After a fairly smooth afternoon flight (with Round 2 of vino on the house... thank you, American Airlines!) and cab ride to our hotel in Seattle, we squeaked in at 7:00 pm at the close of the Homewood Suites free dinner. Not ones to pass up a free meal (it's a marriage of accountants), we grabbed some grub and had a low-key night. The next day we hit up the town. I got up early for a run and then we hoofed it on over to the Pike's Place Market area. We started off with a fabulous beef and cheddar pastry thing at the famous "Piroshky Piroshky"... like a fantastic salty donut.
We walked around the marketplace and dodged a flying fish or two and happened upon a Target, which was perfect. One of our suitcases had broke, and we also needed some water and soda for the cruise. Thank goodness for the Pacific Northwest chillier temps, because we walked back to the hotel while rolling the suitcase full of beverages and it was actually pretty enjoyable. Later on we tried an Irish pub, Patty Coynes, that I had run by that morning. We enjoyed lunch on the patio overlooking the water and we took a little self-portrait on the walk back (awesome running trail behind me, right?).
Our waitress gave us an awesome suggestion for dinner that night... the Crab Pot. Of course we had to try "the Alaskan" featured on "Man vs Food" and we took it down. Here's a cute little "before and after" Instagram recap:
In addition to big buckets of seafood, they also served big beers:
Cruisin':
Our cruise departed in Seattle. We had a day at sea, a day in Ketchikan, a day in Juneau, a day in Skagway, another day at sea, and a day in Victoria. The cruise ended in Vancouver, eyyyy. We decided to pay a little extra and do the dining package. It was well worth it, and we had six nice dinners (three at the steakhouse, one at the Brazilian restaurant, one at the Asian restaurant, and one at the French restaurant) away from the heathens. We also did the wine package so we could enjoy some wine at dinner. That was a little overpriced, especially for the quality (or lack thereof) of the wine. We originally had a balcony room, but we were upgraded to a junior suite because my husband can bargain better than your husband. The balcony was a "must" with the wonderful scenery (and occasional sea life). Unfortunately there was a ton of fog the morning we were supposed to cruise through the glacier area and we missed it (so now we have an excuse to go back).
First Stop... Ketchikan:
We had a couple hours to walk around, and the town was neat-o, as my girl, Sarah, would say:
Pretty little canal area that apparently used to be the "red light district:"
Our excursion was the Bear Creek Zipline Adventure, which included seven ziplines, a suspension bridge, repelling, and a 250-foot slide. We had never ziplined before, and it was awesome (and beautiful).
Even the entrance was pretty:
Scene from up above:
Husband and Wife Zipliners:
Second Stop... Juneau:
We had a few hours before our sled dog excursion, and we happened on $15 Alaskan Brewing Company tasting and beer tour. The history and the culture of this company is just awesome, and we will definitely be supporting them in the future with some beer purchases (assuming we can find it in Texas!)
The taps:
Tasting in progress:
My fave (loved the cherry flavor):
The sled dog excursion was good, but not great. We chose that over the whale watching, and that was a tough decision. The "sled" was more like a "golf cart," and the mushing was actually in a forest (rather than the snow) since it was summer. But it was fun to interact with the dogs, and one of our lead dogs was a former Iditarod champion. I felt like a little kid opening my presents first thing on Christmas morning though. As soon as we arrived, we did the sledding part (which was cool), but then we had a whole lot of time to kill before we were picked up.
Our sled dawg team:
Action shot:
Our "musher" and her dog (the Iditarod champ):
Getting a little sled dog lovin':
And some future sled dog lovin':
Playing with my two-legged friend:
After our excursion, we had a little time left in Juneau so we went to The Alaskan Hotel and Bar, which is somewhat famous since it's the oldest operating hotel in Alaska. It definitely had a "local" (read as "men with beards drinking PBR") feel to it, and it's where I discovered the sweet nectar known as Fireball Whisky.
Third stop... Skagway:
We had heard that the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad was a must, so we picked an excursion that combined the train ride with a three-hour hike.
Pre-hike... the really big Skagway snowplow:
My hiking buddy was bummed that we didn't have a black bear sighting:
My first time hiking with a stick... gotta say, it was pretty handy (pardon the pun):
Our ride back... choo choo!
Some post-hike nourishment at the Red Onion Saloon, a former brothel:
A little family entertainment (as opposed to the scandalous entertainment of 1897):
After three excursions in a row, we wanted to relax in Victoria. We got off the cruise ship and walked about a mile and a half into town. As we were walking down the street, I spotted the Bulldog. Then Cliff spotted the Basset. And to make this even more of a concidence, the Basset was a rescue, like Lucy! (Just don't tell Lucy and GusGus about this. They're already mad about staying at the ranch in Alvord while we went on vacation without them.)
We stopped for a drink at The Local Kitchen, and apparently Canadians share my love for Clamato.
We ate dinner at Pescatores, Brian and Ali's recommendation, and feasted on another seafood dinner for two:
My camera was on its last leg, but this picture of the Victoria Parliament Building came out pretty nice:
Disembarkation in Vancouver:
We had a one-night stay in Richmond, just outside of Vancouver. We were pretty beat, so we stayed in Richmond and hoofed it around town. We grabbed some drinks at the Shark Club, where we realized the Dallas Cowboys are everywhere. (When I took this photo, I had to explain to the guy in the corner that I wasn't really a creeper.)
We enjoyed a nice dinner at The Boathouse Restaurant and headed back to DFW the next morning.
The reading recap:Seriously... I'm Kidding (Ellen DeGeneres)
Bared to You: A Crossfire Novel (in the "50 Shades" genre)
Where We Belong (a story about an adopted girl meeting her bio parents)
The workout recap:
Thursday - 6.02-mile run on the Trinity before a short work day and flight to Seattle
Friday - 5.25-mile run on the Seattle waterfront
Saturday - 6.60-mile run on the Seattle waterfront (and at least 6.4 miles of walking around town... we Google mapped it!)
Sunday - 1 hour of weights and abs
Monday - 40 minutes on the stationary bike
Tuesday - 40 minutes on the stationary bike, 11:00 of weights/abs, 3.13 miles/30 minutes on the treadmill
Wednesday - 3.6-mile hike in the Skagway rainforest
Thursday - 3.14 miles/30 minutes on the treadmill, 40 minutes on the stationary bike, 17:10 of weights/abs
Friday - 6.44 miles/60 minutes on the treadmill, 2:36 of weights
Saturday - 3.10 miles/30 minutes on the treadmill, 30 minutes on the stationary bike
Sunday - my only "off" day (5:30 am alarm for the flight home)
