Did you catch our coaching tip a couple of weeks ago on keeping your REAL food lifestyle alive on a cruise?

We have had the Pacific Northwest (the PNW) on our bucket list for a while, so we turned this trip into an opportunity to also explore the flavors and beauty of Vancouver, BC, Anacortes, WA, the Northern Cascades and Olympic National Park.

We love finding inspiration in our travels and of course sharing them with you – hidden gems, new discoveries and new recipes that we plan to recreate for the website!   Watch our video or keep reading!

Memorable “Can’t stop thinking about them” meals

We seek out meal destinations like some people plan the attractions they want to visit because our meals are always among the most memorable parts of our travels.  With a limited amount of time to seek out the best meals, restaurants, and farmers’ markets, we put extra effort into creating a short list before we get to our destination.  Our motto is “no wasted meals!”

With the help of Yelp’s reviews and ratings, as well as discussions with locals, we found several restaurants that left us inspired.

A few of our favorites included:

Sula on Main Street (Vancouver):  this was up there in the top 3 best Indian restaurants we have ever visited!  Scott even compared it to some of the great Indian restaurants in London.

We split the Mangalorean Chicken Sukka (super-tender chicken in an flavor-popping onion and coconut curry) and the Kadai Vegetables (a variety of veggies with crushed tomatoes, onions and green peppers).   We are still thinking about this meal!

Orto Artisan Pasta (North Vancouver): taking advantage of Vancouver’s extremely efficient public transportation led us to this small quaint restaurant for lunch one day.  This was not your ordinary restaurant – our table was literally nestled in the heart of their garden, where they grow their own ingredients for their menu.

We enjoyed an absolutely delicious meal among the spaghetti squash, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and so much more – we could have reached out and picked them right off the vines!  We split their daily lunch trio (soup, salad and sandwich of the day) and the Spaghetti alla Natalina (with raisins, pine nuts, capers, olives, anchovies and chilies).  A unique experience and so incredibly good!

Medina Cafe (Vancouver): right around the corner from the church we attended, their brunch provided inspiration for a couple new Mediterranean-inspired meals for the website.  As we always do, we split a couple of things including the Paella (roasted vegetables, orzo, chorizo sausage, charred tomato salsa, avocado, Italian cheese and a sunny egg) and the Tagine (spicy tomato and chickpea stew, Merguez sausage, black olives, preserved lemon, raita, 2 poached eggs, and grilled focaccia).  We enjoyed this fantastic meal while sitting outside soaking up the 70-degree weather!

Cosmic Veggies (Anacortes, WA): inspiration came at us in full force at this restaurant, including a Roasted Buffalo Cauliflower Salad that immediately sent us on a mission to recreate it for the website.  This salad was spectacular, with an amazing combination of flavors and textures.  The cauliflower was roasted with a light savory breading that was browned and crispy, and then the salad was filled with veggies like red cabbage, carrots, cucumber, avocado, pepperoncini and pickled veggies.  It all came together with a homemade ranch dressing and a swirl of hot sauce, which added the perfect spicy kick to the cool dressing.  Are you hungry yet?!  If so, you’re in luck – we successfully recreated this one for the website – and we both agreed it is just as good as the Cosmic Veggies version.

Finding the Farmers Markets

We love seeking out amazing local restaurants almost as much as we LOVE finding local farmers’ markets and food shops to prepare meals in our Airbnbs!

The farmers’ market in Vancouver did not disappoint!  We were able to pick up fresh local berries, a variety of greens, eggplant, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, kohlrabi, a spicy red pepper chutney, a whole grain walnut raisin bread, and shishito peppers.  The chutney came in handy to add extra flavor to our meals and we only had to swing into the store for some avocados and eggs. 

We cooked up some veggies and made a salad which transformed into a couple of really delicious dinners and breakfasts.  Our nut and dried fruit mixture we had packed as our snack was also the perfect topping for our salads.

We found a local food co-op in Anacortes, where we bought some local veggies, including sweet potatoes, onions, cauliflower, and both shishito and Padron peppers (we were ridiculously excited to find shishito peppers again)!  This was helpful because it was a few days before the next farmers’ market, where we found more fresh greens, microgreens, carrots, plums, cucumbers, zucchini, green onions, fennel, cherry tomatoes and more!  

We even picked up some locally produced pickled beet slaw and a Forest Ginger hard cider (which was steeped with ginger root, local fir tips and evergreen needles!).  When can we go back?!

Stocking up at the farmers’ markets also helped us with food and snacks on our hikes such as apples, plums, nuts, dried fruit and we even took leftover salad one day.  Realizing we didn’t have any storage containers forced us to get creative…did you know that eating a massaged kale salad out of a Ziplock bag is easier than you might think?!  

Airbnb comes through again

Years ago, once we experienced having more living space and our own kitchen in an Airbnb, it is now extremely challenging for us to stay in typical hotels (where you might be lucky enough to have a mini fridge and a microwave in your room)!  

Our Airbnb in Vancouver was just one example of this.  We stayed in the lower level of Glen’s house.  We have stayed in some locations where you never meet the owner, and then other times you do.  We typically book places where we have our own entrance and access to the house.  In all of our Air B&B experiences, we have always felt like we had our privacy.  In this case, Glen met us at the door with his dog, Darwin.  So kind and generous, Glen offered us fresh blackberries he had just picked on their walk, along with some homemade blackberry jam.  At this point we were beginning to realize the insane amounts of fresh blackberries we would discover on this trip!

And it got even better at our Air B&B stay in Anacortes, WA!  This was such a memorable experience; it may be in our top 3 best ever!  Not only was this a breath-taking location, but we were greeted with fresh oat bread, homemade raspberry jam, fresh eggs from their chickens and a kitchen stocked with healthy snacks. 

The best part was that the owners, Linda and Jay, had a beautiful garden and told us to help ourselves to their kale and Swiss chard!  Scott had just mentioned that he would love to find some apples (it is Washington after all!).  Shortly after he said that, Linda sent us a message saying, “I meant to tell you that the apple tree that’s just outside your living room window to the right has some really tasty apples on it.  I don’t use any pesticides so they’re good to eat.  Help yourself.”  Needless to say, we felt like we were in heaven!  

Embracing Local Culture

Air B&B owners are typically excited to give you recommendations on things to do and places to see.  In Anacortes, Linda and Jay gave us recommendations on some great hikes.  They also helped us find the ideal places to watch the some of the most spectacular sunsets and sunrises we have ever seen.  We picked up takeout one night from a local restaurant called Adrift and enjoyed a Chilled Noodle Salad and Blackened Cod Tacos with a Mango Salsa while soaking up the sunset at Washington Park.  If you go to Anacortes, WA, this sunset experience needs to be at the top of your list!

Glen also gave us some very helpful guidance for our few days in Vancouver.  He made it much easier to navigate the city’s public transportation and made suggestions which led us to venture out to North Vancouver (not on our original plan yet so worth it!), where we enjoyed a great hike and our lunch in the garden — so thankful for his recommendations!

Alltrails and Nature’s Beauty

Another passion we have discovered is hiking and seeking out the incredibly beautiful places this world has to offer.  The AllTrails app is our “go-to” for helping us identify the types of hikes we like.  You can sort by distance, effort, elevation gain and more.  And you can read people’s reviews, suggestions (often even as recent as the day before) and see photos of what to expect.

One of our absolute favorites was a hike in Anacortes that led us to the top of a mountain and a brilliant view of the San Juan Islands.  I have to admit I was second-guessing our hike decision as my legs were burning and we kept climbing up and up.  But as usual the view at the top made it all worth it!   And, yes, it made the ice-cold local beer we enjoyed with dinner that night taste even better!

On our way back to the Seattle airport, we had time to squeeze in one more hike.  AllTrails led us to a spectacular trail in Tacoma, WA.  This hike was a beautiful trek through the forest, and I bet you can imagine what we found…more fresh blackberries!  We even stopped a couple picking another kind of berry and they helped us discover huckleberries!  What?!  Needless to say, the hike from then on went much slower as we stopped to snack on all the varieties of berries.  I am still shocked that Scott and I did not turn purple from the number of blackberries we enjoyed on this trip!

We hope this helps give you more to embrace and consider traveling on your next adventure!

Please keep us posted as you discover places we need to share with other Eat REAL America members —

we love to hear from you!