Chufi takes a roadtrip in the PNW

[Abra]

Too bad about Silverwater. We haven't been there in several years, but it used to be pretty good. I like Wild Coho in the Uptown area, and the Fountain Cafe down below.

[little ms foodie]

Just got back from the Olympic National forest area, we've been spending some time there lately. LOVE Hurricane Ridge! Amazing! You can drive up to the visitors center and then if you like take a short easy hike to the top. Easy to do from port angeles. Lake Crescent is beautiful! Haven't had a chance to stay at the lodge but I hear good things. We usually take the Kingston ferry to edmonds from that area and then an easy drive into seattle.

If the weather is nice a drive up to Mt. Rainier and paradise is so pretty!

I suggest exploring interesting neighborhoods in seattle- Ballard and Fremont are 2 of my favorites!

[kayswv]

Vis-a-vis Pt. Townsend, an alert AND an enthusiastic recommendation:

We were there last weekend and had heard some decent talk of the Silverwater Cafe (actually a fairly large, and relatively pricey, restaurant.) While I hate to do this to all the people working hard there, I have to warn you far, far away from this place.

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Sorry you had a bad experience at the Silverwater. We ( a party of 5) ate there Sat evening, July 29th and had an absolutely outstanding meal. Not sure what time you ate (they are open in the summer until 10 pm) but we arrived around 6:30. Both levels were packed and despite this our service as well as our meal was great.

Two of our party started with New England Clam Chowder, rich and loaded with clams. Another had the crab shooter, fresh crab leg meat, crab bisque and sambuca cream served in shot glasses along with spanokopita. I had Basil Clams, which were fresh manila clams steamed in clam nectar, wine, basil pesto and cream. My husband had the Baked Oyster special which was 6 very large oyster topped with a caper sauce and roasted. Each oyster was two bite size.

For entrees two of us had the Tuscan Ribeye, which you commented on in your post. These ribeyes are hand cut so that might have been some of the irregularity in the slice. After grilling they are finished with extra virgin olive oil, garlic and herbs. Both orders were cooked to the specified degree-one med rare, one med. Other entrees included Grilled Polenta Etienne and Halibut with Hazelnut Creme. All really great.

Dessert for two of our party was Crumble topped Amaretto Peach Pie with vanilla ice cream and Choc. Mousse. All desserts are made in house.

We live in the area and dine throughout the year at Silverwater and have never had a bad meal there. What started as a Vegetarian Restaurant many years ago has grown into a full scale restaurant who source excellent seafood and meat ingredients in addition to outstanding vegetables. I would recommend giving it another try.

Kay

[Marya]

Klary,

We just took a trip to Bellingham to register our daughter at the university. It's an interesting drive up there and the scenery quite attractive for the last twenty miles into Bellingham. I heeded the recommendation of the Chowhounds in the NW and stopped at Mallard Ice cream. I was delighted with the Basil and the Cardammom flavors. The Rhubarb was pretty darned good, too. The scenery from Bellingham to Vancouver is worth the trip in that direction as you can always take the other route on your return from Canada. And, yes, you owe it to yourself to stay in Seattle. It's a vital metropolis with endless options for dining and exploring. Three weeks for a 1,200 mile trip is not unreasonable, assuming you will not be staying at most places longer than a day or two.

[litho7]

Too bad about Silverwater.  We haven't been there in several years, but it used to be pretty good.  I like Wild Coho in the Uptown area, and the Fountain Cafe down below.

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Hi Chufi,

My husband and I just got back from our honeymoon there. One of our favorite meals was from Wild Coho. Really excellent execution, friendly service, Great combos and the Chef used fresh veg in his sauces in a really unique way. and major emphasis on fresh local produce.

I would really recommend Port Townsend for a stay. We found it really charming. Their is a great organic blueberry farm you can visit near town, and tons of beautiful romantic vacation rentals to have your own private suite all seeming to fall in the 120-150 range. Send me a msg if you want names and numbers for the places we stayed, but it also seemed like you couldn't really go wrong. We also hit a brew pub on the mainstreet for great fish n' chips and people watching and some nice local brews. Maybe I missed something in Port Angeles but we quickly decided to skip it-chain motels and very run-down port feel to it. Pt.Townsend was only about 45mins away and so cute that we just returned there. For our blow out night we went to The Inn at Langley. Big bucks. totally worth it. amazing views and service and a private menu by the chef/owner only sat night (maybe sun too?) and a gorgeous breakfast in a really cute town. then drive north on the islands to the park near deception pass and bbq on the public grills all along the water. If you are going that way, I also second the rec for La Conner. Very cute town-very different feel. More rural, almost like being back in our hometowns in the Midwest. Great sandwich shop in the fruit and veg store and a historic hotel on the main street.

Have a great time. It's beautiful there.

[litho7]

We always want a combination of city and nature. We have the cities covered with Seattle and Vancouver (3 days Vancouver, probably about 3 days in Seattle).

The trip as I have planned it in RandMcNally is about 1200 miles.

I would really like to visit the Okanagan.. I have read wonderful things about it. Going there, and then south, and then west again through North Cascades seems logical. I guess we could skip Bellingham and go straight to Seattle after North Cascades NP.

I really want to go to the Olympic Peninsula. I have read some great trip reports and seems to have such a diversity of landscapes (ocean, rainforest, mountains). I suppose that if it gets too much and we want to take it easy, we could also skip the trip to Victoria.

What we like is to visit small towns.. hang out in the local diner and watch the world go by.. go shopping in local shops and supermarkets... go hiking for a couple of hours... check out lots of restaurants to decide where we're going to eat.. sit in a coffeehouse and read the paper.

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We spent one night in Victoria without a car and decided it was Disney's Canada...quaint, small, but artificial feeling and it's a town that belongs to the tourists. didn't feel like we saw a local (or a street without souvenir shops) the entire time. Others have told us you need to explore elsewhere on the island and get out of the city. We went to the small "chinatown" even though hotel told us the neighborhood was dangerous and had decent Chinese and walked late and played pinball at a huge arcade so still a fun night, but I wouldn't go out of my way (or risk the long border delays) to go.

[Chufi]

So, we're leaving tomorrow. I want to thank everybody who gave advice, it has really helped with the travelplanning.

It now looks like we might sneak in a trip to Portland as well. Dennis really wants to go.. I wonder if it's because I told him about the breweries anyway he's doing the driving so I'll wait and see where I end up!

I am armed with a huge pack of directions, tips, information and recommendations. If we manage to visit only a fraction of the places you guys have mentioned, it will be an awesome trip.

I will report back in 3 weeks!

[Swisskaese]

Have a safe flight and a great trip.

[Chufi]

We're home, and we had a fabulous time.

full (very long ) trip report here