Russell and I decided to "wing it" on this vacation and only had plans for arrival day. We flew into PDX, then took the scenis route to a suburb of Seattle to have dinner with Joe and his family to give them some of Junior's ashes and to thank Joe for supporting us in the days after Junior passed. From there we drove into Seattle and stayed the night. The rest of the trip was totally unplanned.
Night 1 - we stayed at Inn at the Market which is the only hotel located in Pike Place Market. It was very nice.
We were a little "early" to enjoy all that Pike Place Market offered, as most places didn't open until later in the day. But I did manage to do some damage at the Post Alley children's boutique. Got some really great stuff for Juniper including a David Bowie tshirt and a book about a naked Sasquatch. This was my first realization of how popular the Bigfoot is in these parts. And I am so here for it.
Port Angeles, WA, United States
We drove to Port Angeles so we could take the ferry to Victoria, B.C. unfortunately we missed the last ferry of the day by about 2 minutes - no exaggeration. I thought we lost our chance at seeing Canada, but we figured it out in the end.
Ferry Dock, Port Townsend, United States
Coupeville, WA, United States
We landed in Coupeville, a little town on Whidbey Island that served as the cute town location for Practical Magic. We headed to the Captain Whidbey Inn...
This place was so cute and quiet with beautiful views of Skagit Bay. Historic Inn built in 1907. We had dinner in Judge Still's. They made a fabulous lemon blueberry martini with a blueberry liquer made on the island. Really fun.
We both knew we wanted to go whale watching, so since I was up hours before Russell, I found a place about 30 minutes away, and booked us a half day whale watching excursion at Island Adventures. It did NOT disappoint. On our way out we saw cute harbor seals sunning themselves on the rocks, and then about an hour later, we saw a pod of Biggs Orca Whales taking a couple of those seals down. Luckily I couldn't make out the details, but seeing that happen in real life was definitely an experience.
We liked this historic downtown area so much, we decided to stay the night. Drove up to the Majestic Inn and Spa and asked for a room. Luckily they had a lovely corner room with balcony available AND they grind you fresh coffee for a french press in the room. Such amazing coffee in this region. I was so happy.
We liked breakfast here so much the morning of the whale watching adventure, that we went back the next morning before heading out of Anacortes and heading back down to Seattle to see Alyssa, who was in town for a business trip. Note to self: find out how to make that buttermilk syrup.
This was a lucky find. The Edgewater Hotel is a famous rock and roll hotel. So many of the greats have stayed here, but none more famously that the Beattles who stayed here during their first US tour. No hotels wanted them as guests apparently, so the Edgewater stepped up and the boys were happy to pose for some very famous pictures of them fishing out their hotel suite window into Edgewater Bay. This is the only hotel that is completely over water in Seattle. It was built for the 64 world fair, but didn't open in time, so it was suffering. The Beatles put this place on the map.
While we were on a hop-on hop-off double decker bus tour of Seattle, I saw a sign for a "fast ferry" to Victoria! We booked that night for the next morning and extended our stay at the Edgewater for one more night. The ferry departed at 8 am, we were in Victoria by 11am, strolled the very walkable town and boarded to return to Seattle at 4pm. It was a fun day, but next time we'll stay longer.
My one ask for getting to Canada, was to have some real poutine. Frankie's delivered.
Seattle, WA, United States
After arriving back in Seattle, we happened upon trivia while having dinner at Pub 70. Seriously the most delicious chicken sandwich I've ever had. Sorry Chick Fil A.
Instead of heading back to Portland for our final night, we decided to make our way back to the coast for a little more time in Cannon Beach. On the way, we made a pitstop at Black Bear Diner - not bad for a bear-themed Perkins.
Banner Photo Credit: forann
