sauce of marigolds from a local, female-owned flower farm.
The final savory dish is beef cheek presented with abalone liver and smoked butter, which is paired with a Bordeaux blend from the Walla Walla Valley. The evening concludes with a couple of clam-shaped madeleines, which I shuttle back to my room to enjoy with coffee the next morning. I devote the remainder of my time on Whidbey Island to communing with nature, a directive I presume the Owens women would approve of.
A hike high above the coastline of Ebey’s Landing, tree-spotting at Meerkerk Gardens (look for the rare Monkey Puzzle Tree), and a meander around Green Bank Farm. The trip comes to a close at Earth Sanctuary, a 72-acre nature reserve created by an artist and environmentalist. It’s closer to an untamed forest trail than a conventional garden, with a Buddhist stupa, dolmen, and traditional medicine wheels tucked between ferns, wetlands, and towering firs.
About 20 minutes into the reserve, I arrive at a stone circle about 40 feet in diameter. The outer circle of stones stands 11 feet high, with Columbia River basalt columns rising from the inside. I step through—indulging Aunt Jet’s aphorism that “there’s a little witch in all of us”—drawing the misty island air into my lungs and whispering an incantation that I’ll return to this mystical place someday.
Source: www.vogue.com
