Tea Time in Victoria, BC
Everyone will tell you to take time and enjoy a real afternoon tea service when you visit Victoria, and I’m not going to say differently. I’m a tea girl–earl grey, quickly steeped, with a splash of cream. In fact, I think I’ll make myself some right now to enjoy while I write this. I’m also […]
Q: Where to Eat in Seaside, Oregon?
We know you have questions, so here’s the deal: You ask, we’ll answer. Sweet, huh? Whatever your Northwest travel inquiry, we will put on our concierge hats and try our best to answer you. Ask your question any time here; we will answer questions on Mondays. Dear TripFinder, We’re going to Seaside, Oregon this week and looking for […]
S’mores Variations: Mixing it up Around the Campfire
Find any family-friendly campground, and you’ve got kids running around on their scooters with toasted marshmallow bits caked on their smiling faces. This is what camping is all about: S’mores! And it couldn’t be any easier. You just take a marshmallow on a stick (find one on the ground or they make these fancy campfire […]
Pie and Coffee in Forks
It wasn’t the Twilight series that brought us to Forks in the pouring rain. (Though I must confess to you, I bought a copy of New Moon at Forks Outfitters on the south side of town while I was there. The clerk looked at me, in my Gore Tex and muddy hiking boots, with inquisitively arched eyebrows.) […]
Mashiko Serves Up Sustainable Sushi in Seattle
Sometimes, I daydream about dinner at Mashiko. Okay, I daydream about dinner at Mashiko a lot. Mashiko is Seattle’s best sushi place. Lucky for me, it’s right up the street in the heart of the West Seattle Junction. Seattle has darn good sushi. Mashiko should have some stiff competition. In some ways, it does. For cheap […]
Coombs Country Market: Everything but the Goats, Under One Roof
“You gotta make a stop at the Old Country Market in Coombs. They have goats up on the roof!” People kept telling me this, totally unsolicited. I suppose I looked the part of a lost tourist, driving in circles around central Vancouver Island in my beater Volvo with Washington plates. And of course there was that ever-present […]
Countryside Christmas Rocks the Chemainus Theatre Festival
When I left the Chemainus Theatre after seeing it’s new original play, Countryside Christmas, I couldn’t quell the spring in my step. It was as if I’d just spent a music and folly-filled Christmas Eve with my very own family. And I’ll bet that stirring of family holiday nostalgia is exactly what the playwrights are […]
Tasting with the Cows at Little Qualicum Cheeseworks
Have you tasted artisan cheese made from the milk of cows that are right there in front of you, frolicking in their fresh pasture? Well, I just have. It was at Little Qualicum Cheeseworks at Morningstar Farm on Vancouver Island, just outside the lovely seaside town of Qualicum Beach. It’s a short jaunt to the […]
Columbia City Bakery: a Neighborhood Sweet Spot
Where will you find Seattle’s flakiest croissant, most perfect baguette or tastiest gingersnap? Many of Seattle’s best artisan bakeries are in its far-flung neighborhoods–removed from the hustle and bustle of Seattle’s downtown core and nowhere near Pike Place Market. To find them, head to tucked-away hoods like West Seattle, Wallingford or Columbia City–neighborhoods where out-of-town travelers rarely tread. […]
Salmon Fishing in Seattle
Fishermen were lined up like the poles they held in their hands, neatly spaced apart along the shoreline. I was at Lincoln Park’s Point Williams in West Seattle, a stone’s throw from my house. Some chatter on twitter about a passing pod of orca whales is what coaxed me here on a Friday morning. The […]
