Travel

[CherryBombRock]

Hi
I know this is a mammoth question but I need your help!
In a months time I will be travelling across the pond to USA and Canada.
We fly into Seattle then travel up to British Columbia, explore round there for about 6-8 weeks and then drive back down the west coast USA, hopefully touching our toes into Mexico and then back up to LA for our flight in June/July (we plan on extending our return flight).
So, my question - where are the places we can't miss?
The main places we'll be in BC are Vancouver and Calgary and places in-between. Then US - Seattle, San Francisco, and LA (again - and everywhere in-between!)
We'll be visiting lots of parks and camping, but are there any great restaurants, diners, shops (Oh yes!) etc?
Any help would be very much appreciated!
Thanks
Lisa
xXx

 

[Paisley]

Big Sur and the Hearst Castle. They are along Highway 1. Enjoy!

 

[Haversack]

n your drive south from BC to California, I would recommend driving over to the coast from I-5, (the main North-South freeway in the three west coast states). I do not know Washington State as well as I do Oregon and Northern California, but I would recommend doing this on Highway 38 in Oregon. This travels along the Umpqua river and comes out on the coast at Reedsport. Then travel south on Highway 101 till you get to San Francisco.

The scenery is very good and the traffic is much less. The Oregon part of 101 has a wonderful series of Art Deco concrete bridges that are not well known outside of the state. There is a lot of coastline with nothing built in sight. Once you hit California, you will be driving through the Redwoods with many opportunities to stop and admire. As you plans progress, there are many of us who can give you recommedations as to places to eat in San Francisco. An Important question to ask: What don't you eat?

I can recommend a very good hamburger in the town of Cache Creek, British Columbia. It is a drive-in named Hungry Herbie's. It is just north of where Canada Hwy 1 turns east in town as it heads towards Kamloops.

Haversack.

 

[Cacklewack]

Stop in Portland, Oregon!

Matt

 

[CherryBombRock]

As you plans progress, there are many of us who can give you recommedations as to places to eat in San Francisco. An Important question to ask: What don't you eat?
QUOTE]
Ha Ha! Nothing with a face! Veggie please! (I'm sucker for all dairy tho!)

 

[Chanfan]

Hmm, that's quite a different kettle of fis…err, soy, then.

The coastal drive is very scenic, and wonderful (but of course, takes time). I recall doing it and stopping at various tourist traps along the way - the Winchester Mystery House (not bad), the Sea Lion caves (linked below by H.), the Avenue of the Giants (redwoods), and so on.

I like visiting Victoria (Vancouver Island, BC), but a good part of that is it has a (touristy) British flavor to it - probably not quite the thing for someone with access to the real deal. The Butchart Gardens are mighty nice, however.

Vancouver has many, many good restaurants - lots of Indian and Chinese, among others. I've heard that Habibi's is good for vegetarian, but don't know first hand. Granville Island is a fun place to visit. The Capilano suspension bridge is a nice site, although I understand there are other nearby suspension bridges, with similar views, but either free or much less expensive and less touristy. It's a day trip to do either. Stanley Park is a nice park.

Now, for Seattle veg eats, I can recommend Cafe Flora as being good vegetarian eats. I'm not vegetarian, but I quite enjoyed it. It's also nearby a good walk along Lake Washington. The Bamboo Garden, at the base of Queen Anne Hill, is a good Chinese vegetarian place. Some friends rave about Carmelita as a good eatery. Not aware of any diners since the Beeliner Diner folded.

Sites in Seattle, hmm. The Ballard Locks are nice, and Archie McPhee's retail store is a hoot if you like wacky kitschy (modern) junque. Great hiking is available in the rain forests and Cascades. The Pike Place Market isn't too bad, but it's hard for me to tell - I work next to it, so I tend to be blasé about it. My mom did work for them, so I should probably have more respect for it! We have a fine Zoo and Aquarium, but I'd think places like the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the San Diego Zoo (both in California) might be better choices. If you like either as a rule, perhaps visit more than one!

I'm not in the know about vintage shops, really, although we do have a nice non-vintage hat shop in Seattle (Bernie Utz).

And I'd agree, if you like old books, stop in at Powell's City of Books in Portland, OR (linked below by H.).

Oh, and, being a bit of a Disney freak (I love and hate that company), I'd of course recommend Disneyland in Anaheim, California. There are guides just for that, of course. It may or may not be your thing.

 

[Haversack]

Vegetarian, right. Fortunately, you'll find the Pacific states and province fairly accomodating, at least in the non-rural areas, (and sometimes even there). Most college towns will have one or more decent vegetarian restaurants and most others will have several vegetarian options on the menu. The following towns all fall into this category: Bellingham, Washington; Olympia, Washington; Corvallis, Oregon; Eugene, Oregon; Arcata, California. This cities of Vancouver, BC; Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; and San Francisco, CA will provide a surfeit of good vegetarian restaurants. Most use local, seasonal produce. Some are very good indeed and even attract omnivores. One I can vouch for is Greens in San Francisco. It is located in Fort Mason in an old Army Warehouse built out over the Bay. It has large windows with views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Their website: http://www.greensrestaurant.com/ can provide you an ideas of what they are like. Another high-end option are some of the City's French restaurants. Several have prix fixe dinners as gob-smacking good as their regular carte. A couple of these are Fleur de Lys, www.fleurdelyssf.com and La Folie, www.lafolie.com. There are many other, less expensive options as well. These stand out. Websites such as Yelp and Chowhounds can point you to others.

Now as for places to see and shops to spend money... In Seattle you will find C. C. Filson. They are makers and retailers of serious, old-school outdoor clothing. They got their start making clothes for the Yukon Gold Rush back the 1890s and continue to make many of the same garments today. Their clothes are very regional to the Pacific Northwest and would be an unusual souvenier to take back to the UK. Practical and well made too. They are very difficult to wear out. Worth a look even if they are beyond your budget. www.filson.com/home/index.jsp

Chanfan has already mentioned Powells' City of Book on West Burnside in Portland. This is the bookstore that Borders and Barnes and Noble all studied before they spread across the land. It is an entire city block of many stories. They provide maps. The floor in each room is painted a different colour to help keep you from getting lost. Both new and used books are together on the shelf. The staff knows what they have. They also have a seperate cookery and garden book store on SE Hawthorne across the street from the McMenamin Brothers' Bagdad Theater and Pub. This is a 1920s movie theater with Middle Eastern decor which also brews and serves beer and American pub grub. so you can watch a movie while enjoying food and drink. The beer is very good. The McMenamins' have several brewpubs throughout Oregon. Also some hotels. Each is a little quirky. They specialize in using interesting old buildings for their venues. Their crown jewel is the Edgefield Estate out east of Portland. It used to be the old Multnomah County Poor Farm before the Brothers turned it into an eating and drinking resort. It has broad porches with rocking chairs, fine gardens for strolling, a winery, a distillery, a couple of breweries, a movie theater, and two or three restaurants. I've gone up to Portland for a weekend with friends just to buy books at Powells and to read them on one of Edgefield's porches. www.powells.com/info/places/burnsideinfo.html and www.mcmenamins.com.

Other things to see: The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport is similar to the Montery Bay Aquarium only focusing on its region. One of the new generation of natural history museums. http://www.aquarium.org/

Sea Lion Caves is a tourist trap but worth it anyway. It is a huge natural grotto which is a rookery for two different species of sea lion, depending on the season. You take elevator down into the cliff, walk down a tunnel to a gallery in the rock and look down into the grotto. You get the full force of the sound and smell of a couple hundred large carniverous mammals competing with each other and the ocean for space. These are wild animals and not confined. www.sealioncaves.com/

Furhter south is the small city of Eureka, California on Humboldt Bay. Eureka is probably most famous for the Carson Mansion. This is Lumber Baron's redwood mansion which is one of the most elaborate examples of Stick/Queen Anne architecture in the USA. You can't go in as it is now a private club. Still, it is worth the two block detour off of Hwy 101 just to see. There are several other Victorians in the neighborhood built back when the bosses liked to live within sight of their factories.

One thing you will find all along the Pacific coast are small artisanal creameries making a wide variety of local cheeses. Some have been around for years and have gotten very big like Tillamook. http://tillamookcheese.com/VisitorsCenter/ Others are small and out of the way like the Loleta Cheese Factory in the Eel River Valley south of Eureka. http://www.loletacheese.com/, or the Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company just north of San Francisco. http://www.pointreyescheese.com/

I hope that this provides some ideas. There are too many things I could list for the San Francisco Bay area or the Gold Country to add right now.

Haversack.

 

[Chanfan]

See, now, I should have been a gentleman like Haversack, and put links in my post. I'll see if I can get some time to do so.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

If time allows, drive down the Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco to LA. It takes a couple of days, more depending on how slow you want to take it. It's lovely. Some of my favorite stops are Big Sur, San Simeon where waterfront rooms are reasonable and you will wake up in the morning watching the whales and dolphins, and Hearst Castle is there which is incredible. Santa Barbara is a really nice stop too.

All of the things about San Fran that I was gonna mention are already spoken for. I don't know too much about the west coast cause I don't live there, but I get out to San Fran often and all the things that have been mentioned thus far are great.

Enjoy your trip!! Be safe, have fun, and take gobs and gobs of photos!!

 

[Chanfan]

There, all linked up now.

Oh, another possibility for Seattle would be Scarecrow Video, famous for their amazing selection of films. It's mostly rental, but they do have a lot of obscure films for sale as well. Mind you, as you're UK, this would probably only be useful if you can deal with region locked DVDs and PAL/NTSC issues for video. A former housemate used to love this one Scottish movie, not otherwise available - so she'd rent it, and a PAL format player/TV.

If you by some chance like Hong Kong Cinema, they have a lot of it, and most are region free DVDs.

 

[moustache]

Chanfan has already mentioned Powells' City of Book on West Burnside in Portland. This is the bookstore that Borders and Barnes and Noble all studied before they spread across the land. It is an entire city block of many stories. They provide maps. The floor in each room is painted a different colour to help keep you from getting lost. Both new and used books are together on the shelf. The staff knows what they have. They also have a seperate cookery and garden book store on SE Hawthorne across the street from the McMenamin Brothers' Bagdad Theater and Pub. This is a 1920s movie theater with Middle Eastern decor which also brews and serves beer and American pub grub. so you can watch a movie while enjoying food and drink. The beer is very good. The McMenamins' have several brewpubs throughout Oregon. Also some hotels. Each is a little quirky. They specialize in using interesting old buildings for their venues. Their crown jewel is the Edgefield Estate out east of Portland. It used to be the old Multnomah County Poor Farm before the Brothers turned it into an eating and drinking resort. It has broad porches with rocking chairs, fine gardens for strolling, a winery, a distillery, a couple of breweries, a movie theater, and two or three restaurants. I've gone up to Portland for a weekend with friends just to buy books at Powells and to read them on one of Edgefield's porches. www.powells.com/info/places/burnsideinfo.html and www.mcmenamins.com.

Haversack.

Powell's Books is just one of the many reasons to stop in Portland.This city has so much to offer.Seattle and Vancouver,BC are beautiful as well.The west coast is ,to me,the richest coastline in America.Yes,i'm biased a wee bit

Seems like Portland gets missed by many.San Francisco and Seattle get most of the attention.Thats good.We like it that way.It keeps Portland smaller and less congested.

Have a great time!

JD
VAncouver,WASHINGTON--NOT BC

 

[CherryBombRock]

Wow - thank you! I'm gonna go check all of this out now! Thank you thank you!
xXx