Weekend In Vancouver

Joe and I spent this past weekend in Vancouver (or "America Junior" as Joe is calling it). We've been wanting to get an opportunity to check out this city and when Joe was given the weekend off we took the opportunity (despite the weather reports for lots of rain-which there was). We got into the city Friday night after a 5 hour car drive. What should have taken us 3 hours took us 5 due to a single lane leading into the tunnel after crossing the border. A single lane for rush hour traffic on a Friday night. Somebody does not have their traffic rules correctly in the book. We checked into our very quaint hotel that Charlie had recommended for us in Vancouver's West End neighborhood. It sat right across the street from the water and we did have a partial view from our room. We were in walking distance to everything we could need which was great. About a half a block away was Denman St which was filled with restaurants galore. We found the Whistler Brewery to eat at Friday night. After that long car ride we were starving! After dinner we headed to the bar at our hotel for a drink before returning to our room. I learned there that a glass of my favorite Pinot Grigio cost $10. Yikes! That was my last glass and I resorted to water after that expensive drink! On Saturday we woke up to rain but were determined to explore the city nonetheless. After coffee and breakfast at a cafe, we headed out to wander the city. Right off Denman is Robson St which feeds you right into the shopping mecca of Vancouver. Any store that you can think of is found on this street. We wandered along amongst the mist, rain, and dry weather all the way through past the art museum, library, to the hockey stadium. This stadium was #1 on the list of tourist attractions on my map. Guess that's what happens when you're country is all about hockey. Joe made fun of me for purchasing this map but it was a useful tool for me to get a feel for the layout of the city and we did refer to it more than once. I told Joe he was lucky that I didn't purchase a guidebook to go with my map and highlight the places to visit. I saw the map only purchase as an even compromise. After wandering the city center, we walked across the bridge to Granville Island. You can take a water taxi or walk the bridge and since we were already on foot we figured why not. The island houses some beautiful homes along with more shopping and restaurants. The waterfront has a large public market which we missed due to the downpour that happened upon us. After lunch we started walking only to be met with a downpour. I had a rain jacket and umbrella but Joe only had his rain jacket and was gambling with mother nature not to carry an umbrella. He was soaked before we were a quarter of the way across the bridge but we had no choice but to continue to walk. We made our way back to our hotel via Davie St which Charlie described as "more gay" than the rest of the city. It had its mix of restaurants and video shops with the rainbow flags hanging freely. Back at our hotel we dried off and took a rest. After flipping through the channels on the TV we game across the end of the Penn State/Ohio State game. Even in Canada we were able to witness the sad game. I couldn't even bear to watch the end and see Ohio State celebrate. Located right next to us was Stanley Park which is about 5 miles in radius. We didn't want to chance the rain again so we decided to drive around it and take in the views. We did get out of the car to take some pictures and it was neat to feel out in the open with the bustling of the city so nearby. We got some pictures of the skyline which consists mostly of very tall (and ugly) condo buildings. Some brief research on the internet let me know that this is the most common way that people live downtown. And at 1/2 a million dollars all I have to say is that there must be some pretty wealthy people in Vancouver with no room for the poor (although we say very few homeless people as compared to Seattle). Dinner Saturday night found us at a great all you can eat Sushi place followed by the largest desserts I've ever seen at a little cafe called "True Confections." The slices of cake filled an entire plate and we enjoyed the sweetness after so much walking that day. On our way back to our hotel we saw something interesting crossing the street- 3 raccoons running together towards a tree on the other side. Nobody else seemed to think this was weird as I was talking and pointing. Must be pretty typical. We ventured back to the States a little after 11 on Sunday morning. We had had enough of the rain and I was eager to get back to a country where I didn't have to translate kilometers into miles. It took us about 45 minutes to cross the border and by the time we came home Nala was very eager to see us.
It was a great weekend of "together time" for Joe and I and it was nice to get away and see some place different. I'm glad to have seen what Vancouver is like but I don't feel like I need to go back there anytime soon. Aside from the restaurants and shopping, I felt the city was lacking in authenticity and it didn't really have anything to give it its own character. Maybe Seattle has just spoiled me but I was happy to return home nonetheless. :-)