Fall Trip | Seattle & Vancouver Days 1 & 2

Our fall trip to Seattle and Vancouver for six days was one of our several trips this year to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.  Since I am flying on free companion fare all year on Southwest Airlines, and Southwest doesn’t fly into Vancouver, we had to fly into Seattle first and then rent a car and drive up to Canada.  We flew up to Seattle on Thursday 10/3 and landed around lunch time.  After a long process to get our rental car (we rented with Thrifty and it was no problem when we told them we planned to take the car into Canada), we drove to the Crowne Plaza downtown Seattle.  They let us check in early because they had a room available.  The hotel was very nice.

We used Yelp and found a Korean cafeteria style place called Market Fresh two blocks away for lunch.  They had a large buffet style bar, except you pay by weight after you fill your plate.  The ladies who run the place will let you try any of the dishes first with a sample.  They even have bulgogi beef.  Our two plates of lunch was $19.71 including two cans of soda, which was totally reasonable!  We were quite happy with it.

From there, we walked towards Capitol Hill to visit our favorite bookstore in Seattle, the Elliott Bay Book Company.  We had been there before about 10 years ago when we visited Seattle for our 15th anniversary.  But the bookstore has moved to Capitol Hill since then. 

We still love the book store.  Nothing makes us happier than a huge independent bookstore full of different kinds of books. 

They have a cafe in the basement, just like in their old Pioneer Square location!

We shared a latte.

Because we were saving ourselves for treats down the street in the same neighborhood!  We visited Salt& Straw for some ice cream.  We have two Salt & Straw in San Diego now, and it’s one of our favorite ice cream places.  I tried a special flavor invented by local kids in Seattle.  It was pumpkin based.

And rather delicious!

Then we walked down the street and Todd could not resist Cinnaholic. 

He loves cinnamon buns and had to try a place that lets you customize it!  Todd tried one with chai frosting and apples.  It wasn’t as wonderful as he thought it would be, but he was still glad to try it out.

After a ton of walking hills in the afternoon, we went back to the hotel for a nap.  We had planned a later dinner (around 7pm) at Pike Place Market.  What we found out when we woke up after 6pm was that they closed at 6pm, and the place we wanted to eat dinner at, Pike Place Chowder, closed already.  Never fear!  They also had a location in Pacific Place shopping center!  We made the 10 minute walk there and we were glad we did.  I had the large New England clam chowder and it was great!  One of the best chowders I’ve ever had, for sure.

Todd had salmon fish & chips and he loved it!  He only got the two piece because of our earlier treats during the day.  Otherwise he said he would have gotten the three piece meal because it was so good.

Day 1 in Seattle was complete.  The next morning, we checked out of our hotel room and drove to Pike Place Market to get some breakfast and check it out for an hour before driving up to Bellingham.  We had gone there during our 2009 Seattle trip, but there were lots of new vendors/stores. 

We went to Storyville Coffee for a croissant, a chai latte, and a coffee.  It was quite yummy.

We saw Pike Place Fish Market, where they threw a fish when someone bought one! 

We bought some cookies, brownies, cinnamon rolls, and pastries at Three Girls Bakery and Cinnamon Works. 

The pumpkin spiced cookie was huge and really delicious!

We walked around the inside of Pike Place Market to check other things out. 

Then we ran out of time and it was time to drive up to Bellingham for lunch with our friend Cassi!  It was a 1.5 hour drive, almost exactly halfway to Vancouver BC.  The drive was so beautiful.  I’m in love with the large green trees up there!

We met our friend Cassi at The Filling Station in Bellingham for lunch.  I had the El Camino Burger withpasture-raised beef, pepperjack, avocado, lettuce, tomato, jalapeños, tortilla strips, zesty pepper aioli, and sesame seed bun.  It was so delicious!

Todd had Triumph chicken sandwich.

After lunch we went to Cassi’s house to check it out.  She gave us some homemade cookies for the road too!  Todd met Cassi at one of his previous jobs, and she and I became friends because we both love to craft!

Bellingham was beautiful and we loved the trees and the lake!

About 30 minutes drive north on the I-5, we reached the Canadian border!

The wait there was minimal.  We took the alternative “truck crossing” (even though there were no trucks in line when we went through) and only waited about 5-10 minutes.  After a passport check and some questions from Canadian customs, we were through into Canada!  An hour later, we checked into the Holiday Inn in downtown Vancouver.  We rested for a while, then we walked about to find some dinner.  Of course, when in Canada, eat poutine!  We walked down the street to a place called Mean Poutine. 

We thought it was a restaurant but it was a walk-up place without seating.  So we got our Mean Supreme poutine and Classic Hot Dog and walked back to our hotel to enjoy.  And boy it was good!

That concludes our first two days of vacation in Seattle, Bellingham, and Vancouver!  Stayed tuned for a few more posts about our adventures in Vancouver British Columbia!