The Alaskan Cruise

We woke up at 6.15am today, as we need to transfer from the port back to Seattle King Street station for the next part of our holiday. We had an early breakfast before heading around to Woody and Stephen's cabin to say farewell to them. Stephen must've misheard what time I said we would be there, because they had both barely gotten out of bed! We gave them time to get themselves together before heading back again to say goodbye.

After disembarking the ship, we walked towards the Uber pick-up area to catch a ride to the train station. The walk was quite a long way from the port, but it was easy once we arrived. Our driver was from Mexico, so I had a lot of fun practicing my Spanish abilities with him. Surprisingly the traffic in Seattle was good, and we ended up arriving in plenty of time to the station.

I had been looking forward to this part of our trip, as I'd purchased Business Class seats on the Coast Starlight. Clearly I was blinded by the words "Business Class", because it was rubbish! The train was surprisingly old and run-down, and the so-called "business class seats" were up against a wall with no tray table or seat pocket. Thankfully Ted found some better seats towards the back, which I really appreciated because I was so P.O'd!

The one decent thing though is that we were on the upper deck, giving us a better view. We were also right near the dining room, and the observation room, which had huge overhead windows to enjoy the scenery. Since the weather today wasn't that great, we were more than happy with the view from our seats.

We booked in for lunch in the dining room, which operated on a somewhat regimented system, where you wouldn't dare enter the dining room unless you were called first! The meal itself was pretty mediocre, however it was nice talking to two people we were seated with - an older lady from Seattle, and a middle aged comic book guy.

When we arrived at Portland, the train station was located in a pretty grungy area, so we were happy to move through it quickly to reach the Hertz office. The service was very good, and we received our car very quickly. We left Portland straight afterwards for our drive to the coastal city of Seaside.

The drive through the green countryside was really nice. We arrived at the Seaside Inn, which is like a holiday hotel on the Pacific coast. Seaside is very laid-back, scenic and relaxed. It's also pleasant to have the mountains on one side, and the beach on the other. The only unsettling thing though are all the signs indicating we're in a tsunami hazard zone. Definitely something I haven't seen before outside of Asia.

Ted and I walked along the boardwalk before arriving into town. The buildings along the water are very art-deco, and I found it really interesting that the local cinema was showing the original "Jaws" movie. We then went to the local supermarket to get some food for dinner before heading back to our hotel.

Ted was interested in going for a drive so I suggested we head south to see Haystack Rock at sunset. That was a good decision because it was spectacular. We actually drove into a beachside hotel's car park to get the best photo opportunity, but decided not to stay for too long in case our rental car was towed away!

We stayed for a short while longer walking along the beach before heading back. Ted was interested in going to a local venue, so we headed to nearby Astoria to see what we could find. Ted had read on the internet about the Triangle Tavern, so once we parked, we headed across the busy road to check it out.

Well, the information Ted had read was misleading - if anything, the Triangle Tavern was more like some sort of maritime bikie bar! When we entered and saw a lot of heavy-set bearded guys and thought we were in the right place. Uh no, we weren't!

After having one drink, we decided to head back. Tomorrow we have a short drive down to Newport, as I've tried to create an itinerary where we aren't spending our whole time inside the car.Read more