November 1st , Sunday morning: We had to have our bags at the Best Western Dorchester by 7AM. Since the time changed at 2AM to fall back 1 hour, we would supposedly still get a little extra sleep. Unfortunately, in the room next door to me there were torch relay volunteers who were throwing their successful completion of the run party until 1 AM so sleep was not an option for me. So instead I wrote the Victoria flame arrival piece and published it at 1AM, before the fall back time.
I was staying in the Coast Bastion Hotel on the 15th (top) floor facing east. The festivities at the park in Nanaimo (on the west side of the building) also had amazing fireworks that went on for a really long time. Between the torch relay and the Halloween festivites, Nanaimo was amazing in the evening with people out walking and the street parties. Peple are so relaxed, open and friendly in the up-island
The Coast was an interesting hotel for me. There were many pros and cons as I looked at it from the travel agent point of view and a journalist point of view. I tend to judge a hotel room from several points: bathroom lighting, shower power, firmness (or lack thereof) of the mattress, the thread count of the linens, the amenities offered, the view and the ease of keeping the room temperature comfortable. The view I had was awesome, clearly a 10; the bath lighting was outstanding, another 10; the linens were surprisingly comfortable and hypo-allergenic, as opposed to down feather (a positive for me) – about an 8 on the 10 scale. The amenities were sparse with large pump bottles of shampoo, bath gel and lotion. Unusual.- about a 4 on the 10 scale. Keeping the room temperature moderate and steady was next to impossible. I would cool it off and then have to warm it up. It was very challenging. (3 on a 10 scale). This is always a real disappointment to me as a comfortable temperature in the room is critical. Sunrise this morning was really awesome, which made up for a lot, so Mother Nature got a resounding 10.
We headed out for the ferry and upon arrival at the Quay, there was a Starbucks which even had Top Pot Donuts Apple Fritters. I had my first Americano in 4 days. And I just had to have an apple fritter. Once we drove on to the ferry, we had breakfast on the ferry compliments of Tourism BC. Then we arrived into the Vancouver port and headed off for Whistler. I am writing this as we weave along the new Sea to Sky highway. Stay tuned and I will be telling you lots more about the Whistler venues for the Olympics.
I am so excited to be celebrating my birthday in Whistler. What a great way to start a new decade!
TopDawg's Travelogue 