Seattle

Day 1

• The Spheres

• Capital Hill Cider Company

• Starbucks Reserve in Capital Hill

Day 2

• Chihuly Glass Museum

• Space Needle

• Pike Place

  • The Purple Store

  • Left Bank Books Collective

  • Beecher’s Cheese

• Seattle Public Library

• Bar Melusine

Day 3

• Pike Place

• Elliot Bay book Company

• Purple Cafe and Wine Bar

Vancouver

3 days did not do this city justice. The surrounding mountains bring a humility to the city, where function defines fashion. The laid-back vibe combined with the enthusiasm of sunny days reminds me of the best parts of the west coast married with the jubilance and appreciation of fair weather from the east coast. Had I budgeted more time, Vancouver Island definitely would have been my next stop.

Saturday

• Lynn Canyon and its suspension bridge

• Grouse Mountain and its Grouse Grind Hike

• Revel Room Jazzy Bar

Sunday

• Ferry to & from Granville Public Market

• Railspur District

• Sunset Beach

• La Belle Patate for poutine

• Biked the perimeter of Stanley Park

• Window shopped on Robson Street

• Dinner at Alibi Room

Monday

• Brunch at Jam Cafe

• The Paper Hound Bookshop

• MacLeod’s Books

• Shopping in Granville on Alexandra Street

• Museum of Anthropology

Funny story to conclude: On last-minute shopping trip on Alexandra Street, I picked up a beautiful sweater at Oak and Fort. It wasn’t until I was in a taxi en route to the Museum of Anthropology that I realized I bought it in an XL, not an XS by mistake. The store has locations in both the US and Canada, only with different inventory. A creative solution: a friend was traveling to Vancouver the very next week and made the return for me.

Montreal Itinerary

Takeaways:

• Great food in Old Montreal

• Mount Royal offers superb views of the city

• The cocktails are weak but the beer is strong

• The young men at clubs acted like middle schoolers at a dance, hanging out around the perimeter of the dance floor, only to bop a friend on the head as their way of flirting ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Day 1 - Drive from Massachusetts to Montreal

• The GPS was misinformed, there was no Atwater exit

• Payment for food is given at table

• Fiddler's Green was empty and went to another bar with fantastic blueberry beer

Day 2

• Selfie Stick Prank: 2 old women as part of the Canadian equivalent of Off Their Rockers asked to take a selfie with the 4 of us, using their selfie stick that had to be at least 6 feet long. I have no idea if we made it on TV.

• Metro passes - public transit was the easiest and fastest way to explore the city

• Botanical gardens - we visited on the last free day

• Old Montreal

• Dine at Jardin Nelson, order the Cartier Salad and sangria

• Basilica de Notre Dame

• Old Port

• Went to Electric Blue and did the grandma dance: we didn’t know when it said 80s music online, everyone would be 50+

• Proceeded to bar instead

Day 3

• Mount Royal

• St-Viateur Bagel

• Little Italy

• Poutine at La Banquise

• Apt. 200 too exclusive, headed to Tokyo club

• Learned clubs are empty before midnight

• Left for McKibbin’s Irish Pub and West Point boys chatted up the one friend who didn’t like boys

• Returned to Tokyo bar

Day 4 - Drive from Montreal to Massachusetts

• Crepes and waffles for breakfast

• A bridge closure caused us to be rerouted and spend 3 hours in the car before we even got out of the city

Chicago Itinerary

Context: 2 friends, 5-day, 6-night trip to Chicago in July 2017

Airline: Jetblue

Hotel: Autograph Collection, Chicago

Takeaway: Downtown Chicago is a fun city where the attractions live up to the hype.

Fave spots:

• Wabash Arts Corridor

• Improv show

• Taste of Chicago Food Festival - only for 1 week in the summer if you time it right

• Wrigley

• Jeni’s Ice Cream

Thursday

• Flight

Friday

• Brunch at Eggy's

• Planetarium

• Aquarium

• Deep dish at original Uno's

• Willis/Sears Tower

Saturday

• Brunch at Grand Lux Cafe

• Museum of Contemporary Art

• Art Institute of Chicago

• Taste of Chicago

• Architecture Tour

• Ferries Wheel & spinning ride

• Fireworks

• Dinner at Tiny Tavern

Sunday

• Brunch at Yolk

• Cubs v Pirates

• Jeni's Ice Cream

• Shopping

• Cloud gate

• Bub City BBQ for dinner

Monday

• Brunch at Nookies in Old Town Triangle

• Lincoln Park Zoo

• Magnificent Mile

• Steak dinner at Wildfire

• "Having it all" improv show

• Drinks & guac at John Hancock 96th floor

Tuesday

• Breakfast at Goddess & the Baker

• Wabash street art

• Old Town

• Sushi

• Shopping

• Ride the brown line loop for the picture

• Donuts

• Back to Boston!