Thursday, June 20. I arrived at SEATAC airport about 20 minutes before Bill. During that wait time, I found the Seattle Light Rail system (Orca) and got tickets. Bill arrived and then we railed to Westlake Station, leaving a 20-minute walk to the Hotel Crocodile.
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| Felt like I was being watched. |
This hotel has a music venue on the first floor – we were on the second floor. It was famous for being noisy (earplugs are a standard issue for all hotel guests). Luckily for us, there wasn’t a concert this evening. We left our luggage with the music venue manager who said he would take the luggage up the service elevator. A customer elevator did not exist. We walked up the staircase to a swanky lounge with a bar and several crocodile statues. The hotel manager met us; we introduced ourselves and we said we were awaiting our luggage on the service elevator. She said she would fetch the luggage and that the room was available in a few moments. We chilled, eating various candies from lounge dishes. The hotel manager returned and we moved our luggage to our nice huge room.
We refreshed ourselves and left to catch up with Jim, a fellow Costa Rican surfer who lives on Bainbridge Island, a neighboring island. We wandered around the huge Pikes Place Market and saw the obligatory fish toss. This building has unbelievably unleveled flooring.
Jim’s girlfriend Jodi’s arrival was delayed so Jim would have to
leave early to greet her. We had beers
and lunch, and more wandering around the neighborhood before Jim had to
leave. Bill and I stopped at Kell’s
Irish Pub for whiskey (Writer’s Tears) and split a corn beef sandwich for
dinner.
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| Funky Seattle |
Friday. June 21. The plan was for a 7 am hotel departure and pick up a breakfast burrito from the nearby Bang Bang Café for a ferry ride. Alas, Bang Bang opened at 7 am but the kitchen did not operate until 8 am. So we enjoyed killer scones/tea/coffee instead. It was a short and simple (downhill) walk to the FRS Clipper fast ferry ride to Victoria. We paid extra for middle front-row VIP seats on a wide high-speed catamaran. Being in the front row gave us an unobstructed view for the entire trip and was so worth the extra cost. Also, we could go outside at the boat stern if we wanted to deal with the wind.
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| Mount Rainier, seen from the stern of the ferry. |
It
was a long 1h15m to get off the ship (30 minutes) and through immigration
(45m). We luggage-checked at our hotel
and met Aryeh in the parking lot. So
good to see my friend. Aryeh recommended
lunch at a cool outdoor restaurant (of course!) and we got several starter
entries and noshed while Aryeh and I caught up. Aryeh said we should ride
with him to see more of the area as well as his haunted home. So we traveled to Aryeh’s home. It was HUGE (!) with character throughout AND
a killer coffee bar. Aryeh indulged me
w/ a tasty espresso for the remainder of the tour. We went into the attic (think: Haunting of
Hill House (original film)) – yes this is a haunted house.
After leaving the haunted attic, Aryeh walks down the hallway, looks to the right, and says “Hello”. DID Aryeh JUST TALK TO A GHOST!?!?!?!? No, it was Hannah (Ben’s girlfriend) that just arrived. THANK GOD!
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| Aryeh, Hannah, and me. |
It was so good the meet Hannah! Our connection (Ben) is busy hiking the Pacific Coast Trail. Aryeh then drove us around the peninsula with a notable stop at Gonzales Hill. This short hike gave a great ocean view, the surrounding islands, and the peninsula.
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| On top of Gonzales Hill. |
By
now our time with Aryeh and Hannah had come to an end. Aryeh
had an evening sailing obligation so Bill and I were dropped off at our hotel.
Bill
and I wandered around the Victoria waterfront then settled into Finns for
dinner. Finns had a second-floor outdoor
patio overlooking the bay. Bonus: their menu listed dirty martinis! So we ordered some and the waitress did the
final shake and pour at our table.
Feeling kinda special after that.
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| Downtown Victoria |
We
continued our biking into Beacon Hill Park.
Now, I know late June is the optimal time to visit Victoria, but the
park was in full bloom and growth. Very,
very beautiful. We decided it was time
for a pint so we backtracked to Breakwater Bistro Bar for an ocean view and an
earned pint.
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| The deserved pints. |
The wind and colder temperatures convinced us to end our biking. So we biked back to the bike rental place, and then G&L continued back to their home. Later Bill and I walked across Johnson Street Bridge and then Ubered to G&L’s home.
Lisa
greeted us at the door and gave us a tour of their home. Their home has windowed views and a backyard
deck overlooking what is called The Gorge.
At their home, The Gorge is the width of a river, with a park on the
other side of the water, and is tidal so the ocean water will appear as a river
with a current going in or out depending on the tide. Gary cooked up a surf-and-turf feast while we
enjoyed conversation and dinner into the evening. I feel so lucky to have met such great
friends in Nosara.
Sunday, June 23. Bill and I had a marginal breakfast poutine at Cora. Then we walked back to the Beacon Hill Park. Who knew, the park was only about 4 blocks from our hotel? I kept repeating to Bill that I was astounded by the lack of dogs and graffiti and the abundance of beautiful flowers.
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| The Moss Lady in Beacon Hill Park. |
Walking about made us thirsty so we returned
to Finn’s for a pint and got the same waitress as before. She was surprised that I remembered her name
(“Emily”). Dinner was at Irish Times
where we again split a dinner and doubled up on whiskeys.
Tuesday,
June 25. The person checking us in at
the hotel highly recommended we have lunch at the parliament dining area. She said the food is killer and it is
subsidized! Well, we tried, and then
discovered it was a reservation only.
Next time! So we had brunch at
John’s diner again.
We returned to check out of our hotel and killed time by walking about town. Our Vancouver shuttle involved a bus ride, a ferry ride, and another bus ride. The walk to the Victoria bus station was simple. We boarded the bus and were lucky to score seats directly behind the driver. This gave us an unobstructed view forward. The first bus ride ended in Swartz Bay, where the bus drove onto the ferry. Once the bus parked we were free to go upstairs on the ferry. It was huge. There were several dining areas and an open outdoor area on the top deck. Google Maps listed the water route between the islands so we got to the top outdoors deck and saw many waterfront mansions. And got to see some whales in an inlet.
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| Mount Baker from the ferry. |
We re-boarded the bus at the
end of the ferry ride. We had several, so
many, stops before our Westin Bayshore stop.
I have to say, I have a healthy respect for any bus driver who navigates
city streets. How do they do that???
We
departed at our stop and walked the remaining 4 blocks to our Times Square
Suites hotel. It was nicely equipped and even had a clothes washer/dryer.
We
have been to Vancouver back in 2019. The
previously used Airbnb was booked so our Times Square Suites hotel was 1 block
away, and everything we enjoyed on the last trip was nearby. We had brunch at The Basic on Denman and then
rented bikes at Spokes and biked around Stanley Park. Being that it was
midweek, we didn’t see a cricket match.
We then turned in the rented bikes and walked along the waterfront.
Lunch and a pint were at Tap and Barrel. The weather turned and started raining
so home to dry out and nap. In the early evening, we walked to English Bay and
had dinner at Kintaro Ramen. We enjoyed
this place 5 years ago but this time it was lacking.
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| Notice the huge tree on top of the building. |
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| OK, how did this get approved? |
Thursday, June 27. We walked to English Beach and then south to Granville Island. On our previous trip, we had biked to GI and crossed a long bridge to get there. This time we opted to walk. And during the walk, I looked up at the walking bridge and realized it would add about 1 extra mile each way to our walk. So we opted for a water taxi both ways (good decision!).
And
just like at Seattle’s Pike Market, I was astounded by the abundance of fresh
fish (and their cost!). Some of the
whole salmon would cost $500!
Plans
were to meet up with Alyssa for drinks/dinner.
Alyssa normally works from home but was in the Vancouver office today
until 5 pm. Alyssa texted that she was
on a bus to the Denman/Robson intersection; then she texted that she missed the
bus stop and might be about 1 hour late.
So what were Bill and I to do? Well, we always enjoyed a dirty martini at The Lift during our last trip – why not have one there? So we walked to the waterfront, entered The Lift got premium seats around a fire pit, and ordered drinks. Then Alyssa texted that she was ahead of schedule, and should she meet us at our hotel. Well, maybe not. Alyssa joined us at The Lift for a drink and catch up on life. We closed out at The Lift and then dined at a Thai noodle place on Denman. It was so good to catch up with Alyssa – so much is going on in her life.
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| So good to visit with Alyssa. |
We said
our post-dinner goodbyes on Denman, with the intent of a possible meetup in
Europe during 2025. Bill and I returned
to our rooftop patio for a Sambuca and a downtown city view.
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| Evening view from the hotel rooftop. |
Saturday,
June 29. We checked out of the hotel and
then walked about the waterfront, Gastown, and Chinatown. Then we boarded Amtrak at 4:45 pm to get to
Seattle. It was a painless train ride,
with upgraded seats. Note to self: sneak on airplane liquor bottles, at least to
avoid the long line in the bar. We
arrived at the Seattle downtown Amtrak station.
It was like an airport with too many taxis and Ubers outside. We opted to walk a few blocks and then
summoned an Uber to get to our SEATAC hotel.
Once
we got to the hotel and checked in, I told Bill it was time for a beer. We walked to a nearby 7-11, got a beer each,
then returned to the hotel to find an outdoor seating area. So relaxing to wind down outside.
Sunday, June 30. It was a simple hotel breakfast and shuttle to the airport. At least for me, it was. Bill was monitoring his travel flights and then told me he had a 3-minute window at Midway to change flights. That didn’t work: Bill ended up overnighting in Chicago for the return.
As
for me, it is an on-time direct flight, a free shuttle to Old Town, a 10-minute
wait for an Amtrak to Solana Beach, followed by a short Uber to home.
Lots to learn from this trip.
- Comfort VIP seats on FRS Clippers for a possible $50 is so worth it. Plus, we realized we missed the complimentary champagne so they brought it later, as well as waiving the $20 luggage fee.
- Amtrak Vancouver to Seattle 4.5 hours; $74 + extra $26 for business class. Again, so worth the extra cost.
- The Vancouver hotel, Times Square Suites, had a clothes washer/dryer. This was needed after we stayed and walked Seattle and Victoria. Our original plans were to find a Vancouver laundromat. Plans are to look for washer/dryers when having multiple stops.
