A good honeymoon should reflect the bride and groom’s shared passions and interests. A great honeymoon should be so completely tailored to the specific couple that you literally can’t imagine anyone else taking the same trip. That’s definitely the case with Corkie and Kyle’s honeymoon adventures in Canada and the Pacific Northwest!

Hey Ann!

Thank you for reaching out! We are certainly happy to tell you about our trip!

Delta flight out to Calgary — not my favorite airline in terms of snacks they provide and lack of flight entertainment but when it’s the most cost effective, it’s fine.

Rental Car in Canada — good experience!

Fairmont Banff Springs — Beautiful place, wonderful and friendly staff. We used the valet service which was really nice and cost $35 a day. We didn’t get a room upgrade but we did utilize the free breakfast buffet every morning which retails for two at $70 plus tip. The breakfast was nice, with lots to choose from. One downside of our stay was we had construction going on right outside our window which woke us up at 8 am with men out on a loud metal ladder. We talked to the front desk and they discounted us $100 and said it would probably stop in a day or so, but it didn’t and by Thursday I went down and they discounted us a little more and gave us a room change which was nice because we didn’t get woken up again. Their spa is amazing! They have multiple hot tubs and a mineral pool, which we got access to for the day when we had our massages, which were great. We went horseback riding, played tennis, used the fitness facility and pool and hot tub at the Fairmont and they were all great! As a side note they have a Fairmont President’s Club which we registered for for free and it automatically saved us 10% at the spa, access to the tennis courts and free wifi in the rooms! We also ate at their nice restaurant, Castello. It was really nice! They are only open three hours a night so we made a reservation!

Banff sightseeing – we did the gondola, a boat tour of Minnewanka, Johnson Canyon (was our favorite), Lake Louise (the wait to eat lunch at the Fairmont there would have been an hour so we left ) we ate at Saltlick, Bear Street Tavern, The Maple Leaf, & The Bison to name a few of the higher-end restaurants. We agreed that the week in Banff was wonderful and relaxing but that we probably would have been happy to stay there for four days and go to a different part of Canada because a week was a long time.

Flight to Seattle — Nice flight nothing to report.. We did have a moment at the airport of “how should we get to the hotel?” and we were cranky. We opted for a cab.

Olive 8 hotel in Seattle — Really nice, we weren’t able to get an upgrade but our room was nice. The shower has no door and there is a very modern design to the place. You actually need a room key to keep the lights on — very green! They also have a very nice gym. I did get a pedicure at their spa and it was relaxing. We also used their hot tub. We had their included breakfast every day we were there and it was delicious.

Seattle sightseeing — we walked a ton, Pike Place Market was really fun. There were a ton of homeless people, panhandlers and drug addicts near the market and our hotel so we didn’t walk around too much at night. We went to the Experience Music Project and it was fantastic. We actually bought a CityPass and it was a great deal to do the Space Needle, EMP, Aquarium and a ferry ride (we didn’t do that). The Space Needle and the Aquarium were okay. We are glad we did them, and we think they would be fun for kids. We did the Big Ferris Wheel as well — also kind of pricey and touristy. We ate a lot of great food and we went to Capital Hill and saw some great boutiques and local shops, which we loved.

We stopped in Portland on our way to Cannon Beach and we had an awesome time. Great food and great stores to look at. We did have to Google where to go because it’s hard to find the cool spots if you start out where we did (at VooDoo Donuts). VooDoo Donuts was such a disappointment — touristy and not worth waiting on line, as famous as it is. We stayed in Portland until about 8pm and then checked in late at the Stephanie Inn.

Rental Car to Portland — there was an issue: We were unaware that there was a 9am pick up time and we showed up two hours late we almost didn’t get a car — they didn’t contact us or anything so we are glad we got their last car.

Stephanie Inn in Cannon Beach — was our favorite place. Tempurpedic bed and fireplace in the room, with an incredible view. They had fresh baked cookies in the lobby           that Kyle couldn’t stop eating. We preferred that it was smaller than the Fairmont, but just as fancy, which made it more special. We walked on the beach.  We loved going into town — so many cool stores. We took a surf lesson which we booked with Lauren at Seaside Surf Shop and it was amazing!  She took us to “shorties” which is a local surf spot and then we went on our own surfing at Indian Beach. Awesome!

We then stopped back in Portland hours before our flight and ate more food and saw more cool shops and got to the airport a few hours before our flight.

It was a really wonderful trip! If you have any specific questions lets us know!!!

– Corkie