IF I HAD A BOAT

Clever. That’s the first word that pops into my mind when I’m listening to Lyle Lovett. There are creative humans and then there are clever creatives. I put Lyle Lovett squarely in that latter category. If you haven’t listened to Lovett’s tunes, grab yourself a beverage and sit down. First, your toe will start tapping, then you’ll switch to your heel keeping time, and then you’ll probably end up bobbing your head. Once in a while, you’ll probably smile as you catch a quirky turn of the phrase. If I had a Boat is one of my favorite Lyle Lovett tunes.

We were clever enough to skip the long highway ride from the west side of Puget Sound to the east side. We took the ferry from Kingston to Edmonds. An easy thirty minutes. Some of you may recognize the city of Edmonds if you’re a fan of Rick Steves, the dude that helps people travel to all places Europe without spending a fortune. When Rick is home, he lives and works in Edmonds. Betty and I have used a few of Rick’s guidebooks on our travels.

From Edmonds, we drove up to Bellingham. It’s about 90 miles north of Seattle and 30 miles south of the U.S. border with Canada. Bellingham is a cool town with a really nice downtown area, a good music scene, and several happening communities surrounding it. We went to Menace Brewery one evening and enjoyed some live blues. We saw really talented musicians and heard some soulful vocals. One day we feasted on some of the best fish and chips at a place called Nicki’s Bella Marina. Fresh off the boat and into the pan. There’s a little community south of Bellingham called Fairhaven. It’s got a lot to offer to anyone who is hungry, thirsty, interested in history and historical preservation, or someone who wants to do a little shopping. One of Bellingham’s brags is that it has over 85 miles of hiking paths within the city limits. I believe it - we walked miles but didn’t make a dent in the 85. On one of our hikes we enjoyed Whatcom Falls. Note: Belllingham is the county seat of Whatcom County. Pronounced just like it looks.

One day we drove north to see Vancouver, British Columbia. Before we crossed the border, we walked out to get a close look at the Peace Arch and the beautiful gardens surrounding the Arch. The Arch was constructed with half of it in the U.S. and the other half in Canada. I think they have concerts in the park when weather permits. Then, we stopped to talk with border security agents, who were really only interested in whether we were “carrying.”

Then we drove about 30 miles into Vancouver, which is a beautiful city. It’s very spread out with pretty tree-lined streets. The downtown area has a lot of humans and animals packed into a relatively small area. We enjoyed the historic area called Gastown. It has a lot of historic buildings, especially around Water Street. One of the highlights is a steam-powered clock tower. We could see the steam coming out at the top and every half hour, the horn would blow. We also drove through Stanley Park, which is the huge city park. It is on a peninsula so there is a great walking/running/biking lane right along the edge of the water with great views of the bay. The inner part of Stanley Park is forest and hiking trails. What a great place to recreate in a big city.

We stopped to see Glanville Island. This is an incredible public market with a lot of art galleries, breweries, restaurants, really nice walking areas, and park places.

Vancouver gets 4.5 paws out of five. Now for those of you who like to look at the pictures,

Buster

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