ROAD TRIP 2011: portland, seattle, vancouver

About Sammy's, fyi, it is prix fixe with two menu options available per course, iirc. You might also want to call for reservations since the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is in full swing. I understand they are open for lunch.

Second Omar's rec on the Black Sheep. That is a cool pub.

Other than that, just kick it on Main street. It's a pretty easygoing little town.

baby is due in 1 week~ : O

also, there's a cool co-op which may not be of much use to you, since you're on vacation, but if you need anything it's great. there's a somewhat overpriced but really well-curated record/cd shop a few blocks off the main drag which is pretty awesome.

ashland is surrounded by farm country and the land around there looks like ireland or "the shire" (same thing i guess.)

!!! so exciting omar.

i went to ashland once, it was very nice, i mainly remember good bookshops and soup and shakespeare mentions.

ashland ain't too bad, from what i've heard. I have to drive down to klamath falls tomorrow and do not return until Friday night

thread hijack. going to be in vancouver, then seattle, then back to vancouver surrounds in mid-to-late july for few weeks. where to eat, what to see, tips for places/areas to stay in van?

what's good basically

not caliburger vancouver that's for sure

to be seen? - http://hondacelebrationoflight.com/
to be avoided? - http://www.seafair.com/p/about/seafairweekend

YMMV but I like staying close to Stanley Park. There are several places nearby with "suites" in the name that might be good.

icefield highway worth road tripping?

celebration of light is nice

i would go on the last day

but prepare to put up with a sea of people all over the streets and sidewalks

also do you mean icefields parkway in alberta?

Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise, the Rockies in general are all amazingly beautiful and great according to my Albertan wife.

ive actually done this road trip and have hiked/trekked the (canadian) rockies

i want to say you shld rly do this on a separate trip

but if youre rly keen on going prepare 15hrs to get from van to banff

this is with a 1-2hr break; main one being halfway at kamloops and one or two small breaks before and after

we have tues-sun for kamloops, jasper, banff, revelstoke, back to van

stay somewhere centralish in Vancouver. Downtown is blah though. As is the West End - although it has beaches and Stanley Park. The Downtown Eastside/Gastown has a lot of stuff - ie restos, coffee shops, bars - and is also "Canada's poorest postcode" (that appellation may be wrong but people say it), but I don't necess recommend staying there - it is really safe and i have no probs being around there in the evening but like if youre on vacation you maybe don't want to see someone shooting up in their jugular or doing the funky chicken meth dance when you look out the window of your accommodations in the morning.

the transit system is p good, though skytrain lines only cover small amount of the city, and uses a card system a la Oyster.

things i like to do in the summer: the beach, minor league baseball games at the nat bailey, drinking in parks, there are a lot of parks. neighbourhoods i like to spend time in: gastown/downtown eastside, chinatown (which is right next to the aforementioned, strathcona (which is right next to Chinatown) - i used to live here, it's one of the oldest neighbourhoods and so has the greatest concentration of nice old houses, mount pleasant (i live here, it's a popular neighborhood for young(er) folks and close to downtown and there is lots of stuff aka stores, coffee shops, bars, breweries), further south on main street there is little mountain/riley park which also has good restos (e.g. the acorn best veg resto in town) little antique stores and shit, and the baseball field for aforementioned baseball games.

other popular neighborhoods - hastings sunrise, in the north east of the city, recently gentrified, restos, bars, coffee shops record stores and shit. commercial drive - hippyish, some good stuff, gentrified but not totally. kistilano - on the west side were i technically live but spend very little time futher west, has lots of stuff, is popular with commonwealth expats, has a beach facing downtown.

thanks!! ps u shd update ur login name ;)

that's v true, next week it'll be 4 years since I moved lol

xp to cozen

whereabouts in alberta are you staying?

you don't really want to stay in kamloops or revelstoke more than one or two hours

from kamloops you're 6ish hours away to banff

try to get there on tuesday and explore the rockies for a few days

banff and jasper are about three hours apart

if you're a beginner hiker consider the amount of hiking you want to do in a short time (there are easy hikes of course though)

The Icefields Parkway is a nice drive though the traffic can be bad sometimes. Most depressing part is the Athabasca Glacier, where you get first-hand evidence of global warming. When I last visited there (2007, I think) and went to the year marker for the first time I went there (1985) it had receded a lot. Very cool place, though.

tues: van to kamloops (drive from van leaving afternoon (5 hrs).) stay there
weds: kamloops to jasper, stay overnight
thurs: stay jasper
fri: jasper to banff via the 'ice highway', stay overnight
sat: banff to revelstoke
sun: revelstoke to van

no idea what we're doing in any of these places. three other ppl going and they've drawn up itinerary. being asked whether to stay 2 nights in jasper or 2 in banff

:shrug:

not sure I'd recommend this^ itinerary. bit intense

where's best for sushi in van & what are the must-eat non-meat spots? (fish ok obv)

e hastings st is... *teeth sucking sound* whewwwwww boy

for sushi, my two cents (sure there's more knowledgeable folk on ilx): miku in downtown and toshi in mount pleasant are the best ive had here.

non-meat best resto probably the acorn: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/table-talk-the-acorn-in-vancouver/

plenty of decent sushi

sushi itoga for something decent
conveyor belt for something cheap
miku for fancy times/special occasions because it is pricey/overpriced (get reservations; it can get insanely busy/booked)

my humble opinion is don't spend money on overpriced sushi, especially if you are ordering sushi and *not* sashimi

fancy to decent sushi quality will be only slightly better to the same so not really worth it, unless celebrating a special occasion

japanese girlfriend, japanese friends, and i stick to conveyor belt for the most part, believe it or not

having said that we know that white people tend to love guu with garlic, etc

favourite veg restaurants are actually indian restaurants in the punjabi area which is out of the way most likely

that one guu on nelson with the little patio is p nice, not very sushiy though iirc.

never been to that one actually

i used to go to the one on thurlow and the robson location more than i care to admit a long time ago though

booked in for maumi. thx for the tips all

best places we ate in seattle: bar noroeste, mamnoon, paseo, piroshki piroshki, snug's
best places in van: maumi, tacofino, meat + bread, bela gelateria, & go fish!

canmore was a surprisingly nice little town too

shug's*