Vancouver: Day One

Wednesday morning we were up bright and early, although that should probably be foggy and early. It was misty and damp waiting for the bus. It dropped us right near the Amtrak station. We got our seating taken care of and we lined up to board. This is my first time on Amtrak. The best part is no need to arrive an hour or two beforehand. We were in the 6th car. Seats were roomy, and we were on our way in no time. Bye, bye Seattle! Had it not been so foggy we would've had excellent views, but nearly the whole way the sky and sea were dreary shades gray. The sun finally peaked in northern Washington. By then, we were surrounded by farms and timber. Later, we arrived. We're in Canada, eh? Customs was easy, it lacked the chaos you experience when traveling to Mexico. The train station was an odd place. There was a woman bathing in the bathroom sink and then as we walked outside another woman pulled up to pick up her friend. She was in a bikini and seemed to be high as a kite. I could only laugh and wonder what else was in store. We hopped on the bus and we were checked into our hotel, Best Western Downtown Vancouver, in a jiffy.


It was lunchtime and we were starved! Frank picked Nuba for lunch, which we almost missed. It's located in the basement of a corner building in Gastown. We ordered red lentil soup to start. It was terrific. Eggplant stew and lamb pita followed. I liked the stew best, the pita was filled with bold flavors (lamb, baba, feta, taboulleh and onions) I felt they all worked against each other, rather than blending harmoniously.




After lunch we walked around Gastown to see the sights and get our bearings.




I think they might have had the same number if not more coffee shops here as Seattle. We came across the steam clock, it wasn't until later that we realized it literally steams a few times a day.


That's a Japadog stand in the bottom left corner. It seemed to be the thing to try while in Vancouver, but we were stuffed when we found it. We never came across it again. I suppose we missed out.


After our brief tour of the neighborhood we were back at the hotel and ready for a siesta. We were beat.

Hours later we were rested and hungry (again). We knew we'd be catching the Celebration of Light firework display so we wanted to stay close by, it was scheduled to begin at 10pm. We settled on Cioppino Grill in Yaletown for dinner. It is known as THE place for Italian and fresh seafood. It's also known for high tabs, but we found it to be on par with strip prices. We started with a daily special, Heirloom Tomatoes and Dungeness Crab with Avocado vinaigrette. It was fantastic! It tasted like summer on a plate. Clean and refreshing flavors.


For entrees, Frank selected the Risotto with Dungeness Crab and herbed peas. Simply wonderful! And I had slow cooked Halibut with Tomatoes, alongside asparagus, peas and mashed potatoes. It was excellent. All in all, a stellar meal.




We raced over to the beach at English Bay to find a spot to view the fireworks. Once the sunset faded away, the fireworks began.


It was a series of displays all synchronized to music. This night of the competition was USA, so we heard all sorts of familiar songs.










The firework show lasted 25-minutes. We sat on the beach to let the crowds clearout, we admired the parade of boats as they left the bay. We also touched the water, just to say we were in it.

We walked back near the hotel and went to bar called Morrisey, it was a dark and dank little place. I had a Kronenbourg and Frank had a Hefe from Quebec. We were still exhausted so we turned in after our drink. The early day and previous days walking all over Seattle had worn us out.

Final thoughts on Seattle...

We had an enjoyable time, but it wasn't what I expected. I thought it be more charming and quaint, with many mom and pop restaurants, corner bars, etc. It doesn't have the hustle and bustle of a big city either. I don't know if the economy has hit it hard or if things have been run down for quite sometime. We saw so many buildings/store fronts that were empty in Pioneer Square, Belltown and Queen Anne. After the white collar folks go home, it feels like a ghost-town besides the homeless and passing tourists. It reminded me of downtown Las Vegas just without the wedding chapels, bail bondsmen, and cheap hotels.

I really thought I'd have a smorgasboard of seafood. We passed by a number of the highly recommended places while on the boat tour, I guess I thought they'd be easier to reach. I'm not sure what busses would have gotten us there. We stuck to those that run up and down 1st and 3rd, great that they were timely. It's a crime that Lowells didn't have fresh delicious seafood, all they had to do was shop downstairs. I don't get it. I wish Pike's had a place called "The Kitchen", it would be a place where you could bring previously purchased fish, meats and veggies and they'd cook it all up for you. There was so much that looked wonderful, but as a tourist passing through it did me little good.

I did love Salumi and Dahlia Bakery. Taking part in Bite of Seattle was a great experience, too. The skyline is beautiful. And the baseball park is one of the best places to capture it. An all around great park. It was a nice treat to see my White Sox.

Here are some final downtown photos I overlooked.

Seattle: Day Three

Tuesday, we took the bus to Salumi. A place I just had to visit, it's a deli founded by Armandino Batali, Mario's father. I'm a sucker for Italian delis, I knew I couldn't miss this one. It was one of our longest bus rides, our Starbucks count was up to twelve or so. I think Vegas might have more, at least it seems like it. Frank kept pointing out redheads. There were hundreds in Seattle, I wasn't too unique up there I blended in with my red hair and fair skin. Also, we hadn't seen much skin and not a single boob job. My b-cups fit right in. At home, I can't even go to the grocery store without feeling a bit flat chested, but I digress.

We arrived at Salumi, it draws a crowd, but it was worth the wait.


While we waited, I watched an older woman make gnocchi in the window. There are few things that trigger my impulse buying like that, once we got inside I had to try the gnocchi and we also ordered a sopressata sandwich.




So wonderfully delicious! We also sampled a few salamis while we waited, Agrumi, Mole and Salumi. No two were alike, each had it's own strong flavor. For example, you could taste the chocolate notes in the Mole and ginger was predominant in the Salumi salami.


Our tummies were happy so it was time to move on to see the sights in Pioneer Square. We stopped at the Waterfall park. A daycare class was having a picnic lunch... we didn't stay long.


I loved this old firehouse.




Near the park, I spotted another one of these creepy babies. It was the fifth one I saw. No idea what it represents, but they creeped me out.


The park is popular with the homeless. Also, saw this...


Not a clue what that was about. We walked until we found the underground tours. It seemed like a touristy thing we should do. We spotted a group on the walking tour, and it wasn't quite the type of tour we think we'd enjoy. We inquired about a self-guided tour, but no dice. Guided tours only. We debated it, but decided we'd rather take a harbor tour. We only had time for one. So long Pioneer Square.




To the waterfront we went.

We decided to skip the harbor tour and opted for the lock tour, this way we saw the harbor and also went thru the locks. It was a 2.5 hour tour.




This tanker was huge!




Magnolia, second largest neighborhood in Seattle.




We were able to witness the drawbridge in action. It was neat to see.








A train was roaring by on the drawbridge in no time.


Here, we also entered the Ballard Locks. This area is also popular for fish migration. We saw a bunch of sockeye salmon ready to spawn in the fresh water.


If I recall correctly we rose 12 feet to enter the fresh water.

Shortly after the locks we spotted The Wizard from Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch.


And then we passed under Ballard Bridge, and came across Early Dawn also from Deadliest Catch.




Our boat just makes the bridge clearance.




Onto the next bridge




Then we came upon house boats. Supposedly, filming for Sleepless in Seattle took place at the orange one.


The boat tour goes by a candy factory that sells Theo candy bars, we got a free bar with the purchase of a drink on board. We tried the dark chocolate mint. It was terrible! Imagine rinsing with listerine and then taking a big ole swig of black coffee. Yeah, not good.

The boat tour ends near Queen Anne. It was pretty bizarre not return to where you departed. They provided a shuttle to take us back to the pier. We opted to take the bus, since we really only wanted to go downtown and not as far as the docks.

Tom Douglas' Dahlia Lounge was our destination. Just look for the neon chef, you can't miss it.


Frank tugged on the door and they were closed. No! The horror, the horror. Lunch was only served until 2:30 and dinner wasn't served until 5:00, it was 3:30. No worries, we'll try Lola across the street. It too is Tom Douglas, it must be good... or so we thought. We ordered the daily special - falafel gyro and Pacific prawn skewers.





We misinterpreted the special, we both thought there would be gyro meat with the falafel but no. Just pita and falafels, they rolled out with every bite, it was nearly impossible to eat. The skewers were fine, nothing special. The highlight of both dishes were the salads. Yum! Both were excellent.



After Lola, we couldn't help but swing back over to Dahlia Bakery. This was my favorite (unique to Seattle) place. You'll learn why in a minute.



We shared a roasted turkey sandwich. It was quite good, but compared to the peanut butter cookies it was garbage.


These cookies are made by angels. They take one of my all-time favorite cookies, Peanut Butter Sandwiches from Girl Scouts, and bring it to a whole 'nother level. Chewy oatmeal surrounds creamy rich peanutty peanut butter. As you might imagine we went back inside and bought more. We also tried the oatmeal apricot cookie, which was very good, but hardly memorable after those peanut butter cookies.

Stuffed for the second time today, we went back to the hotel to nap before the game. After getting our second wind, we found ourselves back at Safeco Field.




The whole stadium reeks of garlic fries, apparently, here, they are the ballpark staple. They're so popular they're known as rally fries. I love garlic but these made my eyes water. I couldn't bring myself to try them. Gordon Biersch's version are lightly dusted in comparison.


We couldn't leave without another sampling of an Ichiroll.








Bottom of the ninth, this dipshit charged the field. He was tackled in a hurry and escorted out. The game was hardly affected.


It was another White Sox victory, finished 4 and 0. After the game we got to see the rolling roof in action.


We headed straight back to the hotel, only making a brief stop at Dick's first. It's a cheap burger joint, it sounded a bit like In-N-Out so we thought we'd give it a shot. Their chocolate shake was good, but the cheeseburger and fries were pretty gross. I couldn't eat more than a bite. Back at the hotel, I did a load of laundry and used the public pc while waiting for the wash. I was disconnected nearly 72 hours, kinda weird. Finished our laundry, packed and printed our train tickets and we hit the hay. We were Canada bound in the morning.