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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1498118
LOCAL G ETAWAYS B ELLI N G HAM 52 BCBUSINESS MAY/JUNE 2023 She's just visiting," says the bartender to an outdoorsy-looking couple seated at the counter as she tucks a lock of pink hair behind her ear. "Where should she go?" Technically speaking, I've been just-visiting Bellingham regularly for nearly 25 years now, but I still love to ask this question to locals: where should I go this weekend? It's my first time here at Honey Moon, for example—the discovery of this delightful alley-side meadery came thanks to a hot tip from another local at another place. And how did I manage to go more than two decades without a sip of their heavenly, floral Fleurs Amères mead? Or without spending time under their fuchsia chandelier and twinkling fairy lights? I can be excused for not discovering this place over the last three years, of course. But our closest city over the border holds a special place in my heart as the ideal near-far getaway—close enough to be an easy hour-plus drive to get here, and far enough to feel like I've left Vancouver's busyness behind. The streets are wide and Sunday drive-y; the people have that ultimate PNW look about them—like they've just returned from an epic waterfall hike and have plans to open a craft brewery with a couple of college friends within the year. On this trip—my first post-COVID return—I like the new lens that my absence has cast over the town. In the beforetimes, I had a routine: wake early, head for the border, breakfast in downtown Bellingham (where I once had the thrill of a server asking me for a local recommendation), wander a bookstore or three, hit up Trader Joe's and Target, make it home by late afternoon. But on this visit, I'm making up for lost time: I'm on a girls' getaway to spend days, not just hours, here (not that we won't come back with a carload from TJ's, too). We've booked a room at the new Hotel Leo, the historic building in down- town Bellingham that renovated, revamped and re-opened back in late 2019, its roomy modern suites great for a chill-out between shopping and dining. For a moment, we're tempted to camp out in the hotel's lower-level theatre, which gives you the option of casting to the big screen from your phone or choosing a DVD from a shelf stocked with fave titles like Slumdog Millionaire and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. But we're looking for an experience of the IRL kind, and so instead we start our wander at my longtime favourite: Old Town Cafe, where a seat in the warm and woodsy booths gives you a view to a new streetside patio, and where the omelettes are a truly beautiful thing. It's the hearty Lumberjane for me—perfectly prepared local organic eggs overflowing with bacon, cheddar, caramelized onions, mushrooms and kale, while my friend guns the when-in-America veggie-friendly heartstopper of biscuits and gravy: a rich mushroom and tahini gravy draped over homemade biscuits and beauti- fully poached eggs. " SOUTHERN RE-EXPOSURE The joys of rediscovering Bellingham, Washington, after a pandemic's time away. By Anicka Quin G reat Exp lo rat io n s B e llin g h a m's w i d e stre ets we re m ad e fo r wa n d e rin g (c l o c k w is e fro m to p l ef t): th e a ll ey- s i d e H o n ey M o o n ; p u p - p i e s at A re Yo u M y H u m a n?; c o o l c ats at N e ko ; to u rs at C h u c ka n ut B ay D istill e r y; tac o s at B l ac k S h e e p ; b re a k- fa sts at O l d Tow n C afe ; a n d g re at s l e e p s at H ote l Le o . H o n ey M o o n H ote l Le o A re Yo u M y H u m a n O l d Tow n C afe