Vancouver Vacation Recap

If I told you how awesome my Vancouver vacay was, you would all rush to visit there and crud up the sites, and I won't allow that. So hey, Vancouver sure did suck...

Nah, it pretty much didn't suck. It pretty much knocked my socks off, actually. Friday was a little drizzly, so we spent our time indoors at Granville Island and that's where I spent most of my money. Oof. Mastercard even called my house afterward to make sure I was safely in possession of my credit card. (You think I'm joking? I couldn't be more serious.) And pedestrians in Vancouver are just adorable! They step off the sidewalk at any old spot and just walk across the street without looking. And Vancouver drivers love this! It's like they all agree to take care of each other and love each other like they're their own children.

Bizarre broom shop at Granville. All they sell are brooms. Apparently they sell enough brooms to pay the rent (?). Some broomsticks are hand-selected from from Manzanita county, which is in my neck of the woods (relatively speaking).


Totem Pole carving. No, totem poles are not made in some factory. They're hand carved, here:


The Granville Island market. Loved it. Could have spent LOTS more money here, but instead we bought a handful of morels and took them back to Jenn's and sauteed them and ate them up.


This pic was taken from the doorway of a racy shop at Granville Island. They sold all kinds of unmentionables, and they were hidden beyond what you can see here in this pic. If you love burgundy velvet decor and bustiers, this is your store:


I spent Friday night meeting up with new friends (thanks to Twitter for introducing me to Alix and Jason and Chris) at the Black Frog and later on at the Pourhouse. That's where Jenn and Walter joined us and we took this photo:


My new favourite beer, Red Racer. I loved the can:


Saturday was an awesome day. I had breakfast with friends in Yaletown, and then I met up with Jenn and her kiddos and two other SMA families at the aquarium in Stanley Park. It was a great time, and while I loved being around other people's kids what I mostly liked was that I was not in charge of them. It was like I was the fun auntie.

After the aquarium, we visited the petting zoo there in Stanley Park, and took a ride on the train. Full of awesome sauce.



Later that day, we grilled out at Jenn's place (Walter gets my mad props for his grilling skillz):



Afterward, the ladies visited a tavern which allowed us to pay for our first round or two, but then kept passing us free booze. I don't want to tell you where this place was (I'm loathe to get them into trouble, what with all unpaid for alcohol we consumed), but here was the board we saw upon walking in:

My trip was fantastic. It was a great choice of destinations for a change of scenery for me. My husband kept the children alive and happy. And Canada seems no worse for the wear. I can't wait to go back to Vancouver--perhaps during hockey season, eh? Thanks to my hosts and friends there for showing me such a great time!