Before my cross-continental move I decided to take one last big trip to see Jeanette. She has been living in Seattle for 3 years already and I haven't visited her yet so it was time to remedy that!
Day 1: Our first day of exploring and we went all in!!! We headed out early this morning to visit Mount Tacoma (Rainier) National Park. We got really lucky with the weather and saw some rainbows and blue skies before the thunder and downpours started
Day 2 was filled with more adventures but less pictures! We started our morning by taking a walk in Seward Park and so much wildlife! We walked around Lake Washington and saw a bald eagle, a few herons, lots of turtles, ducks and ducklings, geese and birds. After the park we went to the Starbucks Reserve store at their headquarters and got some delicious gourmet coffees - the nitro mole mocha was AMAZING!! Next we went to Smith Tower and got one of the best views in the city and had some tasty lunch in the Chinese Room. While we were there I sat in the Wishing Chair, which was a gift from the last Empress of China. After that we went to the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center and saw some incredible indigenous art. Next we headed over to the Ballard Locks and fish ladder where we got to see the salmon making their way back to their breeding grounds to spawn. For dinner we went to Walrus and Carpenter - Jeanette has oysters and I had ceviche. We ended the day at Alki Beach and had some a beautiful views of the sound and the Olympic Mountains.
Day three was a relaxing one. We had a slow morning and I made Jeanette breakfast while she finished up her last bit of work to officially close out the school year. We went grocery shopping and visited Akil and baby Ishaan in the afternoon. After that we headed back to Seward Park and took the paddle board out for a spin. Mother Nature was really showing off today! We were lucky with beautiful weather again and saw so much wildlife!! A duckling literally swam up to us and nibbled on my pinky as he tried to climb aboard with us!! Many turtles were spotted, at least 5 bald eagles were seen, and two heron were standing sentry. We came home and made a delicious dinner and we are about to head out to end our day with some 90s slow jams yoga
Day 4 was reunion day!! BTR West came together and it was glorious! We got to spend time with Akil, Anisha and Ishaan at the neighborhood park before we went to Green Lake and enjoyed a stroll in the incredible weather. We filled up on a 5lb bucket of seafood at Crawfish King before getting ube cheesecake - it was AMAZING!!! After that we went to Marination Ma Kai and enjoyed some drinks against the beautiful Seattle skyline with a nice sunset. We ended the night at Full Tilt with delicious ice cream!! So great to spend the day laughing and reconnecting with great people
Day 5 started with dim sum and ALL the soup dumplings at Din Tai Fung!! Then we took a little walking tour around town and saw the Seattle Public Library and stopped by Slate Coffee Roasters for an afternoon caffein pick-me-up where I got a #bougieaf deconstructed latte. After that Jeanette and I headed north to the border because we have 3 days of Vancouver, BC exploring to do! Thanks for an incredible time, Seattle
Day 6 was our first day in Vancouver and it was also Canada Day 🇨🇦!!! We started our morning at All Day Cafe at Lonsdale Quay with a hearty and delicious breakfast. We sure needed it because we had a jam packed day planned! First stop: Capilano Suspension Bridge. It was named after a First Nations Chief and spans 460ft across the canyon and is 70ft above the river rushing by below. We did the Tree Top Adventure, Raptor Ridge and the Cliff Walk in the serene rainforest. After that we made our way to Stanley Park where we rented bikes and rode the 6 mile loop around the whole park taking in the beautiful 360 degree views of Vancouver City. Next we went to Chinatown and walked through the Sun Yat Sen Garden. We followed that up with dinner in Gastown and a walk through the Canada Day festivities and saw one of the few remaining functional steam clocks. All in all, a really wonderful first day in Vancouver!
It’s day 7 and I can’t believe I’ve been here for a week already! We had another fun-filled day exploring Vancouver and we started our morning off right with some amazing eggs Benedict at Table 153. Then we made our way to Bloedel Conservatory. We got to see all kinds of tropical plants and birds and were able to spot 42 different kinds in total!! After that we headed over to the UBC botanical garden and treewalk where we got to become one with the trees up off the forest floor and up in the canopy. Next we went to the Museum of Anthropology and I went on a tour to learn about the traditional potlatch ceremony of the Kwakwakaʼwakw and learn about some of the legends of the First Nations people. We ended the day at Granville Island where we got ALL the candy smoked salmon!
Day 8 was spectacular!!! We started our day off early and went whale watching where we were lucky to see a family of four orcas! After that exhilarating morning we made the trek back to the States and we ended the day with a beautiful sunset walk through the park.
