Vacation Recap: Seattle

So, back in late July, the weather in the U.S. looked something like this. Washington, D.C. was headed into a nasty stretch of 100+ heat index days (with bonus nasty humidity), and Rob and I were bound for the Pacific Northwest, the rare temperate oasis amid all this heat. On the evening of Thursday, July 21, we boarded a plane in Baltimore, where it was about 99 degrees, and landed in Seattle, where temperatures were in the high 50s.

It was amazing. I felt like I could breathe again.

We stayed overnight at a motel near the airport, then took the light rail into town for the day. First stop: King Street Station (the Amtrak station), where we printed our our tickets to Vancouver, B.C., and stashed our bags at baggage claim. (Note: As an attendant made clear to us, there’s a difference between “checking” and “holding” bags, so be careful which term you use, lest you be subjected to much sighing and rolling of eyes. “Checking” - Amtrak takes the bag and you don’t get it back until you reach your destination. “Holding” - Amtrak holds your bags in the station, and you retrieve them before boarding the train. Glad I asked.)

No longer toting our bags, we wandered a bit around downtown. Highlights:

• Lunch at Cafe Venus, recommended by my former coworker Callie. Deliciousness.
• Shopping / dithering at the nearby REI mothership
• The new Capitol Hill location of Elliott Bay Book Company. I miss the quirks of the old Pioneer Square location, but it’s still my favorite bookstore anywhere.

Then it was back to the train station.

A note on the train: We’ve done this twice now, and for my money, it’s the best, most painless way to get between Seattle and Vancouver. It can be much cheaper than flying directly into Vancouver, there’s no hassle with driving (it’s easy enough to get around both downtown Seattle and downtown Vancouver without a car), getting through Customs is low-stress, and the view along the coast is just gorgeous.

The Amtrak Cascades train runs twice a day from Seattle to Vancouver (once in the early morning, once in the evening) and costs ~$40 per person for the four-hour trip. If you upgrade to business class (~$19), you get to disembark first to go through Customs in Vancouver. (Added bonus: If you’re an Amtrak Guest Rewards member, take a few trips between DC and NYC and you’re good to go for a free ticket — 1,000 points per seat for coach or 1,500 points for business class.)

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