Friday, July 14, 2017

Road Trip

I’m back in sizzling Southern California. My trip to Seattle and beyond was wonderful. Once we landed in Seattle , it became a road trip which I loved. We hit all the tourists spots and they were almost all wonderful. I’m not one to complain, but tea at the Empress hotel in Victoria was over priced and a disappointment.

Seattle was a mob scene. Pike’s Market had ridiculous lines. There must have been 50 people in line to get coffee at the first Starbucks, while a few blocks away there was no line for the same drinks at a newer Starbucks.

We ate cherries, took the monorail to the Space Needle.

The next day it was off to Vancouver. The drive was beautiful and the line at the border not too bad.
The Suspension Bridge Park in Vancouver is a popular stop. I tried stepping on the giant suspension bridge that goes over a river, but after a few steps I knew it wasn’t for me and backed out of it. I did go on the Cliff Walk, but I had to use a stock photo because I was too busy NOT looking down to take any pictures.

We went outside of Vancouver and drove through the fiords and took a sky bucket up a mountain side.

And then it was on to Victoria by ferry. The tea might have been a disappointment, but the Butchard Gardens were not. Photos just don’t capture everything. You can barely see there is water in the distance where we watch a sea plane drop people off.
As for details about the disappointing tea. The price was ridiculous and the food stingy. The tea sandwiches were tasty and the scone was delicious, but the sweets were dry and nothing special. I have had tea other places and they have offered seconds on the treats, the Empress did not. It was difficult to pour the tea without getting scalded and the room was rather plain.


The next day it was time to start winding our way home. The ferry to Port Angeles was a bit rougher than the ferry from Vancouver to Victoria, but I loved it anyway. We drove through Washington back through Tacoma and then on to the airport and home.

Whenever the heat gets to me here, I can imagine I’m on the ferry with the cold wind blowing.
I love to travel!

8 comments:

Linda O. Johnston said...

Glad you had a good trip. I love the photos!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful trip. We did the gardens, but not too much else in that area. We went up the coast by ship, and there were lots of great stops. Then it was back to Fullerton by train. My husbands last trip, and he loved crusing and trains, so it was a good trip. Glad you had a refreshing time, and missed some of the heat here !

Susan said...

Reading this brought back memories of our trip several years ago. I agree that the tea was overpriced and nothing special. The tour of the Enpress hotel was worthwhile though. The Chihuly exhibit in Seattle was another highlight.

Betty Hechtman said...

Linda, I hope someday to take one of the Alaskan cruises you mentioned last week.

Betty Hechtman said...

Anonymous, how nice that your husband had such a good trip for his last one. It must have bittersweet memories for you.

I missed the heat in So Cal and the power outage. Everything on a timer is still cockeyed.

Betty Hechtman said...

Susan, I'm glad to hear I wasn't the only one disappointed with the tea. With all the hype about it, I think it is a little like The Emperor's New Clothes. We stayed at the hotel, though just for one night. The room was nice.


I saw some of the Chihuly flowers near the space needle. They were beautiful.

chkntza said...

I loved the Seattle monorail from the space needle into downtown. I wished it was longer so I could have gone farther. So instead I just walked to the space needle and took the monorail back. I found a great stall in the mall where the they made a wonderful vegetarian burrito. When I was there the mall closed early. I'm glad you had so much fun.

Betty Hechtman said...

Miriam, the mall by the space needle was just closing up when we got there. The food offerings looked really good. It was a great trip. I really enjoyed going that we got to all those places.