Vacation Favorites, Part 1: Attractions and Activities

I do not like picking favorites.  I hate when people ask me my favorite food, drink, historical time period, color, musician or television show.  I like a lot of things.  I don’t like limiting myself.

But I have 2 choices: I can either highlight my favorite things from our recent trip to Oregon and Washington, or I can spend the better part of the next couple months posting about it.  The trip was that good, and we did that much stuff.

And so, here we are.  This is not a complete retelling of our vacation, but it hits some of the highlights that the first vacation post didn’t.  I’m sure the things I chose aren’t the “best” in many of their categories, but they were my favorites in our limited experience.  Even so, I had to split the post into 2 parts.

favorite zoo animal: the gorillas

While in Seattle, Brian and I checked out the Woodland Park Zoo.  I’m a big fan of going to the zoo, even though they’re always overrun with small children.   I was really pleased with the Woodland Park Zoo and we took our time wandering around to all of the different animals.  I was especially taken by the gorillas, since the 3 of them were fairly active, close to the viewing area and very entertaining.  

favorite sign: aggressive elk

This is the sign that met us when we entered the Hoh Rainforest in Olympia National Park.  I was pretty amused by it.  I also spent our entire hike looking all over for elk that might be inclined to attack me.  Luckily, we escaped unharmed.

favorite sign, runner up: Welcome to Forks

Forks, Washington is the epicenter of the Twilight book mania that encompasses several parts of the Olympic Peninsula.  I hadn’t realized until we arrived at our hotel in Port Angeles that Twilight tourist sites also exist in Port Angeles, but the merchandise there is nothing like Forks.  We stopped in the small town in between national park sites.  Of all the stores, merchandise and signs, I enjoyed this one the most.

favorite view: Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park 

There were so many great views during the course of this trip, it was hard to choose my favorite.  But I loved the morning Brian and I spent on Hurricane Ridge.  The wildflowers were in bloom, the deer were plentiful, the weather was pleasant and the clouds chose to burn off so we could see.  I was obsessed with pointing out snowcapped mountains wherever I saw them during the course of the trip, so the view was especially breathtaking.

favorite view, runner up: Columbia Center, Seattle

When we met up with some friends for ice cream in Seattle, they let us in on a little secret.  The Columbia Center observation deck is higher than the Space Needle (as you can see in the photo above) and only costs $5 a person.  Brian and I were already planning to skip the Space Needle, so this information was awesome.  We stumbled upon the building the next day and thoroughly enjoyed our inexpensive, not nearly as popular view of the city.

favorite “store”: Pike Place Market

True, Pike Place Market isn’t really a store, it’s a lot of different stores and vendors and booths.  But I could live there, if they’d let me.  I loved the wide variety of vendors and products, I loved the art work, I loved the restaurants, I loved how fresh everything was.  Pike Place Market was one of the very few “must do” places on the Seattle list and we managed to stop there several times.

favorite store, runner up: Powell’s City of Books, Portland

Poor Portland, it’s not getting a lot of play on this list.  I really did enjoy Portland, but we only spent 48 hours there and I just didn’t love it quite as much as Seattle.  But Powell’s City of Books was awesome (please note: bookstores in general are among my favorite places in the entire world.  My mother used to work as a librarian; I have had jobs in a bookstore and a high school library.  Books are wonderful.)  I knew the store was going to be big, but it surpassed my expectations.  Also, I managed to snag an older edition of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle for a reasonable price.

Picture of Brian and I, together: the ferry

Brian and I have a grand total of 1 photo together from our 2009 honeymoon.  Crazy, right?  I have a tendency to be much more interested in taking pictures of things instead of people.  Plus, you generally have to find someone else to take the picture for you.  But, early in our trip, I told Brian that we were going to have pictures with both of us.  So, thanks to remembering that I have a self-timer on my camera and the kindness of strangers, we have several good photos of the two of us.  This one, from the ferry ride into Seattle, is one of my favorites.

Stay tuned for part 2!