Vancouver Day Trip

Last weekend our friend, Jack, introduced us to the wonders of Vancouver, Canada with a nicely planned one day trip. We headed out at 9am and were back almost twelve hours later. It’s a 2.5 hour drive, minus any border crossing wait time. We had no trouble at the borders and made great time on our drives. Our first stop was actually Richmond and the Yaohan Centre’s Asian food court for yummy Chinese street food. I had a preserved duck leg and most of the very fresh tofu that came in my husband’s noodle dish.

Next we drove to Granville Island and perused its Public Market with grocers, bakers, butchers, and crafts. We picked up baked goods at Terra Breads and gathered cheese and deli meats for lunch. After browsing the stands and taking a quick ramble outside, we drove over to park on Beach Avenue and walked down the paths at English Bay Beach towards Stanley Park.

It was a gorgeous, perfect day and plenty of boats and sunbathers were out. We ate our Granville Island lunch on a bench surrounded by genuine Canadian geese. At the beach we observed the patient handiwork of rock balancing artists. Then we drove to Robson Street, the tourist shopping mecca. I stopped in Lush to smell all the soaps and to see with my own eyes how huge those bath bombs are. We browsed for a while at the Virgin Megastore where I purchased the aforementioned Bowie CD.

Then we drove a short distance to admire the architecture of the Vancouver Library, which is shaped like the Roman Coliseum. Someone had apparently told them we were coming because they were having a Book & Magazine Fair. Hooray!

As evening approached we headed to Yaletown for dinner at Glowbal Grill & Satay Bar. We started with a platter of their satays. I had a spinach salad with oranges (not the advertised blood oranges though), candied walnuts, and shaved fennel. I decided on another starter, Dungeness crab and shrimp cakes, for my entree. For dessert I had an individually-sized tart which tasted like a tiny pecan pie with none of the flavor of the advertised poached pear. We headed home, very full, and declared our “two CDs and a loaf of bread” at the border.