FOODSPONGE's Part-3 INFINITY Review: Astoria, Seattle, Nanaimo, Victoria, Vancouver

[greydog]

PART-2 Review already posted covered Santa Barbara, Monterey and San Francisco (Sausalito).

 

ASTORIA, OR (pop. 9,477 in 2010) Day-7 docked

 

The town’s name is linked to John J Astor from 1811 of the American Fur Company. Lewis and Clark made a settlement in this area and Fort Clatsop was set up. I found the name ‘Clatsop’ unusual and learned it was based on the local Clatsop Indians. It yet remains to determine how the Indians got their name. Astoria had the first post office west of the Rockies, established 1847.

 

Astoria’s economic activity seems moderate. Besides the recent recession, two major employers had shut down – Bumblebee Seafood closed in 1980 and a large lumber mill in 1989. Railroad service was curtailed in 1996.

 

Local volunteers run a shuttle bus service from the dock into the downtown area, approx.. $7 for all-day circuit. The retail area is about a 20-min level walk. There is a historic trolley holding 40 that travels back and forth on rails alongside the Columbia River.

 

A riverside walkway runs from the dock for 2+ miles out past 39th Street. The Columbia River Maritime Museum is a major local attraction. Entry is $14 adult, $12 senior. It’s worthwhile to spend about 1.5 hours there on the displays.

 

“The Columbia River Maritime Museum was founded in 1962 to preserve the rich maritime heritage of the entire Columbia River region. The Museum has the largest collection of Pacific Northwest maritime artifacts in the country…. This exhibit takes an exciting look at the legendary Columbia River entrance, where the forces of the mighty Columbia River and Pacific Ocean meet to create one of the most dangerous bar crossings on the planet.”

 

On this and prior visit we walked the riverside trail 2 miles over to Rogue Ales Public House craft beer tavern at 39th Street. They had very good pizza and variety of craft brews. We have also visited Buoy Beer co., Ft. George Brewery and the Wet Dog Café.

 

Our recommendation is the Wet Dog Café at 11th Street. It has a river-side patio and wider selection of craft brews. Get there by 11:30am as it gets busy with cruise passengers.

 

Day- 8- sea day

 

SEATTLE (pop. Approx.. 700,000) Day-9 docked

The Seattle metropolitan area of around 3.7 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the United States. We’d visited Pike Place Public Market before so this visit we visited the Chihuly Glass Museum near the Space Needle and participated in a 3-hour Gourmet Food Walking Tour that was rated high on TripAdvisor.

 

The Chihuly Museum website states “The eight galleries and three Drawing Walls offer a comprehensive collection of Dale Chihuly’s significant series of work. The artworks demonstrate how he pushed the boundaries of glass as an art medium in concept, execution and presentation.”

 

We had bought the tickets to Chihuly in advance online and selected 11am entry. We arrived at 10:20am and entered – we were told they manage the entry times in the busier summer periods. We spent a little over an hour there. One problem when taking pictures of the exhibits was avoiding other tourists in the background. This just called for a little ingenuity and patience.

 

The Gourmet Food tour (by Savor Seattle) was limited to 12 participants and started at a restaurant rendezvous at 2pm. We visited 6 restaurants within a 1 mile area and had appetizers/samples at each.

 

As others noted:“ Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.” The tour host provided running commentary about the neighborhood and the various dishes sampled. Orson Welles would approve, having said “My doctor told me I had to stop throwing intimate dinners for four unless there are three other people.” The food walking tour was a pleasant affordable diversion.

 

A stop in Seattle would not be complete without a visit to The Tap House Grill at 1506 Sixth St.. The Tap House features 160 draught choices, the largest selection of beers on tap throughout the Northwest. My favorite was Big Sky Moose Drool, close to Guinness in taste and appearance. I can’t remember if we had something there to eat too.

 

“Millions of deaths would not have happened if it weren’t for the consumption of alcohol. The same can be said about millions of births.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

 

NANAIMO, CANADA (pop. 83,810 in 2011) day-10

 

Nanaimo began as a trading post in the early 19th century. In 1849 the Snuneymuxw chief Ki-et-sa-kun informed the Hudson's Bay Company of coal in the area. Exploration proved there was plenty of it in the area and Nanaimo became chiefly known for the export of coal. In 1853 the company built a Nanaimo Bastion, which has been preserved and is a popular tourist destination in the downtown area.

 

Shuttles were available but we walked a half mile from the dock into town to have an early lunch at Sukkho Thai restaurant, 4-star on TA, 123 Commercial St. We then continued walking 1-2 miles North along Front Street (Harborfont Walkway). What serendipity - our turnaround point was White Sails Brewing across from Maffeo Sutton Park. We walked back to the ship in mid-afternoon.

 

VICTORIA (pop. 80,107 city) day-11 docked 15 mins. from downtown

 

Description: Named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and, at the time, British North America, Victoria is one of the oldest cities in the Pacific Northwest, with British settlement beginning in 1843. The city has retained a large number of its historic buildings, in particular its two most famous landmarks, Legislative buildings (finished in 1897 and home of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia) and the Empress hotel (opened in 1908). The city's Chinatown is the second oldest in North America after San Francisco's. Victoria is in the top twenty of world cities for quality-of-life according to Numbeo.

 

Out 4th visit and a favorite port. We had pre-booked online a hiking tour to Gowlland Tod with ‘HikeVictoria.com’. The hike was 3.6 miles, took three hours on foot and was rated ‘moderate’ difficulty. With the exchange rate, the fee was US $57 each with pickup (8:30am)/dropoff near the ship. We had a nice hike with scenic views and souvenir pictures available from the Mark, the very personable guide.

 

We elected after the hike for dropoff at Garrick’s Head Pub, 1140 Government St., 4-star on TA. It’s described as “ … one of the oldest English pubs in Canada (since 1867) and maintain Victoria’s largest selection of craft and import beers on tap. If you’re hungry, we offer traditional English pub fare in a bright and relaxing atmosphere.”

 

“There are more old drunks than there are old doctors.” ― Willie Nelson

 

We enjoyed Garrick’s seafood chowder and beverages and walked 25 minutes thru the residential area to the ship’s dock by mid-afternoon.

 

VANCOUVER (2011 census 603,502 city) DEBARKATION DAY, docked Canada Place

 

PER Wikipedia, As of 2014, Port Metro Vancouver is the third largest port by tonnage in the Americas (displacing New York), 27th in the world, the busiest and largest in Canada, and the most diversified port in North America. While forestry remains its largest industry, Vancouver is well known as an urban centre surrounded by nature, making tourism its second-largest industry. Vancouver is consistently named as one of the top five worldwide cities for livability and quality of life and the Economist Intelligence Unit acknowledged it as the first city to rank among the top-ten of the world's most liveable cities for five consecutive years.

 

We walked 2.5 blocks with luggage to Delta Suites on W. Hastings St and got lucky with an early check in. We were staying over, visiting Granville Island entertainment area this cruise, before early flight to home the next morning.

 

Per Wikipedia, Granville Island provides amenities such as a large public market, an extensive marina, a boutique hotel, the Emily Carr University of Art and Design , Arts Umbrella, False Creek Community Centre, fine arts galleries, and variety of shopping areas. The Granville Island Public Market features a farmers' market, day vendors, and artists offering local Vancouver goods. There are 50 permanent retailers and over one-hundred day vendors in stalls throughout the market selling a variety of artisan cottage-industry foods and handmade crafts on a rotating schedule.

 

It was a $10 cab ride to Granville Island, which was very busy on this nice Sunday afternoon. We went to the very popular Edible Canada Bistro, rated 4.5 stars on TA, for early lunch. We avoided a wait for seating by sitting in the bar area. We enjoyed the meal and especially the ‘Bloody Caesar’ cocktail, a regional signature drink made with clamato juice, spices and garnished with a whole bacon strip.

 

We spent more time visiting some of the many shops and boutiques in the market area. In late afternoon we returned to Delta suites for an early evening before 5am taxi to the airport for our 8am flight.

 

CANADIAN EXCHANGE RATE

For Americans, the favorable exchange rate meant savings of around 20% over the Canadian $ price. We paid for as much as possible with our credit card (no conversion penalty) to realize this savings. Watch to be sure your bill is priced in Canadian $. A few retailers tried to charge the same Canadian $ amount in US $, giving them the 20% benefit. Major chain retailers sometimes converted the Canadian amount to charge the US$ price, but with an exchange rate favorable to themselves.

 

Conclusion – our 28th Celebrity cruise was very enjoyable and relaxing, benefitting from a run of very mild and dry weather. Our first cruise on Oceania cruise line is this December.

 

LINK TO PART-1 INFINITY PACIFIC COASTAL BELOW

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2371677