Before driving down to Squamish, we check out of the Westin and move next door to the Hilton Whistler. A pleasant surprise: Our room is already ready and it turns out to be a double-upgrade. No, it's not a suite but it's a lovely room up on the seventh floor.
We enjoy good views from the balcony, including a nearly full moon on an unexpectedly clear evening closing in on the longest day of the year.
We decide to splurge and go out for dinner tonight. There are a lot of choices as we wander through Whistler Village, including some that we know are ridiculously expensive. Somebody recommends the 21 Steps, so we decide to give it a try.
Their menu features quite a range of dishes and two ongoing special offers. One can choose three "small plates" from the left side of the menu for a prix fixe of $25. An alternative choice is one "small plate" from the left side of the menu, one "large plate" from the right side, and one dessert from the dessert menu for $35. We go all out. Kathy chooses steamed mussels in a Thai sauce while Brian goes for scallops with masala. We both choose the baby back ribs as our "large plate." Then the dessert menu - oh my... Kathy goes for a blueberry crumble and Brian settles on a large Brownie, both topped with ice cream. Kathy can hardly eat more than a bite before pronouncing herself full. Brian manfully struggles on before surrendering. Even dessert is left to still feed two people.
The atmosphere is very Whistler-like, once you literally walk up the 21 steps to enter the restaurant, the service is professional, and, most important, the food was first rate. It's only after we return to our room that we find that both Trip Advisor and the New York Times / Frommers, among others, concur.
Not that our stomachs needed any reassurance. An expensive meal by our standards, but good value, and the end of a good day.
Kathy and Brian
Two retired educators alternating joyfully between seeing the world and enjoying our eight grandchildren (in order of birth), Jake, Avery, Taegan, Lily, Peyton, Riley, Blane, and Jace.
Kathy and Brian met in the clarinet section of the University of California (Santa Barbara) Symphony Orchestra several decades ago.
Brian's Western Canadian roots and Kathy's Colorado ties resulted in their making beautiful music together along with producing a cross-border crop of descendants.
Kathy spent a year studying in Vienna at the Institute for European Studies and the University of Vienna.
Brian started the school band program in Hope, British Columbia, and later became the high school's vice-principal for 6 years and subsequently principal for 15 years before retiring in 2001.
Kathy, in between raising our three children, taught kindergarten and first grade, middle school, and high school - mathematics, computer studies, ESL, and her first love, band, before retiring in 2001.
We enjoy sharing our travel experiences and providing the odd travel tip to friends, relatives, and visitors.