A first time visit to Seattle & Victoria pre-trip report

[barndweller Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close barndweller]

Mr. Barndweller, Dear Mom & I are leaving tomorrow for a 10 day trip to the NorthWest. We put a request in last year with SFX for Victoria or Vancouver. We got a call 3 days later offering a 2 bedroom unit at Worldmark Victoria check-in on Aug. 4, 2008. Yaaayyy, 2 bedrooms. Dear Mom is going to have her very own bedroom! She is thrilled. We are thrilled and start to make our plans.

We are way past the stage of dealing with school vacations and rarely travel in the summer. After much deliberation & discussion, we decide not to pack up the Subaru & drive up the west coast but to fly directly to Seattle from Sacramento. I watched the DING fares daily and managed to grab some bargain tickets on Southwest departing on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the bargain Saturday return flights were all gone within seconds and I snoozed too long & lost out. So I booked the next best price I could get. Still and all, it's cheaper to fly than to drive & stay in motels along the way & we save precious vacation days for exploring Seattle and spending every dime we save (and a truckload more) on fabulous seafood & plenty of tacky souvenirs. Good trade off I think.

So now we have 3 nights in Seattle and a full week in Victoria. Since I belong to Starwood, I figured I'd book a hotel for the Seattle stay right down by the waterfront & we'd not bother with a rental car. Wow, hotels in Seattle are really pricey & the parking fees could break the bank! Checking on Hotwire, I booked the Westin for $149 a night for 3 adults. I'm hoping my Starwood status gets us a decent view when I check-in. I'll smooze as best as I can even though I may not have a ghost of a chance since I didn't book through Starwood. They wanted something like $279 a night WITH my discount! And that is just a room. No concierge level, no free continental breakfast, no mints on the pillow. Well maybe you get the mints, I'm not sure.

So now we have the 10 days booked, plane tickets to get there & back & a reservation at our favorite cheapo park 'n fly motel in Sacramento. We always use La Quinta. It's reasonable, clean, fairly roomy & serves a complimentary full hot breakfast. We can leave our car for up to 2 weeks included in the $89 rate. We've been doing park 'n fly for many years and now we consider it part of our vacation. Today, I booked our ferry passage on the Victoria Clipper for Saturday. We have AAA maps & tourbooks in our carry-on baggage. I've spent hours on the forums reading any thread about Seattle or Victoria I could find & printing out all the recommendations. I've talked to all my friends who have ever gone on Alaskan cruises (since they always involve Seattle, Vancouver or Victoria) to get their ideas & recommendations. I've hired the neighbor girl to pick up my mail & water my potted plants. The deer destroyed my vegetable garden a couple of nights ago so there's no longer any tomatoes or green beans for her to pick! I'll print out our boarding passes in the morning when I get within the 24 hour window. We plan to go to Sacramento in the morning (a 3 hour drive for us, we live in the boonedocks) and spend some time in Old Town. Then we'll have a nice steak dinner near the motel at a mid-priced place like Hungry Hunter. We figure we will be spending the next 10 days eating enough fish to grow gills. Then hopefully we'll get a good night sleep before we have to face the grueling task of dealing with air travel in this modern day of long lines & zero customer service. We have our airport clothing picked out based on the total absence of metal fasteners of any kind. We have also tested how easy it is to strip quickly should we be profiled as possible terrorists mascarading as a 60ish gray haired, wrinkled, myopic, slightly deaf white couple traveling with our 79 year old mother.

Jeepguynw over at TUG told me it is supposed to be in the 70's & clear all week. We are primed & ready. The Barndwellers are headed to the big city. Starbuck's here we come!

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Have fun!! I love Seattle. Take a tour, be sure to see the troll under the bridge. I wish I had taken the free ferry to Bainbridge Island? I think that's what it's called. I don't recommend Tillicum Village. I only had a couple of days in Seattle but I would love to go back. I wish I had had time to go to Mt St Helens or the other one. They have tours to get there. You can also buy a Seattle pass that gets you into lots of attractions. Hugs, Bring back lots of Tales and pictures!! shaggy

[happymum Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close happymum]

Have a great trip! I look forward to hearing all about it.

[barndweller Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close barndweller]

TROLL?? What troll? No one told me about any troll. I can't miss the troll. Shaggy, fill me in quick.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

TROLL?? What troll? No one told me about any troll. I can't miss the troll. Shaggy, fill me in quick.

The Fremont Troll

Fremont Troll

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Julie, enjoy that trip. It is wonderful. We have been to Victoria a few times already but never with any timeshare stays yet.

Victoria has a very nice climate too in comparison to what is close to there. I read why this is but I forgot. I hope that you have great weather so everything looks nice and cheerful to you.

Seattle is beautiful in the summer but forget the rest of the year. It is cold, wet and dreary. I have been there often enough to know but the air is a lot cleaner than where we live here. Nothing is perfect, I am afraid.

[barndweller Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close barndweller]

Coffee & a sweeTROLL for brunch

Thanks to Shaggy & Steve we plan to enjoy a Starbuck coffee while viewing the imfamous Fremont Troll on our first day exploration of Seattle. Our flight will be a tolerable 2 hour jaunt from Sacramento so ETA is 10:30am. We are doing carry-on baggage only so we can de-plane and skip the carousel attraction, heading straight for the taxi stand for our expensive but convenient transport downtown. We will wave to the folks standing in line at the car rental counters as we zoom off to our Hotwire bargain hotel room.

I don't own a laptop. My only try at using a computer away from home was at Pono Kai in Hawaii where I stuck my credit card in the slot & ended up spending $21 just checking my e-mail!! Won't try that again. So unless they have free computers in the lobby at the Westin, I will be using my trusty #2 pencil & tablet to keep notes.

See you guys in a couple of weeks. Bye for now

[barndweller Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close barndweller]

The Journey Begins

Day one of this trip is actually still pre-trip since we are opting to stay in a Park ‘N Fly motel in Sacramento. This allows us to avoid getting up at 4am to drive to the airport and with $12 a day for airport parking is actually a bit cheaper. We can also play tourist for the afternoon in our capitol city. It had been about 20 years since we visited Old Town Sacramento and we thought that would be a fun thing to do for the afternoon. We were wrong. The only thing worthwhile is the Railroad Museum and since our visit years ago was free & now they charge a hefty fee we skipped it. If your idea of fun is to wander up and down the crowded streets of an outdoor, western themed shopping mall by all means go. But shopping for cheap California souvenirs is not our thing so we were not impressed. Strolling the grounds of the Capitol is more to my taste. And a tour would have been even better since we’ve never done that. But we’ll plan for it next time we have a free afternoon before airport day. That will be in February when we brave the security lines yet again to board our winged cattle car to Hawaii. So after checking out all the tacky made in China refrigerator magnets and t-shirts and passing on the saltwater taffy & Arnold Governator postcards, we chose a restaurant called The Rusty Duck located on the river for our “nice” dinner out. Mr. Barn has the Prime Rib, Dear Mom chooses the Salmon Barbacoa & I opt for the Chicken Marsala. DM & I order glasses of wine & the Mr. orders some frou frou Mango liqueur house specialty thing and we raise our glasses, do our customary clink while saying “skol” (there is a good bit of Danish in our motley ethnic background) and so our vacation is officially under way.

It has been awhile since we have taken a trip involving an airplane. Flying used to be fun. I used to consider the travel days as part of the actual vacation and the excitement of the whole airport experience just another sightseeing opportunity. But with the long arm of our illustrious Department of Homeland Security & the constantly changing dos & don’ts of the TSA and (according to the more air travel savvy posters) the advent of cheap cattle-car airlines, air travel has become an ordeal that we must endure before our actual vacation can begin.

We chose to try to make our travel day once again an enjoyable part of our vacation by using all the tricks & tips gleaned from the forums. We packed very light, using only regulation size soft-sided (read that as squashable) luggage devoid of any liquids, gels, sharp items, or odd shaped objects that could be mistaken for weapons. (Mr. Barn once had to open his suitcase for an inspection of what the authorities thought was a revolver. It seems a hand held microphone looks exactly like a gun to the x-ray machine.) We placed any thing that could even remotely be considered a gel or liquid in our quart size see-through zip lock baggies. We wore clothing free of any metal fasteners & easy to slip off shoes. We did our check-in online at home before leaving, printed out our boarding passes and arrived at the airport 90 minutes before our scheduled departure time. But our most effective strategy was by far our choice of airport & airline! Never again will we endure the chaos of SFO or the unbelievably horrible customer service to all but the most Super Platinum Triple Star Diamond Elite customers that is now the standard at all the big carriers (I won’t name names but the worst in our experience starts with U and ends with “nited.”)

So properly prepped for our journey, we arrived via shuttle from our Park ‘n Fly motel to the Southwest terminal of the Sacramento International Airport. Of course, since we had no need for baggage check, there were plenty of skycaps curbside. We schlepped our bags to the end of the relatively short security line and in less than 10 minutes, with a minimum of undressing & only one water bottle sacrificed to the receptical for possible explosive substances better known as the trash barrel, we found ourselves with the choice of dozens of empty seats to choose from in the bright, clean & comfy waiting area of our gate. Now I’m quite sure that we have traveled on Southwest before but it was years ago when they were pretty new & I hadn’t soured on the big guys yet. Let me tell you, SW has no class. No first class, no elite class, no business class. They are classless. We are all the same color, creed, religion, status, etc. to them. Well, except for the little old ladies, people who have strollers & diaper bags & excited toddlers & crying babies, and unaccompanied minors. They are special & get to board first. Since Mr. Barn & I would be hard pressed to pass for unaccompanied minors and there is no way I’d go through childbirth again just for early boarding priviledges even if it were still physically possible, we forced Dear Mom to act senile & feeble so we could help her board before the great unwashed hoards with ordinary boarding passes. Worked like a charm. We strolled down that accordion swing away loading ramp thingy, took our sweet time stowing our squishable luggage in our choice of dozens of empty overhead bins and settled into our chosen seats. With the plane fully loaded, we soared off into the wild blue yonder on time with an absolutely gorgeous, clear blue sky to enjoy the view all the way up to Seattle. I will choose this cattle car airline over the big guys anyday! Roomy seats with plenty of inches between my knees & the seat in front. Friendly, cheerful cabin attendants. And a Captain who serenaded us with a clever ditty about SW sung to She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain. Over all it was a very pleasant experience. We are now Southwest fans.

We arrived in Seattle about 5 minutes ahead of schedule. After a seemingly endless hike down the longest corridor to baggage claim I have ever encountered, we grinned at each other as we walked by the uneducated over-packers standing 5 deep around the luggage carousel & had no trouble locating the waiting line of taxis ready to whisk us off to our downtown hotel. For a price. A hefty price. Wallet lighter by $32.50 plus tip, I walked up to the Westin check-in counter, whipped out my Starwood Vacation Network card & hoped the clerk wouldn’t notice I’d booked on Hotwire & put us in a dumpster view room. I had read some less than stellar reviews for this hotel AFTER booking the non-cancelable reservation so we were all very pleasantly surprised when we were given a 12th floor end of the hall, very spacious, room with a great view looking out at the Space Needle. Sweet!



Room view taken at sunset

It is still morning & we are in Seattle, a place we have never been before. We are ON VACATION & ready to explore. We put our walking shoes on & with maps in hand we set out to find some good eats for lunch. Next up: The Hicks from the Boonedocks watch the fish fly at Pike’s.here's a link
Pigs & Flying Fish

[StressCadet Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StressCadet]

Fun, Fun, Fun....I LOVE trip reports.....guess I hang around too many travel boards as well as timesharing boards. I like your writing style...can't wait for the next installment. Oh and killer view!

[vlariano Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vlariano]

Thanks for the great trip report. It makes me feel like I'm there. I loved both Victoria and Seattle and would love to go back someday. Also to Vancouver which is one of my favorite cities to visit.

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Can't wait to hear the rest. How's Mr Troll? I have a cute pic of it with Kelli. shaggy

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Day one of this trip is actually still pre-trip since we are opting to stay in a Park ‘N Fly motel in Sacramento. This allows us to avoid getting up at 4am to drive to the airport and with $12 a day for airport parking is actually a bit cheaper. We can also play tourist for the afternoon in our capitol city. It had been about 20 years since we visited Old Town Sacramento and we thought that would be a fun thing to do for the afternoon. We were wrong. The only thing worthwhile is the Railroad Museum and since our visit years ago was free & now they charge a hefty fee we skipped it. If your idea of fun is to wander up and down the crowded streets of an outdoor, western themed shopping mall by all means go. But shopping for cheap California souvenirs is not our thing so we were not impressed. Strolling the grounds of the Capitol is more to my taste. And a tour would have been even better since we’ve never done that. But we’ll plan for it next time we have a free afternoon before airport day. That will be in February when we brave the security lines yet again to board our winged cattle car to Hawaii. So after checking out all the tacky made in China refrigerator magnets and t-shirts and passing on the saltwater taffy & Arnold Governator postcards, we chose a restaurant called The Rusty Duck located on the river for our “nice” dinner out. Mr. Barn has the Prime Rib, Dear Mom chooses the Salmon Barbacoa & I opt for the Chicken Marsala. DM & I order glasses of wine & the Mr. orders some frou frou Mango liqueur house specialty thing and we raise our glasses, do our customary clink while saying “skol” (there is a good bit of Danish in our motley ethnic background) and so our vacation is officially under way.

It has been awhile since we have taken a trip involving an airplane. Flying used to be fun. I used to consider the travel days as part of the actual vacation and the excitement of the whole airport experience just another sightseeing opportunity. But with the long arm of our illustrious Department of Homeland Security & the constantly changing dos & don’ts of the TSA and (according to the more air travel savvy posters) the advent of cheap cattle-car airlines, air travel has become an ordeal that we must endure before our actual vacation can begin.

We chose to try to make our travel day once again an enjoyable part of our vacation by using all the tricks & tips gleaned from the forums. We packed very light, using only regulation size soft-sided (read that as squashable) luggage devoid of any liquids, gels, sharp items, or odd shaped objects that could be mistaken for weapons. (Mr. Barn once had to open his suitcase for an inspection of what the authorities thought was a revolver. It seems a hand held microphone looks exactly like a gun to the x-ray machine.) We placed any thing that could even remotely be considered a gel or liquid in our quart size see-through zip lock baggies. We wore clothing free of any metal fasteners & easy to slip off shoes. We did our check-in online at home before leaving, printed out our boarding passes and arrived at the airport 90 minutes before our scheduled departure time. But our most effective strategy was by far our choice of airport & airline! Never again will we endure the chaos of SFO or the unbelievably horrible customer service to all but the most Super Platinum Triple Star Diamond Elite customers that is now the standard at all the big carriers (I won’t name names but the worst in our experience starts with U and ends with “nited.”)

So properly prepped for our journey, we arrived via shuttle from our Park ‘n Fly motel to the Southwest terminal of the Sacramento International Airport. Of course, since we had no need for baggage check, there were plenty of skycaps curbside. We schlepped our bags to the end of the relatively short security line and in less than 10 minutes, with a minimum of undressing & only one water bottle sacrificed to the receptical for possible explosive substances better known as the trash barrel, we found ourselves with the choice of dozens of empty seats to choose from in the bright, clean & comfy waiting area of our gate. Now I’m quite sure that we have traveled on Southwest before but it was years ago when they were pretty new & I hadn’t soured on the big guys yet. Let me tell you, SW has no class. No first class, no elite class, no business class. They are classless. We are all the same color, creed, religion, status, etc. to them. Well, except for the little old ladies, people who have strollers & diaper bags & excited toddlers & crying babies, and unaccompanied minors. They are special & get to board first. Since Mr. Barn & I would be hard pressed to pass for unaccompanied minors and there is no way I’d go through childbirth again just for early boarding priviledges even if it were still physically possible, we forced Dear Mom to act senile & feeble so we could help her board before the great unwashed hoards with ordinary boarding passes. Worked like a charm. We strolled down that accordion swing away loading ramp thingy, took our sweet time stowing our squishable luggage in our choice of dozens of empty overhead bins and settled into our chosen seats. With the plane fully loaded, we soared off into the wild blue yonder on time with an absolutely gorgeous, clear blue sky to enjoy the view all the way up to Seattle. I will choose this cattle car airline over the big guys anyday! Roomy seats with plenty of inches between my knees & the seat in front. Friendly, cheerful cabin attendants. And a Captain who serenaded us with a clever ditty about SW sung to She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain. Over all it was a very pleasant experience. We are now Southwest fans.

We arrived in Seattle about 5 minutes ahead of schedule. After a seemingly endless hike down the longest corridor to baggage claim I have ever encountered, we grinned at each other as we walked by the uneducated over-packers standing 5 deep around the luggage carousel & had no trouble locating the waiting line of taxis ready to whisk us off to our downtown hotel. For a price. A hefty price. Wallet lighter by $32.50 plus tip, I walked up to the Westin check-in counter, whipped out my Starwood Vacation Network card & hoped the clerk wouldn’t notice I’d booked on Hotwire & put us in a dumpster view room. I had read some less than stellar reviews for this hotel AFTER booking the non-cancelable reservation so we were all very pleasantly surprised when we were given a 12th floor end of the hall, very spacious, room with a great view looking out at the Space Needle. Sweet!



Room view taken at sunset

It is still morning & we are in Seattle, a place we have never been before. We are ON VACATION & ready to explore. We put our walking shoes on & with maps in hand we set out to find some good eats for lunch. Next up: The Hicks from the Boonedocks watch the fish fly at Pike’s.

What a great trip report and a little "foxy" too. I also love your beautiful picture of the Seattle skyline. I am looking forward to read the rest of your story.

[hope54 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close hope54]

Julie, you need to be a travel writer!

Welcome to Seattle. It is actually going to be sunny here for the next couple of days. We have had a very cool August. The troll is almost in my back yard. It still creeps me out when I take visitors there - very fun. If you have time try coming west from Fremont to see the Ballard Locks - they are a great place to get some fish and chips and watch the boat "elevators".

Hope

[hope54 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close hope54]

Seattle is beautiful in the summer but forget the rest of the year. It is cold, wet and dreary. I have been there often enough to know but the air is a lot cleaner than where we live here. Nothing is perfect, I am afraid.

Emmy, we in Seattle like this kind of reporting on Seattle weather! Actually, I love it here but the maritime weather with cloudiness can be frustrating. It amazes me, though, how many of us transplants in Seattle grew up in extreme temperatures and love the moderation of the Pacific Northwest.

DH and I think about Hawaii for the winter months in the coming years.

Hope

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Emmy, we in Seattle like this kind of reporting on Seattle weather! Actually, I love it here but the maritime weather with cloudiness can be frustrating. It amazes me, though, how many of us transplants in Seattle grew up in extreme temperatures and love the moderation of the Pacific Northwest.

DH and I think about Hawaii for the winter months in the coming years.

Hope

We know several people from the Seattle area who retired in AZ near Phoenix but after a while, they relocated again where it is less warm.

Spending your winter months in HI sounds a much better idea. Seattle reminds me of the climate in Holland. Cold, wet and dreary most of the time but when it is nice weather, it is beautiful.