Mount Vernon looks to tulip tourists for rescue from pandemic slump

Like in most places, the businesses in downtown Mount Vernon, Washington have struggled through the pandemic. But as things start to open up, all eyes in that town are on the tulip fields blooming nearby.

The big question is whether visitors to those farms can help businesses in Mount Vernon recover.

Historic downtown Mount Vernon sits on a narrow strip of land squeezed between I-5 and the Skagit river.

Just across the river are tulip farms. Every April, those farms erupt in color when the tulips bloom.

Tourists flock there. On their way, many of them pass through Mount Vernon. “They come to see the tulips — they stop for lunch or dinner,” said Nereida Caro, owner of Catrina Tacos and Tequila. “It’s very important for us, the tulips.”