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Vacation Favorites, Part 1: Attractions and Activities

Published on August 15, 2011 By Emily. Updated on August 15, 2011

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.

3seattle (160)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.  

2olympic (36)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.

2olympic (116)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.

2olympic (145)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.

3seattle (208)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.

3seattle (35)

3seattle (42)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.

1portland (24)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.

3seattle (23)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!

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Filed Under: travel Tagged With: favorite places, lists, oregon, travel, vacation, washington

« On the Lack of Highlights
Vacation Favorites, Part 2: Seattle Food »

Comments

  1. Carol Pious says

    August 16, 2011 at 12:22 pm

    GREAT PHOTO – you two look happy and relaxed! Loved hearing about your vacation.

  2. Michelle @ The Cooking Life says

    August 17, 2011 at 9:52 am

    Ahhh, Seattle! We have family that live near downtown and we’ve gotten to fly up there 4x in the last two years – what a blessing. I’m so glad you guys got to visit the northwest. LOVE your pictures! 2 summers ago, we drove to the Olympic Peninsula, stayed in Port Angeles and drove to Second Beach and La Push and Lake Crescent. It was so beautiful!

    • Emily says

      August 17, 2011 at 8:38 pm

      I am so glad we took the time to do the Olympic Peninsula and not just Portland and Seattle. I got to see the Pacific for the first time!

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Emily
Spring has finally come to the Berkshires! It has Spring has finally come to the Berkshires!
It has been such a joy to finally spend time outside regularly and see everything in bloom.

I bought myself a bike and, after the initial adjustment of learning how to ride again after a nearly 25 year hiatus, it's become one of my favorite ways to experience the outdoors. (None of these photos was taken while riding. I barely stay upright with both hands on the bike.)
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #AshwillticookRailTrail
Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring a sitter for a rare night out. We went to dinner at @publicna and took advantage of the opportunity with drinks, appetizers and dessert.

Pictured:
- Citrus Braised Beef Tacos
- "Chicken and Waffles"
- House Fries with Garlic Aioli
- Fried Chickpeas
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It was no surprise that Public was close to full on a Wednesday night - everything was so good. 

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New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
This year's word is "enrich" and I'm really excited about it.

I've written more about this year's theme on the blog. Click in the link in my profile or follow the link below to read the post.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-2023-theme-word-enrich/
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#YearlyTheme #MyOneWord #2023 #enrich2023 #NewYearsResolution
It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post. It's It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post.
It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
1. A pasta salad reel that took longer to create than the recipe took to make.
2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
3. The @thelazygenius book giveaway.
4.@plantconnector 
5. @berkshiremuseum 
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New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

I was able to get back to many activities that were meaningful to me this year and I'm calling this theme a success. Follow the link below or click the link in my profile to read more.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/reflections-on-resuming-in-2022/
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#resume2022 #newyearsresolution #myoneword #yearlytheme
New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is basically behind us. Though overall this year found me getting back to the person I want to be (post-babies and “post”-pandemic), I did not try nearly as many new recipes this year as I used to. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d made note of any new-to-me recipes I wanted to share in this post. This year’s list is short, but delicious. It includes recipes from @budgetbytes, @smittenkitchen and @howsweeteats.
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Read the post by visiting the link in my profile or 
https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-favorite-recipes-of-2022/
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#RecipeRoundUp #BestRecipes2022 #FavoriteRecipes
@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#Boothbay #BoothbayMaine #CoastalMaineBotanicalGardens #GardensAglow #BotanicalGarden #MidcoastMaine
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Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but t Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but this year we've had weather that has also been outstanding. The past 2 weekends have included time at Jaeschke Orchards, the Greylock Glen, and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as well as stopping to photograph any random foliage I see. 
Check out the last slide for video of some feathered friends we saw on a walk.
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