Buzzfeed rates La Conner top Cool Small Town in USA

La Conner didn’t just make Santa’s list this year.

It also tops the list of 18 “Surprisingly Cool Small Towns in the USA” released this week by BuzzFeed, the New York City-based internet media company.

BuzzFeed contributor Jemima Skelley posted her article Monday morning, describing La Conner as a “sleepy coastal town (that) comes alive in spring with the La Conner Daffodil Festival, where thousands of colorful flowers bloom in fields near Mount Baker.” The Tulip Festival is not mentioned.

Skelley, a freelance travel writer and video producer from Sydney, Australia, cites La Conner’s boutiques, cafes, restaurants and proximity to the San Juan Islands as key draws for visitors.

“It’s only about a 30-minute drive to the (Anacortes) ferry,” Skelley writes, “from which you can spot orcas between April and October.”

Downtown store owner Robyn Bradley saw Skelley’s account and immediately shared it on the La Conner Community page.

“I thought you guys might like to see that our town was No. 1 in this BuzzFeed article about cool small towns,” Bradley wrote. A spring Instagram photo of handmade la conner, her store, was BuzzFeed’s visual choice for highlighting La Conner.

La Conner’s competition for top spot on the list was formidable.

Oxford, Mississippi, a college town that Skelley identifies as a “cultural hub of the South,” ranked second.

Other towns making the list were Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a peaceful Ozark getaway spot; Fredericksburg, Texas, in the famed Texas Hill Country; Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, noted for its historic architecture and mountain views; Montpelier, Vermont, the smallest state capital in the country; Paducah, Kentucky, on the scenic Ohio River; and Medicine Park, Oklahoma, in the Wichita Mountains, north of Lawton.

Jacksonville, Oregon, founded in the 1850s near the popular Woodland Trails, garnered 12th place on Skelley’s list.

Within an hour of Bradley’s posting, the BuzzFeed story had scored 46 “likes” and a handful of comments.

“Your shops are sure great anchors now for creating that interest,” wrote Anacortes business owner Joan Barlow.

Skelley’s story was accompanied by a BuzzFeed editor’s note addressing the ongoing COVID-19 emergency, stressing that the pandemic is still impacting travel and destinations have different coronavirus restrictions in place.