They nicknamed it "Van-tucky"

Since there was going to be a wedding in Vancouver, Washington this year we visited a few times to help out and get to know the place. It's getting a makeover on the waterfront (Portlandia people have been known to call it Vantucky as a slur, which apparently no longer fits...) and it is spectacular.

It is a little quirky, but very friendly and has some fine dining with views all along the waterfront. Looking in the other direction along the river you see Mt. Hood. Hiking in the Columbia River Valley is lush and scenic. No wonder one set of kids lives here.

Scenes along the way walking through town, on a hot day umbrellas were out, and in May the gardens were overflowing. Generous neighborhoods. A return visit in August for the wedding gave us more fun and sun...weather topped out at 107 degree F for the wedding week...eeeks.

We have some favorite spots to dine and I will share them with you. First and foremost is this taco shop- Little Conejo.

It makes tacos, tortas and the best guacamole outside of San Francisco's Tacolicious. We had breakfast there---waiting until they opened at 11 AM- three times! So good.

Then on to the various restaurants and brew pubs along the riverfront, a new area of development. We were there in COVID times so we only went to places where we could dine outside. There were maybe a dozen places to pick from and during the two visits we had there we tried. WildFin American Grill had great shrimp appetizers and fish dishes. Stack 571 was a delish burger bar, Twig Bistro made a great gluten- free pizza, and Dosalos was a Latin kitchen creating amazing and tasty creative Latin dishes. All we tried we excellent. We went for a brunch with the big pre- wedding crowd and the manager brought us one or two plates of everything so we could get the full flavor of their cooking. Highly recommend it. Inside was noisy as we walked through but we went directly to the patio overlooking the river and had a delightful time.

Great sunset view- this is the elevation and view at Barlows. We were there a few times to test out the food between the two trips to Vancouver. My favorite was the Shrimp and Grits. The Bang-Bang Shrimp were a hit with the pre- wedding crowd as well. These folks put on the best rehearsal dinner/pub experience I think anyone ever enjoyed. We had a group of about 25 and they helped us in every way. Super professional and friendly.

We spilled out of the private room we had

onto the deck overlooking the river and a super sunset. (Very hazy and red due to the smoke from the fires in the distance). One thing to know about this place is they have a wall of taps that you can pour by the ounce so you can try a variety of local brews and ciders to pick your favorites.

Its worth the trip for a visit- enjoying the river, local hiking and waterfalls and fine dining. Vancouver Washington is up and coming. Glad I have a reason to go visit often, well as often and the new bride and groom want to see me!

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A Spring-Summer tour of #Vancouver #washington to see the #engaged kids and plan a #wedding. Great #diningspots include #littleconejo which delighted us as compared to the excellent #tacolicious in #sanfrancisco. #Barlows #dosalos #Twigsbistro #wildfin and #Stacks571 all rockes, but #Barlows especially. You got #portland on the run!