WINTHROP, Okanogan County — Sun Mountain Lodge is a bit like the restaurant atop the Space Needle. It's in a spectacular spot; how much harder does it have to try?
By Brian J. Cantwell | February 8, 2007
Let me count the ways my family was injured during our ski vacation.
By Kristin Jackson | November 16, 2006
Short Trips
PORTLAND, Ore. -- OK, when I was in elementary school I don't remember ever having a television in my classroom. I vaguely remember chalkboards, nagging teachers and very high ceilings in the aging Tacoma building -- but no TV.
Just for authenticity sake, the McMenamin brothers decided not to put televisions in their historic Kennedy School classroom lodgings in Portland. The intrusion, they figured, would ruin the experience they were after.
By Jeff Larsen | March 23, 2006
Short Trips
Sometimes a delayed Valentine's Day gift can be even more special than getting a gift on the real day -- especially when a spa is involved.
Young Simon Carrier, who waits tables at the Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler, B.C., worked Valentine's Day this year. So, for a delayed celebration, he and his Chilean girlfriend, Fernanda Icaran, decided to spend a night at the Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort in Parksville on Vancouver Island for what Simon called "a little spa action." Overnight was all the young couple could afford.
By Jeff Larsen | March 9, 2006
Short Trips
Northwest weather sometimes can ruin even the best-laid plans. The almost daily deluges lately can wash away travel plans faster than you can shout "Please stop raining!" A couple of weeks ago my plans were swept downstream -- literally.
The day started gloriously for this time of year -- partly sunny, broken, white puffy clouds, with the temperature hovering in the mid 40s. Rain, however, was in the forecast. How far out wasn't clear.
By Jeff Larsen | February 9, 2006
Short Trips
When you're the world's worst gambler, a casino wouldn't seem like a high-priority destination. But after I wrote last summer about the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino near Ocean Shores, I just had to try gambling one more time -- this time a little closer to home in Bow, a small berg just north of Burlington, about 70 miles north of Seattle. After all, I had another $30 to burn (i.e. lose).
By Jeff Larsen | October 21, 2004
UNION, Mason County The Brownie camera photo, dug out of someone's old family album and framed on the new walls of Alderbrook Resort and Spa, tells the place's story: Smirking teenagers in 1950s haircuts and belly-button-hiding swimsuits pose for a captured moment of August sun.
By Brian J. Cantwell | October 14, 2004
Short Trips
When it's dark by 4 in the afternoon and the high temperature for the week is supposed to hit only 45, it's time to start thinking inside the box.
To help stimulate that thought processes, Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau officially kicks off its annual downtown hotel Super Saver program tomorrow. A luxurious hotel room at a discounted rate for a night just might be the cheery winter break you were looking for.
By Jeff Larsen | November 6, 2003
Short Trips
There was real buzz in the Methow Valley last week.
It was 7 p.m. on a Thursday and dinner guests continued to stream into the Eagle's Nest restaurant at Sun Mountain Lodge near Winthrop. My waiter glanced around after he seated two more guests and remarked as he passed by my table how glad he was to see it so busy again.
It's a big deal for Okanogan County and the Methow in particular every year when the North Cascades Highway (state Route 20) reopens. The local tourism council even goes so far as to call the highway a "lifeline."
By Jeff Larsen | April 24, 2003
Short Trips
RESORT SEMIAHMOO Picture yourself on the spit at Semiahmoo a century ago.
At sunset the shadow of a three-masted ship laden with salmon spreads over the Alaska Packers Association dock. Seamen disgorge thousands of fish from the bowels of the large ship for processing at a state-of-the-art cannery. Seagulls hoping to score a stray morsel swarm over the cannery as the fish are unloaded.
By Jeff Larsen | March 6, 2003
