I Was Too Busy Drinking Beer And Sightseeing To Write - Here's What Else Happened

After Portland, we headed south to Salem to see our friends Mike and Martha.  They used to live in Denver but moved last year and haven't looked back.  They love it in Salem.  It's close to beautiful beaches, great beer, and spectacular silent forests.

We arrived at their lovely house, settled in a bit, and struck out for Santiam, a local brewery they like for food and beer.


About 15 beers and a delicious lunch later, I did a bit of recon and discovered a nearby brewery that even THEY had not heard of.  We trotted off down the street in search of Salem Ale Works (SAW).

SAW is in a lovely space, albeit right next door to a guns and ammo shop/range.



From SAW, we went to Gilgamesh, yet another nearby brewery with good food.  It was definitely time to call it a day.  We headed back to the house and gave up the ghost.

The next day, we explored three beaches.  I always picture craggy, rocky coastlines in the PNW, but I was proved wrong.  Here's what we saw instead:



Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of jagged shorelines.



It's all pretty much jaw-droppingly beautiful.

A couple of days in Salem, and we drove back to Seattle.  We returned our rental car, because Seattle is such a walkable city.


Once we got checked in to our hotel, we went in search of sustenance, and found it at Deschutes - a longtime favorite.

After quieting our noisy stomachs, it was time to get serious!




We spent three days enjoying new beers and delicious food.  We hooked up with a couple of friends for dinner, and we did some shopping at the Columbia mothership.

Since we've been to Seattle a couple of time before, we didn't do the tourist must-dos (already done), instead we wandered and soaked up the lovely weather, atmosphere, and urban/grunge culture that makes Seattle such a fun spot.

Finally it was time for what I was looking most forward to - our ferry ride to Victoria and meeting up with our friends, Matt and Sheila, who invited us to come visit them in Duncan (about an hour north).
The ferry was clean, efficient, inexpensive, and a really easy choice.  The food and service staff were great, and the views sailing through the channels and small islands from Seattle to Vancouver Island were never-ending.

We made it through customs and hugged it out with our friends.  They seemed really excited that we'd come, and they had our days all planned out.  Beer, food, scenery, entertainment...what more could we ever want?











It was kinda sad coming home after such a great trip.  We had so much fun seeing friends and family, and we have so many contacts in the PNW, I'm sure this will become an annual trip.  Next year, Olympic National Park and back to Vancouver!

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