Alaska and the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver

Dan and I had an incredible two-week adventure traveling to Vancouver, Alaska, and the Olympic National Park. The first and last parts of the trip were just us, but we got to spend the middle section with my parents, sister, and cousin! I can't wait to tell you all about it. Here are the first few days in Vancouver:

Day 1:

We got an early start in the Capital One Lounge (my happy place) before our flight to Vancouver. How fun is this Bees Knees?

The Vancouver airport is stunning! So many cool water features and sculptures. We took the train downtown to our hotel (shoutout The Victorian!) and walked around the city, ending at Granville Island.

We ate a million samples at the Granville Market (pickles, pastries, alcoholic boba pearls) and settled on a fantastic soup from Chow Atchau. I wasn't feeling great, so I took the aquaboat back while Dan stayed and explored Granville Island.

I rallied for a quick ramen dinner and some of the best drinks I've ever had. I highly recommend the Radio Saigon at Prophecy Bar, listed as one of the top 50 bars in North America!

Day 2:

Today was a big day--we completed the Grouse Grind, which is a 2 mile hike straight up Grouse Mountain! But first, breakfast at Cafe Medina (delicious!). 

I was intimidated by this climb based on my research. The official signs didn't make me feel better. It was clear this was a hike for serious climbers. And while it was challenging, Dan and I were prepared for the challenge, finishing in 90 minutes and feeling great! 

It was cold and rainy at the top of the mountain, but we still made the most of it by watching the Lumberjack Show and meeting the rescue Grizzly bears (adorable and adorable). 

After taking the cable car down the mountain, we caught the bus to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It was a little pricy but so worth it! The bridge itself is so fun (almost 500 feet long and 230 feet in the air), but I was surprised how great the rest of the park is. 

We walked the tree tops, took a nature tour, met a banana slug, and saw a bald eagle. We capped the day off with a gorgeous and tasty dinner at Botanical. 

Day 3: 

Today we biked 17 miles through the city. We rented bikes from Spokes (highly recommend!) and went through Stanley Park along the Sea Wall. We saw the Totem poles, the light house, beautiful lakes, and gorgeous scenery. We continued past the park around Granville island, past the science museum, and back over the bridge. The path is paved the whole way with dedicated bike lanes. I loved it! 

We grabbed some veggie soup dumplings for a post workout snack before heading back to the hotel to clean up. We had a terrific dinner at Folke, an upscale vegan restaurant. We did the 5 course chef tasting, which came with a few extra snacks and a dessert course. My favorite was the potato rosti bite with scape aioli. Dan loved the flowering cauliflower with congee. 

We wrapped up our time in Van City with drinks at Keefer Bar. I loved the weird medical vibes of this place. Drinks were called prescriptions and had funky components. Not nearly as good as Prophecy, but lots of fun.

The next morning, we took a bus from Vancouver to Seattle to meet up with the rest of the family!

Kid-Free Vacation!

I'll try and refrain from using ALL CAPS and shouting at you, but I went on a kid-free vacation with Dina!! IT WAS GLORIOUS! Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

My friend Dina and I decided to celebrate our big 35th birthdays together by leaving our kids and husbands at home. Fortunately for us, our husbands are amazing and both agreed to our plan. Since the cruise left out of Florida, I actually took Zahara with me so that she could get some quality time with her grandparents and Dan would only have Asher. Win-win!

Dina and I went on a Royal Caribbean cruise from Miami to Coco Cay, Nassau, and Key West. It was four nights, which was a perfect length for us. The entire goal of our trip was just to relax. We wanted to sit by the pool, sit on the beach, drink fruity drinks, and eat good food. I'm happy to report we were successful on all fronts!

The only planned activity we had was a glass bottom boat tour in Coco Cay that we booked through the ship. It was amazing! Our guides, Quick Draw McGraw and Cardinal, were fantastic! I thought we would just be seeing the sea creatures from the boat; but Quick Draw would spot something, then dive in the water and go get it for us to view on the boat. We held star fish, lobsters, conch, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers*! We saw sting rays too! It was awesome!

To be honest, Coco Cay itself wasn't that fantastic. It still was super relaxing as we hung out by the hammocks, but they were doing some construction on the island, so the view wasn't that nice--nothing a pina colada couldn't fix!

It was kind of the same thing in Nassau. We opted to go to the public beach that was only a 15 minute walk from the port. Junkanoo Beach is easily accessible and was exactly what we were looking for. It had soft white sand and warm turquoise water. As we were right by the port, the view left something to be desired, but who cares? I grabbed my book and a local beer and suddenly everything was right in the world.

Key West was really relaxing as well. We had a nice leisurely breakfast on the ship and then just walked down the main street (Duval) until we hit the water. We stopped for a drink at the southern-most point in the Continental United States at a cafe appropriately named Southernmost Beach Cafe. The drinks were delicious, and the fries were incredible! The seasoning has a little sugar in it, which was is unusual and tasty. Later, Dina grabbed a chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick. So refreshing on a hot, sticky day!

We had just as much fun on the ship as we did off it. We sat by the pool and read--I read 3 books in 5 days! We played trivia and Scrabble--they only had the Spanish version, but we played in English anyway. We drank delicious drinks and ate great food. I even worked out a couple of times. And, we gambled, and won! We played craps every night and had an absolute blast.

I definitely came home feeling refreshed and relaxed. Thank you Dina for an awesome birthday trip! And thank you, Dan, for being the best, most understanding husband ever! Love you!

*Here's an interesting/gross story about sea cucumbers. Did you know that when they get stressed (like when they're out of the water being passed around by a bunch of tourists), they throw up their intestines? Yeah, that happened.

Read more about my adventures with Dina: 

Quick Trip to Philly
Dina's Wedding
Dina and Ed Come to England

Read about my other cruises here:

Baltic Cruise
Mediterranean Cruise 
Caribbean Cruise

Read about our past birthday celebrations:
2016
2014
2013
2012