jen80370

Day 3: Getting to Vancouver

We woke up early Sunday morning for a few reasons. One was to get packed for the second half of our journey to Vancouver. Truth be told, vacation or not…it was football day. Bill and I are NFL junkies. We figured we’d catch pregame before we headed to breakfast at Pike St. Café again and that we’d listen to the games on our drive.

It was odd seeing Chris Berman at 8:00 a.m. on ESPN. I guess the good thing is your football day is over by 4:00 pm. To each their own.

The Pike St. Café was just as good in quality on Sunday as Saturday, but I did notice quite a few more dessert selections on Sunday. After suitable gorging on fresh fruit and the rest (their fruit selection for December was fantastic-especially great pineapple) we checked out and headed toward the Interstate.

As a warning-the difference in price between valet and self-park at the Sheraton Seattle is only two dollars a day. Either is expensive (both in low $20s), so unless you plan to park offsite to save money, you might as well spring for valet service.

Interstate 5 North goes all the way to the border, so it is tourist proof. You cannot get lost from Seattle to Vancouver as long as you get to I-5. We did jump off the Interstate from time to time to check out some small towns so our four-hour trip is much less then you should expect unless you catch a delay at the border. We waited all of eight minutes to cross at the Peace Arch crossing into Canada. Let’s just say Canada’s screening process is much more laid back then it was on the return trip into the U.S.

You are only about 30-40 minutes from downtown Vancouver once you cross the border. We were blessed with a beautiful day to travel for the most part. One spooky event (I am sure you are used to in the Northwest) that freaked us a bit was that we were driven along a sunny highway. One mile later it started to rain. Two miles later there were four spinouts as we were suddenly in four inches of snow on untreated roads. We Jersey-ites are not used to such shockingly quick changes in elevation. Five miles later, it was more sunny skies. I made sure to make a mental note for the return journey. It was halfway between Seattle and Vancouver.

We pulled into the Westin Grand Vancouver around 2:30 in the afternoon and my journey into Bizarro world began. Bizarro world contains friendly people. Lots of friendly people-everywhere. Once again, you may recall, we are from Central New Jersey. Our kind is not used to kind people unless they are trying to sell you a car. It took us a day to get used to. We still have not adjusted to coming home and it has been over a week.

Anyway, the valet people at the Grand are fantastic. They told us they would unload the car and park it. We should go up to the lobby and check in. They said if the room was not ready, not to worry and that they would store the bags until we got settled in our room.

We arrived at the lobby, which is small. However, in NYC, lobbies are grand because rooms are broom closets. I like this idea better…small lobby and huge rooms. Sold! The people at check in are also very kind and helpful. “Welcome to Vancouver. If there is anything I can do to make your stay better, do not hesitate to call.” Wow.

We had booked a Deluxe Suite with our Starpoints. This hotel has all suites in varying sizes. I believe the only choice higher then ours is Westin Guest Office (which has office equipment) and the Penthouse. We received a bump to Balcony Deluxe Suite, which I am ever grateful for. We had room 2803. Fantastic suite should you find yourself asking for a corner room.

WE got to the room expecting a room similar to the Doubletree Suites in NYC. Smallish bedroom and smallish living room with kitchenette area. Wrong! My only question is how is this hotel only a Category 3? If you are interested in pictures, let me know. I can send you a link to my Snapfish photo album of the pictures I took.

We entered the door and saw a hallway-always a good sign when your room has a hallway. As we entered there was our kitchen area. Ample storage for our things…and a small fridge (which they unloaded of all honor bar items on request so the space was all ours) a dishwasher, sink, microwave, toaster and all utensils. Nice!

Then there was a front closet and a door to our bathroom. The bathroom is HUGE with a separate shower and soaking tub. Nice size on both…and it was a Heavenly Shower. The sink even had ample storage for toiletries.

The other bathroom door led to the bedroom. Wow! Nice size, heavenly bed (king) and a beautiful view of the city with the ocean in the distance. There was a huge bedroom closet and ample storage.

The bedroom leads to the living room, which has a desk with Internet access (for a fee), a couch, table and chair along with more storage space. The view from the living room was different since it is a corner view. The living room also has the access door to the small balcony. It is barely big enough for a small table and small chair, but it did a great job as serving as my husband’s smoking section.

Colors throughout the suite were soft paint tones and light wood tones (my favorite). Furnishings all looked brand new (no wear). We barely each had time to gawk at our digs for the week and grin ear to ear when there was a knock at the door. We opened it to find our valet who had brought up our luggage. He had called the front desk and asked if our room was ready. When it was, he brought it. It was perfect. He gave us our car tag and put each of the bags in the room they needed to be. He then asked if we knew our plans for the day. He said if so, to feel free to stop by for directions or restaurant recommendations if we needed. He then said, “Anything I can do to make your stay better, please let me know.”

Whoever trains this staff should be giving customer service classes throughout Starwood. I have never seen a better overall staff. Every single person we came across that week…from valet, to housekeeping, to front desk, to restaurant staff…was genuinely courteous, friendly, and eager to help with recommendations, directions, or assistance. I look forward to visiting them again someday. They truly spoiled me.

From the “welcome back” as we reentered valet parking after a day out and about, to the maids in the hallway smiling as we passed and asking if we were enjoying our stay…and could they do anything to make our stay better…WOW. Toto, we are NOT in Kansas anymore. If this is Bizarro world, how do I get a resident visa?

I have told everyone I know about this property. I was completely enamored all week long. They should be used as a shining case of exemplary customer service not just in Starwood, but also in the industry. Whew. Soapbox is gone now, and no I do not work there.

We headed up Robson Street to do some exploring. The Westin Grand is about three blocks from the hubbub but it is a quick walk. We found some shoe stores that sent my husband into a quiver and the Roots store (similar to Gap with much better quality) where we both did some serious shopping. It was another block up that had me doing the happy dance. The Lush store was there…and I could smell it from a block away. They sell soaps, shampoos, and bath stuff. For Americans…. imagine the Body Shop or Bath & Body Works if everything was all natural and umm…good! They have only started building shops in the US (Boston, DC and Santa Monica now-NYC is coming!) so I went nuts. It was great to smell things before I buy them. I usually shop Lush through mail order. All of these stores had people that were so laid back and friendly. We tend to travel a bit, but we have never seen a place where people were all so darn friendly and happy. Wonderful bonus point to this trip!

By the time we finished there it was about 9pm. Little did we know we picked Boxing Week to stay in Vancouver. Talk about SALES! Stores were jumping late and we thoroughly enjoyed the exchange rate even though it was lower then usual.

Looking for dinner, as we were famished, we noticed a Hooters a few floors up right off Robson Street. We headed up to catch the post game for the NFL day (and so Bill could have hot wings and gawk-after all, he just spent an hour in Lush-fair is fair). Once again, super friendly people. We could definitely get used to this.

After dinner we headed back towards the Westin, making mental notes of where we wanted to go later. There were tons of noodle houses we saw on the way back and we got our first glimpse of the places past the Westin on Robson. There is cheap pizza, a fantastic take out Japanese place (Ebi Tan) and a TGIFridays type place (Rosie’s on Robson) all worth checking out.

We got back to the room and started taking pictures of the city at night from the balcony. There are great shots to be had. Tomorrow is…the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Stanley Park.


Day Four-Stanley Park, Capilano Bridge and MORE Shopping

Once again we were up early (I don’t think we ever got out of EST) and got up and out fast. We headed towards Stanley Park (after stopping at Valet for directions). We wanted to primarily drive through, as it is December and cold. We took more pictures here, as the views are stunning. I wish it were warm enough to walk the seawall because the views of North Vancouver were great. We drove the whole park and then followed the signs for 99 North and North Vancouver. As we drove I remembered seeing online before our trip that entrance to the bridge (usually in the $15-16 range) was free in the month of December with a gift of three non-perishable food items to the BC Food Bank. We found a grocery store and picked up some things.

Bill said he wanted breakfast before the bridge so we stopped at a hole in the wall called De Dutch Pannekoek House. This place was great. They make standard breakfasts…or these Dutch concoctions that are essentially a crepe with anything from trail mix to breakfast meats stirred in throughout. Breakfast was tasty and filling, and their coffee was amazing.

We then headed to the Suspension Bridge and wandered about. I know it is a tourist trap, but wow…in Jersey, a tourist trap is a theme park or a boardwalk. This was breathtaking. The view was awesome and the sky had cleared to become a brilliant shade of blue. We stayed a few hours, wandering the trails and absorbing the view. Then we headed back toward Downtown Vancouver where the shopping bug had bitten.

We hid Robson for a bit and then the Pacific Centre. We were amazed at the amount of shopping downtown. We had been told the Big Bear of a mall was in Burnaby. We doubted we’d get there and enjoyed downtown. We grabbed dinner at Boodle King Café on Robson. Since we had underestimated the shopping here we quickly lowered our food budget to accommodate. We stopped at Lush on the way back to the Westin to pick up “just a few things.” After all, we had a soaking tub this week that I planned to enjoy. We were planning to take the ferry to Victoria in the morning so I wanted to be well rested.

Day 5: Victoria-well…it is a city. Next…

Today would be the biggest letdown of the trip. I guess we had something VERY different in mind then what we got. We probably would have enjoyed it…had we not spent $100 and three hours to get there.

We wanted to take the ferry there on a bus, without the tour. It was December and I am not a “Garden” person so the major tours to Butchart were out. The nice guys at Valet told us there were buses leaving form the Pacific Bus Station every two hours that brought you to the ferry, and to downtown Victoria. Sounded perfect, as we didn’t want to pay for the rental car on the ferry and then worry about parking. Plus downtown is fifteen minutes from the Swatz Bay Ferry so we needed a lift.
We finally arrived by the Empress Hotel around 11:30. Remember…we boarded a bus to start around 7:30 am. We had heard Victoria was the “most English” city in Canada and that the shopping areas and eateries were British in nature and that people LOVED this city. They said the epicenter was the Empress Hotel.

WHY?

We had hoped to do High Tea at the Empress. We had done it in London and loved it. The Empress was supposedly the be all and end all of high teas. We got there at 11:30. They didn’t start serving until 12:00. They had cafeteria-style crates you would find glasses in…each with already prepped strawberries and cream. Sitting in the lobby of the Tea Room. Ewwwwwwwwww. Isn’t that a health violation? We decided to skip tea. Sigh…

So we headed out around the downtown shopping area. OK…. there are stores. Just like the ones in Vancouver. I in no way got what the big deal here was. Sigh. We checked out our “Vancouver and Victoria for Dummies” guide book and it swore by this hole in the wall seafood shack on the waterfront called Barb’s. Said it was tiny but worth it. After our luck at Jack’s in Seattle we figured it would perk us up. NOTE TO PUBLISHERS OF DUMMIES GUIDE: BARB’S IS CLOSED IN WINTER!!! We discovered that after walking about a mile in the cold to find it. Once again…sigh.

Our bright spot came here…as we walked the docks looking for Barb’s, Bill whispered, “Jen-get over here-NOW!” As I went towards him dockside, I came nose to almost nose with a seal. Not part of a show at Sea World, but an adorable seal. He frolicked in the water entertaining us for about fifteen minutes before he bored of us (and our lack of fish for him) and he swam off. If not for that, our day would have been a wash.

We started walking back toward the bus station and decided to quit while we were behind and get the next bus for Vancouver. We boarded the 2:00 and arrived (after delays) Downtown Vancouver around 6:00pm. We spent eleven hours and $120 on ferry/bus tickets for a city. Nothing English about it to me. I usually find something great anywhere. This place had…the seal. The people were even grouchier. We were definitely out of Bizarro World and we wanted to go back.

When we got to the hotel we were famished and checked out Ebi Tan across Robson from the Westin. AMAZING! For about five dollars, you get six pieces of tempura (including two prawns) rice and a cup of miso soup. We took it back to the room and decided to call it a day with some TV. Hopefully tomorrow would be better as we were planning to go to Grouse Mountain for some snowboarding and the beautiful air gondola ride.

Day 6-Best Laid Plans

We woke to find it started snowing in Vancouver. I thought it was nice. We are used to snow and we function around it. Downtown is not used to it. They get flurries at most. This storm was bringing 8-10 inches to the suburbs and 4-6 inches downtown. The news told people not to drive if necessary and the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler was closed because of accidents. I suddenly felt like a weather weenie ill prepared to take our rental Intrepid up Grouse Mountain. We brainstormed for alternate plans.

We had met a great guy named Mike who worked at Roots earlier in the week and he told us about a HUGE mall called Metropolis at Metrotown. Best part was the SkyTrain that you could pick up at Burrard to get there. We headed into the snow towards Royal Centre and we came across a White Spot restaurant. We decided to get breakfast before we headed to the mall. Great quick food. It looks like a TGIFridays on the inside but for breakfast has a Denny’s type menu. Food was fast, hot and cheap. It served its purpose well.

We caught the SkyTrain to Burnaby and settled in to enjoy the ride it is an elevated subway and gave us a nice view of the city covered in snow. Turns out Vancouver does not plow secondary roads in a snow event, which is why most of the city stayed home or took mass transit. The train was packed.

We arrived at Metrotown and were floored at the size of the mall. I was also pleased to find another Lush store. Poor Bill. We shopped till we dropped and enjoyed the mall for the day. The food court was widely varied, with everything from Ukranian food to Thai to Vietnamese to Japanese. It was a far cry from the stand Sbarros, McDonalds, Chinese Food, Juice Stand of NJ. It turned out to be a great way to spend a snowy day. There were some great stores there and greater sales thanks to Boxing Week.

As today was New Years Eve, the mall was closing at 5:00 at which time we got on the SkyTrain and headed back to Vancouver and the Westin.

Bill and I have never been big New Years Eve people so we figured on take out and some movies/TV at the hotel. We went back to Ebi Tan for tempura and sushi (which was good as well). There’s nothing like stuffing yourself with good tempura for $5. We also wanted to start planning on how we would pack everything we bought to get it home.

We also wanted to sleep, as my first snowboarding experience would be tomorrow at Grouse Mountain.

Day 7-Grouse Mountain

We woke up early to get a good start to the mountain. We needed to rent equipment as we didn’t want to bring it from NJ. Bill loves to snowboard, while I have never tried. If you find yourself in this situation, TAKE A LESSON. Otherwise you tax a good marriage. Poor Bill tried to teach me…it didn’t work very well.

The ride up the “gondola” from the parking lot to the mountain takes about four minutes. Holy Schmoly-I don’t know what else to say! It was amazing! I have never seen views like that in my life. Step off the gondola and there is the lodge, and the rental building. Look down and there are sweeping and stunning views of Vancouver. I have dozens of pictures. I do not understand why so many people go to Whistler. This place had tons of open trails, high speed lifts with no waiting, and a foot of fresh snow.


The nicest part of all is that there is plenty to do for non-skier/snowboarders. You pay ($20 I think) for the entrance. This includes the gondola trip roundtrip, as well as ice-skating, sleigh rides and movies. There are two movies (each about 45 minutes) on the area. I have never seen such breathtaking sites. The fresh snow on the trees with the mountain backdrops and the sweeping downward views of Vancouver-oofah! I was truly in awe.

After some bumpy times we got our equipment. I probably would have done better if I were taught how to stop (or attempt to) before I started bulleting down the slope I started on. I also need to work on my technique of getting up onto a strapped in board from my posterior. Getting up from the knees is better, but getting to that position is hard. We ended up on almost flat land when I learned to steer, clear the snow from my board and propel down teeny inclines before stopping. I believe my yoga instructor calls it baby steps. I only wish I could’ve convinced Bill to take a few runs by himself but he wouldn’t leave me alone. I felt like the day was a wash for him. I wondered to myself where the nearest Hooters was located.

We arrived back in Vancouver around 6:00 pm famished. When returning the car we asked the valets what was decent and cheap in walking distance where I could get a Molson Canadian (or many) and feel OK in snow pants. They sent us to Rosie’s on Robson’s around the corner. The potato latke appetizer was amazing, the burgers were OK. I wouldn’t stray too far past that. The service was great though. Once the waitress knew we were hungry, the food came fast and hot. By the time I started my beer the appetizers arrived.

Exhausted and ready to go home, we paid the check and headed back to pack. Tomorrow we would head back to Seattle and a 10pm flight home to NJ.

Day 8-Goodbye Bizarro World

We checked out of the hotel around 10:00 after eating in the room. The car was packed to the gills and we headed back towards Seattle. We allowed plenty of time at the border as we had been warned to. We went to the Duty Free shop at the Peace Arch to redeem or GST (Canadian Sales Tax) you get it back for most purchases, so save your receipts! We got back almost $100 (US) so it was worth the ten-minute stop.

Our wait was about an hour at the border nut the border guards were friendly. Since we were at orange alert I counted on and received a more thorough going over. Once we were back in Washington we looked for places and ways to kill time, as we didn’t need to be at the airport until 8-8:30pm.
Our first detour was Westlake Center in the Seattle outskirts. We wanted lunch and to stretch our legs. It suited us well. We got some fish and chips at Ivar’s, which was awesome for mall food and discovered something we had forgotten while in Seattle. See’s Candies. We stocked up for the family and wandered around before getting back in the car. On the way out we saw a sign across the street for Olympic Sports. Bill wanted to check it out for snowboard gear.

We walked in and we were in heaven. They had great prices, and tons of selection. We stocked up on some things he needed for snowboarding and some things for our son and headed out. One note…the staff here is very knowledgeable and VERY friendly. They have a website we intend to use in the future.

As we headed into rush hour traffic, we checked out the view once more. We then came across a sign for Southcenter Mall, which is on the same exit off of I-5 as Sea-Tac airport. We walked around a bit to stretch our legs before hitting the airport. Nice mall but Westlake was better to us.

That brought us to return the car at Sea-Tac. Granted it was 8:00pm on a Friday, but shouldn’t the National Car Emerald Aisle have someone there to check cars in? I thought that was part of EA? I had to walk the keys back to the counter and wait on line to check it back in. A minor thing, but a pain nonetheless.

We killed time at a brewpub in the terminal and watched one of the college bowls (Ohio State Game I think-I am an NFL girl after all).

Our return flight was called (CO 1280) and we headed for…gulp…coach. Nothing compared to the trip out unfortunaI had hhoped to sleep as it was a red eye. I stuffed myself into my seat and popped a Unisom. Did great until the woman next to Bill started hacking. Not what a doctor would call a “productive cough” but a throat-clearing hack. The seven children around us all slept like babies. They were angels. We had the hacker. Wouldn’t accept Nyquil, Dayquil, a cough drop or drink from anyone. She just cleared her throat about every six minutes…all the way to Newark. Note to self-Unisom is torture when you are constantly awakened.

We arrived on time to Newark, got our bags (two more then when we left) and caught the blue bus to Avistar parking. We were home by 9:00…in bed by 10:00. All in all, an amazing trip. I did learn a few things.

1. Do more research into what others call a “must see.”

2. Take snowboarding lessons

3. Spread out the clothes and have extra space to bring things home.

4. Always make friends with the valet parking guys. They know all of the good places without getting the incentives the concierge do to point someone in a particular direction.

5. NEVER take a red eye-EVER!

6. Try to upgrade both ways. Coach is a let down on the way home

7. I love Canada. We already planning for a summer long weekend to Toronto for more shopping and hopefully, more of Bizarro world.

I hope you enjoyed this report. I always enjoy the ones I read and felt it was payback time. Happy Travels. Jen

VibeGuy

Just a note for clarity from a local; I think the mall you refer to here is "Northgate", as there's not an Olympic Sports by Westlake Center, which is downtown between the Bon and Nordstrom.

I'm glad you had a good time here - I love the Westin Grand, too, and was also blown away by the service.

Next time you're in Seattle, do try Little Chinook's for fish and chips @ Fisherman's Terminal. Truly freakin' amazing salmon tempura.

Eric

Altaflyer

I am very pleased that you enjoyed our country. Just a word of warning about "Bizarro world", you may find it in less abundance in Toronto I used to live in Ontario and the people out west (Alberta & BC) are way friendlier. I would suggest that you visit Niagara on the Lake and the nearby wineries if you do visit Ontario. Again, glad you enjoyed Vancouver - I am headed there myself in April for a wedding and some skiing up at Whistler

ghYHZ

Glad you enjoyed Vancouver. The Westin Grand is on of my favourite Hotels there.

Toronto is a great city but can I suggest another “bizarro world” experience: Halifax, Nova Scotia (YHZ) and it’s only 1 hour 50 min from Newark on Continental with 3 flights a day in the summer.

Friendly people! Sample the waterfront cafes or one of our "Lobster Suppers" and don't miss a drive around the Cabot Trail!