Heading South

We arrived in Vancouver on August 11th just in time to check into our hotel and head to BC Place Stadium to watch the Vancouver Whitecaps play Real Salt Lake.  Charles is friends with the head coach of Real Salt Lake, Jason Kreis, and when we saw they were playing in Vancouver while we were on our U.S. Road Trip, we decided to work the game into our travel plans.  While watching the game we met a couple, Mike and Grace, who were friends of the assistant coach, Miles Joseph, they were sitting near us during the game and we struck up a conversation.  After the game we all went to dinner at this fantastic restaurant called Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar.  Our new friends were able to get us a table in the wine room and knew just the wine to order - Director's Blend.  The story behind this wine is that four wine directors from top restaurants in the Vancouver area decided to get together and create a wine with the help of a vineyard in British Columbia, the result a fantastic red blend.  We definitely enjoyed not only the good wine, but the amazing food - sushi, scallops, calamari, tuna, salmon, etc.  Yum!  Overall it was a fun evening and a great time catching up with Jason and getting to know Miles a little better. 

BC Place Stadium

The Wine Room at Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar

The next day was my 33rd birthday.  We woke up and walked to a coffee shop for a healthy breakfast of chocolate croissants (my favorite breakfast pastry) and coffee. After our breakfast we took a nice long walk down to the water and through the city of Vancouver.  We decided to check out the Vancouver Art Museum and have lunch at the museum's restaurant, the Gallery Cafe.  There was a great visiting exhibit featuring Matisse, which we really enjoyed.  The rest of the Vancouver museum is an eclectic collection of modern and installation pieces set in a beautiful building.  We left the museum to head back to the hotel and get on the road to Seattle.

Birthday lunch at Gallery Cafe - Vancouver Art Museum

There was a bit of a traffic jam at the U.S. Canadian border, but once we were back in the U.S. the drive into Seattle was pretty easy.  We were greeted by our friends Ali and Will and their dog Baxter!

Baxter

Will and Ali prepared an amazing dinner for us that evening, we ate salmon, beet salad, and some delicious veggies.  We spent a few days in Seattle visiting with Will and Ali, exploring the city, and doing a few errands that are hard to get done on the road (laundry, oil change, emails, etc).  The highlights of our time in Seattle include - hanging out with the Buntings, checking out Pike Place Market, visiting the original Starbucks, going to the Experience Music Project Museum, enjoying the great weather and beautiful views in the city, and going to a Mariners game.  Here are a few of our favorite pictures from Seattle:

Pike Place Market

EMP Museum

Mariners Game

 

 

You can see the rest of our pictures from our time in Seattle by clicking here.