MyWestworld

Vancouver to Seattle: The Amtrak Special

Posted on 19. Feb, 2010 by Rob Howatson in Regional

FOOD & WINE

Seattle foodie tours, courtesy of the Choo-Choo Yum-Yum

by Rob Howatson

In the spring 2010 issue of Westworld magazine (due out February 19 to 23), I write about how crucial it is to have two Amtrak trains operating daily between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. (See “Keep the B-Train” in the Fresh Trax section.) This two-train system is the only way to provide a schedule that is amicable for both southbound and northbound travellers who wish to spend a night in either city and have some fun. But as I point out in the article, the current two-train system is a pilot project that will be re-evaluated after the 2010 Olympics. If the second train is yanked, the schedule will likely revert to its pre-August 2009 incarnation, which had Vancouverites arriving in Seattle late at night. And if these same visitors wanted to choo-choo back to Vancouver the next day, their only option was an early morning departure, leaving no time to explore the Emerald City.

So let us hope that the B.C. government, Amtrak, the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Canada Border Services Agency can come to some agreement to keep both train sets running daily – because, most definitely, the Amtrak service is a comfortable and affordable way to access Washington State. Reclining leather seats, video monitors that show movies, a bistro car and the opportunity to stroll about the train during transit make it a far more relaxing way to journey over the border than travelling in a cramped street vehicle. True, the train is not as fast as going by car or bus, but the tracks follow a more scenic route, at times skirting the shores of Puget Sound.

VANCOUVER TO SEATTLE Amtrak's two-train schedule is the only way to provide a schedule that's amicable for both southbound and northbound travellers – at least those who want to spend a night in either city and have some fun.

And, Seattle-bound passengers arrive at the elegant King Street Station, which is nearing completion of a $27-million renovation to restore the clock-towered terminal to its 1906 railway cathedral glory.

I took advantage of Amtrak’s dual-train service this spring and found downtown Seattle full of amazing structures, old and new, and found the best way to get acquainted with them quickly was to reserve a spot on one of the Seattle Architecture Foundation’s walking tours. Typical stops include the late-’70s Rainier Tower, designed by Minoru Yamasaki who also did Manhattan’s late World Trade Centre, and the ultra modern Central Library, which The New Yorker’s architecture critic has declared “the most important new library to be built in a generation.”

Another must-do walk is a Savor Seattle Food Tour. The company offers three different graze-and-gazer options: The Pike Place Market Tour, Gourmet Seattle Tour and Chocolate Indulgence Tour. I did the Gourmet one and it was amazing to see how an invigorating urban dash, interspersed with artisan-quality noshing, can lead a group of strangers to bond in the course of a three-hour tour. It didn’t hurt that our guide was a lovable eccentric with the facial hair of a pirate. Eric also sported an industrial-grade kilt and, at one point in the itinerary, belted out a few lines from a rollicking sea shanty — and that was before we reached the Pike Brewing Company.

The Gourmet tour begins at The Mayflower Park Hotel, where cocktails are served at The Andaluca Restaurant, and then everybody conga lines out into the street, meandering through an upscale pizzeria, a romantic pasta nook, a sausage kiosk, the techno-slick ART Restaurant and a couple other eateries. The final sampling takes place at the tastebud-bursting gelateria called Gelatiamo.

Rating: All the foods and drinks sampled were delicious. The chefs of the different properties were often on hand to explain their processes and culinary philosophies in person. Eric injected titillating bits of Seattle history when he wasn’t cracking us up with his pink umbrella dance. In fact, I was disappointed and shocked at how quickly the three hours disappeared. Fortunately there are two more Savor Seattle tours to try on my next Amtrak-to-Seattle jaunt.

>>More Amtrak reading:  Keep the B-Train

>>What’s your favourite guided walking tour?  Any particularly good ones in B.C. we should know about?

Photo: courtesy Amtrak

Tags: Amtrak's Vancouver to Seattle service, Savor Seattle Food Tours, Seattle, Seattle Architecture Foundation's Walking Tours, Seattle's King Street Station, Seattle's Mayflower Park Hotel, Vancouver to Seattle getaway