casacaudill

On our way to Tofino

[Hello? Is this thing on?! ... By the time I finish writing this trip report, we'll be on our way to Cleveland for Christmas.]

We woke up the next morning to find that the previous day's rain & clouds had blown away overnight and it was shaping up to be a beautiful day. 

After a quick breakfast at a cafe close to the hotel, we made our way to National to pick up our rental car. We had reserved a midsize SUV online several weeks before the trip, so imagine my surprise when we showed up and there was a dirty Subaru Forester sitting in the parking lot waiting for us. Nothing against Forester's but even the Subaru commercials call it a small SUV and there was no way I was paying the upgraded price for what was nowhere near the vehicle we reserved. Nevermind the fact that the interior was littered with the last renter's trash and the seats had smudges and mud all over them. We walked next door to Budget and ended up getting a Jeep Patriot for less than our previous rental because they had a 10% off deal reserved for Fairmont guests. The Jeep is by no means a luxury car, but it had decent ride height and at least matched the category of rental car we had reserved. Looking back, had the Subaru been clean when we arrived, I may have just kept it and gone along with the whole thing but the fact that it was the only vehicle they had on the lot and they were trying to pass it off to us in its current condition did not please me. You know, it occurs to me that we've ran into this problem a couple of times now with National, specifically.  On one of our trips to Kauai the Jeep Wrangler they tried to give us still had a lot of the previous renters' mud inside (since the mud in Kauai is red, this was not subtle). Maybe that company just has different standards of cleanliness?  Not like Hertz on our last trip to Kauai where we got a pristine Mustang. Now that was CLEAN.  

Anyhow ... I digress.

On our way out of Victoria we tried to find a Best Buy so that we could buy an auxiliary jack to listen to the iPod on the drive. I am notorious for falling asleep within an hour of being on the road unless there is music playing. The further we drove, the more we realized that we weren't going to find a store, so I fought tooth and nail to stay awake and I'm glad I did because about 45 minutes outside of Victoria, you're suddenly in the wilderness with lakes and beautiful cedar lined hillsides hugging the highway and then it opens up onto the bay and you can see for miles in every direction.

 

 

Prior to leaving on this vacation, I had done a bit of reading on the wine region on Vancouver Island. And then mere days before we left the September issue of Sunset magazine arrived, featuring a story on the Island's Cowichan Valley and some of the wines there. Given our love of wine, we decided to stop at a few of the more conveniently located wineries along the main highway up to Tofino to sample some varietals we don't have access to in California. Because the climate is so different than what we have year, the grapes that thrive aren't the varietals we normally drink. Instead there were several grapes I'd never even heard of (and to this day probably couldn't spell properly if I tried). 

Our first stop was Cherry Point Vineyards, famous for its blackberry wines (blackberries are EVERYWHERE on Vancouver Island. We later found that blueberries can be found everywhere as well). The owners first visited the winery several years ago and the husband fell in love with it.  He tried to buy it for several years but the deal never went through.  Then about a year ago he was able to come to a deal with its then-owners, a First Nations tribe, and as they say the rest is history. The wife runs the tasting room and you can see the love they have for the property and for the wine making process.  We didn't love many of their wines but I found the Solera to be interesting and tasty enough to buy a bottle for revisiting later.

On our way to the next winery we found ourselves getting lost and driving in circles. The roads weren't exactly marked extraordinarily well and it was only a rather peculiar paint job on this one house that assured me we'd already been down that road once before. We ended up skipping the next place that was supposed to be on our itinerary and instead made our way over to Blue Grouse Winery, one of the most beautifully rustic and simple wineries you've ever been to. As you turn off the main road, you think to yourself this couldn't possibly be the right way. When driving up a somewhat steep gravel drive, you wonder if you should turn back.  As you turn off that road and you pull up to what looks like someone's house you're convinced that surely you're in the wrong place. And then you see the little sign inviting you to the tasting room around the way, but not before passing a vegetable garden that puts ours to shame. Surprisingly, we weren't the only ones there.  With about four couples in the room, the woman was having a bit of fun explaining the different wines she was pouring and describing the history of the area.  The Cowichan Valley hasn't always been known for its wines.  In the 80s, a handful of folks planted grapes successfully and its slowly grown from there to be about twenty wineries. I think you could find that in a three block radius in Sonoma. 

 

 

 

 

Leaving the area we stopped outside of Nanaimo for lunch at a Burger King. I used to love BK and would valiantly defend the Whopper against claims of Big Mac supremacy. I'm sad to say those days are over. The fake "flame broiled" flavor almost made me sick.  Blech.  We also managed to find a Best Buy a couple of miles down the road to buy an auxiliary cable for the iPod. Score! It is with some trepidation that I admit the reason I was so keen on listening to the radio at this point was because I wanted to listed to my Twilight soundtracks. (Shut up, even the hoighty-toity music magazines had to admit they were good.)

Turning off Highway 19 onto Highway 4 is like entering a different world. Suddenly the landscape goes from being coastal to mountain wilderness, with giant peaks rising up alongside you thousands of feet up. It was the beginning of September and off in the distance I could see a snow-capped granite peak, standing solitary over the rest of the landscape. This is untamed land, mostly untouched by humans or industry or any of the other signs of "progress" that forever changes the landscape. And it was beautiful in a way that nothing we've seen is.  Tahoe and Yosemite come close, but even there you're surrounded by hundreds of other people taking in the same sights.  For much of the drive we were the only vehicle within range. Given that it was coming up on a holiday weekend, I expected the road to Tofino to be a clogged mess, similar to what you'd find on 80 heading up to Tahoe.  Thankfully my expectations were unfounded. We could drive as fast or as slow as we want, slowing down to gape at the majesty around us. "It's so gorgeous" would become our mantra for the next several days.  (Followed by variations of "It's so peaceful" and "It's just so beautiful" in a steady rotation.)

 

We arrived at Middle Beach Lodge sometime around 4 p.m., unsure of what we would find. To say that I did a lot of research on the accommodations on this particular leg of our trip would be an understatement. From rustic lodges to upscale b&bs, I looked into anything and everything as an option. The one thing I'll say is that nothing is cheap in Tofino. The Best Western - which isn't particularly well rated on TripAdvisor - was going for $299/night. A room in a random person's house (not even a full-scale b&b) was being offered at $200/night.  There were a couple of condos in Downtown Tofino on the inlet side going for $170/night, but they were furnished from head to toe in cheap Ikea furniture and I just couldn't bring myself to want to stay there to save a couple of hundred dollars off the total cost of the trip. From the very beginning MBL was a place I kept coming back to and the photos and reviews only cemented that longing.  A perfect mix of luxury and rusticity, it was definitely more than we wanted to spend per night (more than we paid at Ashford Castle, even) but I'm convinced that it helped make this leg of the trip so relaxing and peaceful and just plain wonderful. Set on a rocky bluff, bordering a wide flat beach, it's far enough from town to be isolated, but close enough to everything that you're only a couple of minutes away from anything the area has to offer. We reserved a "deluxe sixplex suite" which means absolutely nothing to anyone except the folks who own the place because there aren't a lot of photos showing what that means. Having convinced Alan this is where I wanted to stay, I was so nervous pulling up to the lodge because we had no idea what to expect. We couldn't have been happier.  The main lodge has a gorgeous, comfortable and inviting main area with big, oversized chairs and couches looking out over the water. Our room, part of a six unit building, sat off to the left, away from the other units, and overlooking the ocean and Mackenzie Beach to the left. We were surrounded by short walks that took you to other parts of the property, but you always felt like you could have been alone in the middle of the forest. It turns out that our suite was really a one bedroom unit with full (albeit small) kitchen, huge bathroom with soaking tub and a deck overlooking the ocean. In a word, perfect.  I could have stayed forever. It wasn't fancy by any stretch of the imagination but it was comfort personified.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After settling in and getting a bit of a rest we made our way into Tofino to find out about some of the wilderness tours and to get dinner. After a bit of back & forth about what we wanted to eat and how  much we wanted to spend we found ourselves at the Sea Shanty restaurant, overlooking Clayoquot Sound and the Tofino Inlet. I was in love. I can still close my eyes and see the islands dotting the landscape, and the still, glassy water with the float planes landing and the small boats coming and going and the sun as it dropped behind the mountain range.

 

 

 

Victoria, Day 2

So where was I?

We woke up on our second day in Victoria to find that the rain was coming down hard and the temperature had dropped about twenty degrees - exactly the weather we were promised from the weather report when packing for the trip. Hooray! While some people get upset when it rains on their vacations, I really don't mind. What's a little water going to do to you? (The exception to this is beach vacations.)

We lazed around the room a little bit, getting caught up on our reading, before ordering room service for breakfast. I've ordered room service at places like Sheraton, Marriott and other big name chains and it always comes on a tray and you have to figure out how to eat in your room on your bed without getting dirty and it's general a mess and not worth the effort (or cost). Not so at the Fairmont. Our breakfast was delivered with a white cloth-covered table, vase with flowers, food on beautiful plates - the whole nine yards. Color me impressed. (It takes so little sometimes.)

After breakfast we got dressed and headed out to the Royal B.C. Museum, which is considered to be one of the best small museums in North America. I was really interested in the museum because of it's native peoples exhibit as I really love the First Nations artwork and am fascinated by how resourceful they were with the native plants and animals. The museum was just the right size, but unfortunately because of the weather outside, was really busy (creating a lot of extra body heat) and they had the heater turned up pretty high so I was sweating so badly almost immediately in my cold weather clothes. We ended up skipping some of the bug & plant life sections because they were super crowded with kids and just moving to the sections that were of the most interest.  We really enjoyed the Haida art and the examples of how the people really lived from day to day.

 

 

After the museum we had tea at the Empress. Alan had had tea served as a lunch in the bar at Ashford Castle back in November, but on that occasion I had opted for seafood chowder and Guinness. I'd had tea once before for a bridal shower, but it's not something I was overly familiar with. Before going, however, we went back to the room to change our clothes as the information in our room had talked about it being a formal affair and what types of clothing were permitted and not. I'm hear to tell you it's all poppycock and they will let any tourist in just about no matter what s/he is wearing so go ahead and go in whatever clothes you find most comfortable, provided you look presentable.  I was in black slacks and a cashmere sweater and I squeezed my still swollen (from the flight) feet into adorable little pointy toe flats.  Boo, hiss. There were people there in shorts, fanny packs, hoodies & sweatshirts, jeans and everything in between. And there is apparently no rule about decorum because I sat at our table both fascinated and utterly disgusted while I watched a young women (mid-20s maybe) chew with her mouth open, talk overly loud and obnoxiously and then PICK HER NOSE AND REACH FOR A SCONE with her tainted booger finger. You can imagine how I felt about that one.

Tea starts off with you selecting which actual tea you want. Given that we were at the Empress we went with their special blend. We could have also gotten the Kea Lani blend but chose not to even though nostalgia was a strong pull. (Anyone who remembers February 16, 2002 will understand that statement.) We had a pretty good table - not the best, but what's a girl to do - but had a very strange waitress who seemed like she didn't quite know what was going on at all times and had a different process than the other waiters and waitresses around us.  People who had other servers were getting their tea service much more quickly and efficiently while she was wandering around doing what I don't know. She also decided that because we ordered the same tea we would share a pot, while other people each got their own regardless.  I think she was probably trying to save on tea but when you want to refill your cup it's really hard to reach around the tower of tea sandwiches and cakes to find the tea pot, bring it back around and pour.  It would have made better sense to each have our own - which other waitresses seem to get.  It was all just a really awkward way to go about it.  The sandwiches were really tasty and inventive in ingredients and what was mixed with what. Unfortunately I found a giant piece of gristle in my chicken curry salad and that made me kind of wretch. Blech. Alan reports no such issue. The tea was very tasty and for your visit they give you a box of 10 tea sachets each. I should figure out what we did with ours and take it with me to work since I don't have time these days to even leave my desk to get coffee across the street.

 

 

 

 

 

Later in the day we took a walking tour of Downtown Victoria that ended at the adorable, and absolutely tiny, Chinatown section of the city.

 

 
 

We also took what amounted to a private water taxi tour of the Inner Harbor on one of the cute little Popeye-looking boats. Our captain was a man in his mid-60s or so who gave us the inside scoop on all the areas in the harbor. Those new luxury condos? The penthouse went for $4.5 million to a Microsoft executive who flies into Redmond three times a week on a floatplane. That little houseboat right there is for sale for $179,000 and there's no way anyone is going to pay that for 650 square feet. That other houseboat there was used in the filming of Sleepless in Seattle and is for sale for $379,000 and ain't no one going to pay that either (unless they're from out of town). That little food stand has the best fish & chips in Victoria. So on and so forth. We also learned that apparently a ship had come in to dock the other day carrying hundreds of Sri Lankan refugees and they were currently being held at the Naval base to determine if they were actually fleeing or if they were Tigers trying to get into the country for other nefarious means. I had forgotten we were in the province's capital until that bit of discussion happened.

 

 

 

 

We closed out the day with beer and food at a newish Scottish pub that was housed in a beautiful building with an equally gorgeous interior to match. We were at first put at a pub table and when we asked if we could have one of the snugs the waitress was surprised. She said people don't usually want to sit in them because then they can't really watch what is going on in the bar. Who are these people who wouldn't want a quiet, private dinner in a beautiful little private room? I sometimes think Alan and I are the weirdos since everything we seem to want and to enjoy is completely counter to what everyone else does or expects to do.

 

That night we tried to go to bed somewhat early as we had a long day ahead of us with a drive to Tofino.

Victoria, here we come

WARNING: PHOTO HEAVY POST AHEAD.

When we vacationed in Seattle in 2009 Alan had wanted to also take a side trip to Victoria but because each trip was (relatively) short, we were unable to fit a quick jaunt in.  With several extra days at our disposal this time around, we knew that in addition to Vancouver we also wanted to visit Victoria and Tofino. Prior to our departure we had some snafus with Travelocity and booking a room so we ended up at a hotel that I'm sure would have been nice but wasn't our first choice. A couple of days before we left for our trip I was still feeling some apprehension about it so I checked Expedia to find the Fairmont Empress had dropped its prices significantly and would cost the same amount the other hotel had cost. I canceled with them (very easy process) and booked immediately at the Empress. Naturally I was thrilled, especially since the first night in Victoria was also my birthday. 

There are several different ways to get to Victoria from Vancouver, but unlike in Seattle none of them are very easy. Unfortunately - unlike in Seattle - the ferry terminal is about an hour outside of both Vancouver and Victoria so unless you're hopping a floatplane to Victoria, you're in for an extra two hours on your commute. We had wanted to take the plane and had planned for it but then a couple of days before leaving we learned they have a 20 pound limit on luggage - each of our bags (because of the extra bulky clothes we had to pack for what was supposedly going to be cold & wet weather) neared the 30 pound mark so we had to nix that idea. In the end we took a cab to the bus station, took a Pacific Coach bus to the ferry terminal, road the ferry into Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island and then took the bus another hour into Victoria. It was quite the trek, to be sure, but thankfully I absolutely adore ferry travel. You know what else I adore? Buffet on my birthday - thankyouverymuch BC Ferries!

The Gulf Islands were absolutely beautiful and the weather couldn't have been better. I wouldn't mind someday coming back and spending a week relaxing in one of the waterfront houses and cabins that dot the shoreline.

Upon landing in Victoria we were excited to see that the bus depot is right next door to our hotel so we were able to forego yet another leg of the commute and just hobble on over. After several hours en route (and more as the day was to go on) I was happy to have a destination within eyesight. And what a destination it was! Located at the top of the Inner Harbor, the Empress dominates the skyline.  Built of brick and covered in ivy it's everything a posh hotel should look like from the outside.

 

Our room was somewhat small and based on the price we paid, certainly not one of the better rooms in the hotel but it was absolutely lovely in its prim and proper way. And oh the bed was fantastic. Definitely the softest mattress & sheets we had for the entire trip. we didn't have a great view of the harbor because we were located just over where the copper roof is in the picture above, but we could smell the harbor and hear the seagulls at all hours of the day and it was just a really delightful place to stay for a couple of days. And let's not forget the indoor pool, jacuzzi and steam room!  We made use of them TWICE that first day (before & after dinner) and again the second day. Unfortunately on the second day there was an 8(ish) year old who joined us in the jacuzzi and was having a little bit too good of a time with the warm bubbles if you get my drift. (I had to get out immediately.)

Immediately after checking in we made our way back to the bus depot to catch a Gray Line bus out to Butchart Gardens, the #1 tourist destination in Victoria. I'm not really a garden person, but I do love flowers and everyone says you HAVE to go to Butchart when in Victoria. Given that the forecast called for rain the next day we figured we'd make a long day of it and head out for an afternoon trip while it was still warm and light out. Unfortunately this required yet another hour in a bus (and back) but the flowers were certainly lovely and the spot is nothing if not scenic. Sadly as an allergy sufferer it was less pleasurable than it could have been were I not sneezing and trying to scratch out my eyeballs every 30 seconds or so. Also unfortunately because I'm still dealing with internal body temperature issues because of my Grave's Disease while everyone else found it to be a supremely lovely day with the absolute best weather Mother Nature can offer, I was constantly hot and sweaty and those two things make for a really beastly attitude. Add to that a bunch of children running around and screaming as if the garden was their local playground (and their parents encouraging said behavior) and I was ready to go after an hour. Still, I'd be hard pressed not to admit it is a really lovely location.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          
Back in Victoria we walked along the harbor a bit in the evening checking out what there was to see and do. As we strolled along the waterfront, past the shops and restaurants, it very much felt like we were back in Cobh, Ireland. Not a bad comparison at all. For dinner we ended up gorging ourselves on seafood and beer before wandering back to the hotel for a good night's sleep. 

VANCOUVER - DAY 2

After a fitful night's sleep (a running theme on our vacations, I'm afraid), we lazed around the room and then made our way to the Granville Island Public Market.  If it's not obvious by now, I *love* food markets and was incredibly excited to learn that Vancouver had one that sold local fruits, vegetables, meats and other assorted sundries. In order to get to the market we took a 3 minute ferry ride across False Creek and disembarked at a complex that contained the market and various entertainment venues (live theater and concerts). From the outside, the market somewhat resembles Pike Place in Seattle but on the inside is much more similar to the West Side Market in Cleveland with a mishmash of stalls taking up the whole floor space (as opposed to just lining the outer perimeter).  

After walking around for awhile, we purchased local cherries (straight from the tree), a baguette, a most wonderful and delicious pheasant terrine (with raisins and pistachios) and pork & duck rillettes and then a bottle of chilled rose (on recommendation from the sign at the charcuterie still). We sat outside for an hour or so devouring what was a delicious display of meat finery before making our way back across the water for our walk to Stanley Park. Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on how you look at it - our bottle of rose made me a little tipsy to start the day.

While the weather forecast had predicted clouds and cooler temperatures, Mother Nature had something else in mind. So much so that by the time we found ourselves at English Bay I had taken off my sweater and was walking around in a tank top. I'm not sure what the locals must have thought but there was no way I was keeping that sweater on while it was close to 70 degrees without a breeze. While on the map it might not look that far, the walk to Stanley Park from the Granville Bridge is quite the trek. We had decided that rather than renting bikes and traveling the sea wall on two wheels, we'd walk into the park and enjoy a leisurely horse-drawn carriage ride.I had inadvertently thought that meant something like what you'll find in Central Park, but alas it was a giant trolley being pulled by a Belgian and a Percheron, which meant rather than a private ride we were accompanied by a diplomat's wife and her grandson. She was a sweet woman, if not somewhat talkative. 

Following the carriage ride we walked back along Coal Harbor, past the float plane terminal and the Vancouver Convention Center (and the Fairmont Pacific Rim and Pan Pacific - two hotels I would have loved to stay in were they not $$$) to get back to our hotel.  We attempted to ease our weary bones and feet in the jacuzzi at the hotel but the pool was overrun with families of 12 that had no concept of indoor voices so we went back to the room where I promptly fell into a dead sleep.

After letting me nap for a couple of hours, Alan woke me up so that we could decide upon dinner.  Before coming to Vancouver there was really only one restaurant I marked as wanting to try so we had no pre-conceived idea of where we should eat.  All I knew was that Alan was looking forward to spending significantly less than we had the night before ($150 meals each day tend to add up).  After looking through the guidebook we decided to head over to Yaletown to check out the restaurants over there. The Blue Water Raw Bar sounded good but once we got there we saw it was a bit more "sceney" than we liked (would have fit in great in the trendiest part of the Marina in SF) so we walked around a bit more before settling on the Yaletown Brewing Company. While I love food markets, Alan enjoys just as much hitting up all the brewpubs he can while we are on vacation (this started with a rather excellent experience at Shipyard Brewing in Portland, Maine, several years ago). 

To get to Yaletown we had to walk down a part of Granville Street that was described by the guidebook as "gentrifying." I'm not so sure I'd go with that description. Rather, it's populated by hostels and low-end falafel & pizza joints and loud bars promoting Iron Maiden (yeah, I don't know what that's all about). There was a traditional Saudi Arabian restaurant where patrons sat on mats on the floor but otherwise it was definitely the cheap and janky part of town - not really my scene. The funny thing is even when I was young and could have possibly done the whole backpacking and hostel thing the concept never appealed to me. Mostly it just seems dirty and something vagabonds partake in (sorry Joe, I know you backpacked around Europe!).

The part of Yaletown we were in looks like what I had hoped Jack London Square would become when we initially bought our loft back in 2004. Alas, it was not meant to be and while the city still has plans to build it out to bring in entertainment venues and fine dining it's slow going and generally not considered a destination area within the city on its own. Yaletown however is quite adorable with its lowslung architecture (unlike what you find in some of the other areas of Vancouver) built to look like a warehouse district that's been updated to bring in fine dining establishments. For dinner we had salt cod fritters with a red pepper remoulade (I am a sucker for barcalaro) and mussels in a spicy tomato broth with chorizo and frites with garlic aoli. It was absolutely delicious! Unfortunately we also ordered a tomato pesto pizza which was just okay but since it was our last item kind of ended the meal on a low note. While we ordered a beer sampler, I can't really recall if the beer was good or bad, which I guess means it was decent if not overwhelmingly so. I remember liking the IPA, but I don't know if that's saying much because lately I'm really enjoying just about any IPA I taste. 

After dinner we walked back to the hotel to crash for the night before getting up early and heading off to Victoria.  Oh, and before waking up to my 33rd birthday.

Recapping British Columbia

Things have been somewhat hectic around the casa (the story of our lives, non?) so I was counting down the days until our most recent trip to our neighbors to the north to celebrate my birthday. As you may recall, originally we had intended to go on a 12-day cruise to Alaska out of SF but that plan didn't pan out (decided when we go on a cruise we want it to be a smaller, nicer vessel) but having already been to Hawaii earlier this year, we needed something else to do for our trip. After researching various options (Paris, Italy, Maine), we decided to finally make our way up to Vancouver as it's somewhere we've been talking about going for quite awhile now.  And Alan wanted to hit up Victoria while we were there and if we're going to be on Vancouver Island I'll be damned if I am missing out on Tofino, a place I've been longing to go since I first saw it in Conde Nast Traveler (or was it Travel and Leisure) all those many years ago.  With that itinerary in mind, we set a very loose schedule (no briefing book or calendar this time - no time to make one!) and away we went.

SAN FRANCISCO TO VANCOUVER

Leaving bright & early on a Saturday morning is both good (cheaper airfare, more time in your destination city) and bad (pre-dawn wake-up calls, last minute packing, and a hectic running out the door to meet your train time instead of leisurely preparations for the day ahead).  This trip was made even more convoluted by the fact that we've both been working very long, very stressful hours and hadn't done much planning beforehand.  We've read various blogs advising us to visit x, y and z and of course we have a Frommer's Vancouver 2010 book, but otherwise this trip lacked the standard preparation I'm known for when vacationing.  

Oh, and let's not forget the weather.  Sunny skies, highs in the 80s and beautiful summer days were apparently going to be a thing of the past.  Unfortunately, this is the weather I had mentally packed for. Instead, we were set to encounter temps in the mid-50s to upper-60s, sunny but windy conditions and then rain, rain, rain.  Packing for that weather requires a whole other frame of mind.  So toodaloo to capris and t-shirts and hello jeans and lightweight sweaters.  Oh, and where's my jacket?  In the end, I packed more similarly to our Ireland trip than to last September's Seattle trip and that took some doing as our carry-on luggage isn't made to hold 9 days worth of wet, cold weather clothes and the actual packing process was a bit of a harried one.

That morning we made our way to SFO's international terminal (one of my favorites) to find that our strategic packing of our carry-on luggage not warranted because at 27 and 29 pounds respectively, we had exceeded the 22 pound weight limit for WestJet carry-ons and would need to check.  I felt somewhat cheated as I had a lot of items in my giant travel purse that otherwise could have gone into checked luggage but now I had nothing to do but carry them with me since our Victorinox wheeling bags was stuffed to the gills.  Our "hmm, that didn't go according to plan" morning would not end there though. Arriving at our departure gate (the same one we left for Ireland from), we learned that our flight was 20 minutes delayed.  Then forty.  Than over an hour.  The culprit - San Francisco's famous fog. 

After a rather calm, slightly under two hour flight that had us passing directly over Mount Ranier (what a gorgeous site!), we landed in Vancouver to find it sunny - albeit windy - with temps in the upper 60s, maybe low 70s.  I was definitely too warm in thick socks, walking shoes, jeans and cozy striped cashmere sweater (head to toe Gap, FTW), and forget about that jacket I was carrying.  Oh well, one must make the best of the hand one is dealt.

One of the first things we noticed in leaving the airport is that there are no freeways in to the city.  We took S. Granville pretty much the whole way in, first passing what appeared to be either a neighborhood in decline, or one that is on the gentrification upswing, and then through what was definitely where the upper crust of society lives, driving alongside Aston Martin Vantages and brand new Jaguars as we passed giant mansions with their 12 foot tall hedges to prevent street noise and lookyloos. Then, we were smack-dab in the middle of a very hip shopping district and passing over a bridge and into the city.

Having booked our hotel on Hotwire, we really didn't have any idea where it was in relation to the rest of the city and some of the most well-known landmarks.  All I knew was that it was a four star Sheraton property that was dirt cheap.  Sold.  (Oh, and a bit of a side fact for all the Twilight fans reading - this is where Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart stayed while filming the last movie.  And no, that's not why I chose it - remember the whole Hotwire doesn't tell you what you're booking until you paid rule.)  The location of our hotel, in my mind, isn't great but it's not terrible either - It's kind of in a weird area near a hospital and some government buildings.  Thankfully it's less than a mile downhill to English Bay (more on that later).

Okay, going back to this Hotwire thing.  I've booked plenty of hotels using both it and Priceline over the last several years.  While I've been burned by Hotwire in the past (Oahu) I didn't think anything of it for this trip since I've routinely gotten Starwood properties and been treated quite well upon check-in. When we went to Seattle in 2009 we booked the Westin via Hotwire and never once did our booking mechanism come up during check in. We didn't get a great room, but later that first evening when I asked if we could be moved into a king room on a Starwood floor (I am an SPG member) the request was honored, and graciously. At the Sheraton Wall Centre I can't say the same.  Almost immediately the young gentleman checking us in remarked how because we booked through Hotwire we'd get whatever he could find for us and that meant double beds. I asked if he had any king rooms (us being a married couple and all) and after looking for a bit he said he did but that it was an "accessible" room and then he remarked AGAIN about how we had booked via Hotwire so he was really doing us a favor. Dare I point out that clearly your hotel couldn't fill its rooms so your parent company pushed out that excess inventory to the booking engine in a hope of getting more people in the hotel at a rate that wasn't ridiculous so I'm not sure you should be quite so judgy about how we booked, but rather just welcome us here because we're spending money with you. I don't think he saw it that way. Whatever. In the end, I was somewhat happy with the room we got given how much we paid for it ($114/night).  If I had paid the $200/night Expedia was quoting, regardless of the SPG room or not I'd have been very disappointed.  In my mind the SVWC just isn't a four star property when you compare it to its Westin cousins. I'd classify it as a slightly upscale (albeit generic in its weird late 90s design aesthetic) tourist class hotel. Unfortunately, for the last leg of our trip - the one that takes us back to Vancouver - we used Priceline to book a room here for two nights.  The fortunate part is that it was even less at $104/night.  Again, at this price this is a decent place to stay.  It doesn't, however, make me forget that where I really wish I was staying was someplace much nicer (the Pan Pacific overlooking Coal Harbor, maybe).  But then again, you get what you pay for, no?

After arriving at our room and freshening up, we made reservations for dinner at Raincity Grill, a restaurant that prides itself on sourcing from local, sustainable farms and butchers and was one of the first Vancouver restaurants to implement a 100-mile menu, where everything you'll eat comes from within - as the name implies - 100 miles of the restaurant.  Before dinner though we took a walking tour from the Frommers book, down through the West End to English Bay.  Unlike in cities like Florence and Dublin where the tour showcases famous points in history or historic works of art or architecture, the tour here was a bit of a hodgepodge of items.  Here's a cute park.  Here's an ugly old folks home built in the 70s.  Here's a mansion that was then apartments and most recently a Macaroni Grill (the book was somewhat out of date because no longer was it a restaurant, but rather a shell of a building clearly going through serious renovations).  I think the authors of the book felt as if they HAD to have a walking tour so they put in the most random and strange items along the route in order to get you from Point A to Point B.  I will say this though, the route we took was super clean, very residential and looked like a great neighborhood to live in (provided you don't mind hideous 60s architecture).  I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the little local parks with community gardens growing everything from tomatillos to sunflowers. Everywhere you look there was foliage and greenery and the amount of hydrangeas in the yards was quite abundant. The real gem of the tour though is definitely English Bay.  It's everything I wish the beach in Alameda was and will never be.  It's less magnificent in appearance than Puget Sound in Seattle, but certainly charming in its own, less grandiose manner with tree-dotted communities off to the left and to the right towering mountains covered in greenery.  Oh, and the coastline is dotted with both new and old glass and concrete buildings that even in one day I've become to think of as uniquely Vancouver in their appearance. I imagine it's less about what the exterior of the building looks like and instead what is sure to be a fabulous view from any floor.

   

Because it was a beautiful day leading in to Labor Day there was an sense of frivolity in the air, with hundreds of people on the beach - and in the water - and large party boats circling the bay. Unfortunately said party boats were also blasting terrible techno music in an effort to up the party atmosphere of the evening.  Why they did this, I have no idea.  Why people on the boats liked this, I cannot say.  It's something I have no point of reference for and something I hope to never personally experience.

After hanging out at the beach for a bit, we made our way over to the restaurant for dinner.  We set out on the patio even though the wind was kicking up and ordered the three course prix fixe menu with corresponding wine pairing.  I had a ham & parsley terrine, fresh halibut with spring vegetables in a garlic broth and a honey creme brulee.  The terrine, with its salad and dijon mustard, was divine! Thinking about it makes me hungry.  The halibut was certainly very fresh but the garlic broth was way too salty (and that's saying a lot coming from me) and the vegetables were undercooked.  The honey brulee was subtle and pleasing, while creamy it seemed a very light touch and a nice way to end the meal.  Alan had a crab bisque that was watery and thin and except for the fresh herbs lacked any sort of flavor, a beautiful pork loin that was cooked to perfection and tasted heavenly, and then a chocolate mousse and cranberry sorbet that had a lot going on but was generally very good in flavor.  The wine pairings were all spot on, but the portion sizes - for the extra $20 charged - were a let down.  All told I'd say we had 1.5 glasses of wine instead of the three that we should have received given the cost. Overall the meal was good, but I'm not sure that I'd go home and say, "oh my god, you have to eat there!"  I'm finding myself very spoiled by the quality of foods in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland.  And let's be honest, having eaten at The French Laundry within the last week I'm hard-pressed to find anything that can stand up to it (even Benu in SF, from former Laundry chef Corey Lee was a let down).

After dinner we walked down to the beach and along the seawall up to the Burrard Bridge and then back to the hotel, passing more local community gardens.  We were both tired and full so rather than doing anything more that night, we hopped into bed to read.  I promptly fell asleep before 9 p.m., only to wake up around 11:30 p.m. in quite a rude manner. I've come to decide that people in Vancouver responsible for celebrations like really bad music as at 11:30 I was woken up by the thump, thump, thump of bad techno from a party for a convention taking place in our hotel - Supernatural 2010. I finally fell asleep after midnight, but the thump, thump, thump continued on.  So for those in the know - what is it with Vancouver and bad music?