West Coast Adventures: Pacific Northwest Trip

For Matt's final spring break, we wanted to do something big to celebrate completing dental school, all that we have accomplished in the past 4 years, and the adventures that lie ahead of us. The original thought was a cruise with our closest dental school couple friends, or a beach house gathering, but this is a busy time to coordinate and it worked out easier to all do our own thing. Matt and I have always been intrigued by Seattle and New Orleans, the two random cities that often surface in our domestic travel wishlist. We found great deals flying into Seattle, and a very fun trip quickly developed. We spent two days in Seattle (new to me), two days in Vancouver (new to Matt; my grandparents served a 3-year mission in Vancouver when I was a preteen so I have a few memories of Vancouver), and two days in Victoria (new to me). We were so lucky with weather and health, and we were able to really enjoy savoring three unique cities and enjoy time together.

First stop: Seattle

We arrived late afternoon and hit the ground running exploring Pike Place and the nearby Piers.

Hands-on crab dinner at the Crab Pot

Pike Place Market

We also happened upon Gum Wall in Post Alley, fun in a rather disgusting sort of way, and explored a few piers. At the end of this post is a link to a Web Album with over 100 pictures capturing it all.

Wednesday, we traversed much of Seattle. We started in Chinatown at Uwajimaya (a seafood supermarket with large fish displays- fun for John, smelly for me), then transported over to the Space Needle. The weather was remarkably clear for Seattle, though it was still COLD for us Nevadans.

Panoramic from the Space Needle

Running and exploring

We also walked by the very modern Public Library (with a quick puzzle break for John), the unique and historic Pioneer Square, and Ivar's Seafood Bar, where we tried the famous Fish & Chips. It was fun to focus on "origins" in Seattle, noting the first Starbucks, first Nordstrom, and flagship REI. The REI there is amazing, a very cool building with a fun kids play area. We finished our Seattle experience with a great Seafood dinner and a few more pictures of the space needle.

Next stop: Vancouver

Thursday, we drove across the border and headed North of Vancouver to my favorite park from visiting my Grandparents: Lynn Canyon. This mossy wonderland, with towering redwoods, waterfalls, and rushing river is so refreshing and escapist for being 20 minutes outside of downtown.

The suspension bridge did freak me out a bit this time, as John started wiggling in my arms and the bridge was slick... and it started SNOWING as we left! Luckily we got in some great exploring and pictures beforehand.

In Vancouver, we visited Sun Yat Sen Garden, which is an impressive and ultra-tranquil "scholar retreat" constructed with Ming Dynasty techniques and materials from China.

Despite this angelic face, this little guy did little to contribute to the garden's tranquility :)

The carefully hand-placed rocks and wide variety of patterns was beautiful.

We also walked around Chinatown, Gastown (fun, historic downtown), modern Downtown, and Canada Place Harbor. Despite seeing a surprising amount of suspect transactions in the first two locations, it was charming and the weather was great.

The Harbor, with a view of North Vancouver and The Teardrop statue.

Downtown, with a view of the beautiful Fairmont hotel.

Friday, we dedicated the entire morning to gorgeous Stanley Park. Just Northwest of downtown, this huge park is filled with gorgeous trails, lakes, museums, and every view of the water and surrounding areas.

Matt's panoramic of Downtown, as seen from the Totem Pole exhibit

Totem Poles

The wonderful Aquarium (also at Stanley Park)

John LOVED it. Fish, dolphins, Baluga whales, turtles, frogs, AND monkeys and alligators!

I still think Monterey Bay has the most impressive quantity of exhibits, but this Aquarium was very well done, with fun shows and a variety of exhibits.

Friday night, we explored Granville Island (with a Public Market similar to Pike Place and a similar local, fun "foodie" feel) and tried a highly acclaimed local Japanese Tapas restaurant.

Final stop: Victoria

The ferry from Tsawwassen (South of Vancouver) to Victoria was AMAZING. The San Juan islands are gorgeous, the entire 1.5 hour ferry was a visual treat.

After landing, we headed to Butchart Gardens, which was stunning in visual aesthetics, fresh floral air, and outrageous price.

The layout and design behind the displays was so impressive.

Naturally, John was more interested in the functionality of the displays.

Victoria is SO charming. A slow, beautiful port town with hundreds of restaurants and hotels and tourist shops, several historic buildings, museums, and patronage to British culture.

The Parliament Building

Which lights up at night!

The Harbor

On Saturday night we walked around the Parliament Building, Fairmont Empress, and downtown before indulging on a Lobster feast for our biggest night out. Once we could contemplate dessert, all ice cream shops had closed (and it was only 8pm), so we got Ben& Jerry's from 7-11 and enjoyed a night of questionably late but very fun night eating ice cream in our hotel room.

Sunday we went to a local breakfast cafe then spent hours exploring the Royal BC museum, with fantastic displays of natural history, anthropology, and recent history. Very enjoyable and interesting exhibits!

Thunderbird Park, in front of the museum

We finished our experience in Victoria with brownie sundaes for lunch (picture below), tea (herbal) and scones, and a fun Italian restaurant.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip! Fun to spend so much time together, and we loved exploring these beautiful, interesting cities. A great way to celebrate completion of Dental School and our past four years!

Here are more pictures, capturing our whole adventure.