This summer my family was invited to visit Wenatchee, a city about 2 and a half hours east of Seattle. I was excited because we haven’t been in years and I have heard a lot about Pybus Market, an intriguing and photogenic public market there recently. My guys are also into biking and I know there is a lot of fun biking in the area too. Wenatchee also felt like a a great first stop for our electric car route to Vancouver BC-typically we just drive the three-hour route north from Seattle. But driving through Wenatchee in our Tesla Model S (with a range of about 200 or so miles) there are now enough charging stops that we can loop north east on a long-route drive through British Columbia’s Okanagan wine country and we were excited to spend some time there with friends.
Driving Electric Cars in Wenatchee
Out of any place we’ve traveled to recently, Wenatchee has really embraced electric driving. Wenatchee tourism even has an electric driving tab on their website as well as an electric drive map for the Cascade Loop. These resources help locate electric vehicle charging stations and plan fun driving routes with scenic electric car charging spots too.
We had an easy drive from Seattle to Wenatchee and we stopped at the Cle Elum Tesla Charger on our way, then grabbed some pastries at the Anjou Bakery, treats at the Applets and Cotlets Factory and made our way to Wenatchee in about 4 hours with all our stops. When we arrived in Wenatchee we were guests at the Coast Hotel Wenatchee with Visit Wenatchee for a few nights. There was a really convenient Tesla charging station in the parking lot next door to the hotel so we could plug in and it was reassuring that we could see our car from our hotel room too.
The Coast Hotel Wenatchee
The suites at the Coast Hotel Wenatchee are a little dated but they are also spacious, clean and comfortable for a family of four. We had a fridge and a The highlight for my kids at this hotel was the pool that was both indoor and outdoor and it was nice to sit on the lounge chairs in the sun as the kids splashed for a while. Across the street we spent one evening playing games and mini golf together at the Tap and Putt-when we went, kids could visit until 7pm and we all really enjoyed the skeeball here too. The Pybus Market is a short 10 or so minute walk from the Coast Hotel Wenatchee along the river and the walk across the train bridge is a great place to stop and take pictures. We passed by Rail Station Pub that looked like a fun place for food that we will put on our list for our next trip.
The Pybus Market-Wenatchee’s Public Market
Because we visited on a weekend, we were lucky enough to catch the Saturday Farmer’s Market at the Pybus Market. This farmer’s market runs from May to October and there were so many neat vendors- we bought some fruit that we could eat in our hotel room (we had a small kitchen area) and there was an electric vehicle booth here as well. Sadly the EV station at the Pybus market was “ICE-d” when we visited-this means a gas car was parked in the EV charging spot and it was there for nearly two hours. We didn’t need to charge and we had walked from our hotel, but it is always sad to see a car that does not run on electricity using an EV spot because this could mean a huge disruption in someone’s day-there are still not enough public electric vehicle charging stations and if someone is on a long-drive is not a good thing.
Pybus Market is full of yummy food and we ate at a few places at the Pybus Market during our trip to Wenatchee. We loved a dinner we had at South where I saw someone’s burrito bowl arrive at a neighboring table and decided that is what I needed to have for dinner. The kids loved their meals and devoured the tres leches cake we ordered for dessert. We ended up popping by the ice cream store “Ice” too because the gelato looked delicious. Another morning we ate at Cafe Columbia and the pastries here were wonderful too. I wouldn’t have thought of Wenatchee as a “foodie” destination originally but most of the places we visited in Wenatchee were very accommodating for all types of dietary needs and we ate plenty of delicious food here too.
Biking in Wenatchee on the Loop Trail with kids
As a family who bikes in many places, we often find that places don’t have bicycles to rent for kids. If you are traveling with kids and plan on biking, it’s important to find a rental place in the area and call ahead to see if they have kids’ bikes. When they were smaller we used to bring just their bikes with us on road trips. Because my guys are now tall enough to ride adult-sized bikes we were able to rent bikes at Pybus Market at the Arlberg Sports Riverfront store. We also borrowed a bicycle built for two and headed out on the Loop Trail. This trail is a scenic trail about 10.5 miles long-there are a few hills and one of the bridges might be a little scary with little ones but we saw many kids riding along the Loop Trail and it took us around 2 hours.
A historic pub that’s family-friendly in Wenatchee too
I am so glad we were invited to eat at McGlinn’s Public House. I don’t always look up pubs in places we visit because sometimes it takes the extra step to look up and see if they are kid-friendly and then I get disappointed if they are not. Mcglinns Public House in Wenatchee even had a kids’ menu. But because my kids are a little older now, we usually end up ordering a bunch of things from the regular menu to share. We had a total feast. If you’re gluten-free or vegetarian there are lots of menu items at McGlinns to eat as well. The s’mores were the perfect finish to our meal and if it wasn’t raining when we visited I might have been tempted to sit outside on the adorable pocket patio too. I loved the whole vibe of this place from the food to the decor and I am still dreaming about the beer bread. If we come back here one day I want to be here on a live music night.
Wenatchee Rock Climbing at the Riverfront Rock Gym
Wenatchee seems like such an active place to live and it was fun to check out the Riverfront Rock Gym while we were there too. I thought maybe just the kids would climb but Tourism Wenatchee arranged a class for the whole family. I am not the best with heights but the hubby and I used to climb a little before we had kids. Our instructor was so patient and kind and this ended up being a really cool experience for all of us. One of my guys really loves climbing and watching him excel at something that I was a little scared of was really awesome too.
Biggest Pancake in Wenatchee
I can’t imagine there being a bigger pancake in Wenatchee or anywhere else for that matter and we found this at The Wild Huckleberry cafe. My kids both proclaimed this the “best breakfast in Wenatchee” but we didn’t have a ton of breakfasts in Wenatchee, so I have a difficult time giving out that award without doing more research. Needless to say we were absolutely stuffed when we left and this was a great last morning in Wenatchee. I was reminded of my big pancake just this past weekend on a hike in Snoqualmie Pass where a hiking group showed us where to pick some delicious wild huckleberries and they looked like the same ones that were in my ginormous pancake. (For future reference sake, late August/September seems like a good time to pick wild huckleberries in the Pacific Northwest.)
Have you ever visited Wenatchee? Did you have a favorite place to eat? Now that we know it’s such a fabulous destination we can’t wait to go back and eat and bike.
(PS. Wenatchee is also *thisclose* to Leavenworth where we’ve also stayed in a tiny home community if you are looking for a glamping experience nearby.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)