Trip Report: ALASKA. Northbound Hubbard Glacier. Millennium. June 22, 2018.

[Anita Latte]

Loving your review! Yes, the 4 hour time difference is a killer. On our Alaskan cruise, I was up every morning by 6am and I am normally a late sleeper. The sun was up before me most days. It is nice to wake up, have mimosas on the balcony and look at the glaciers at 6am. It felt like noon...lol.

 

Thank you for reading!

 

I still wonder if we would have been better off having an easier time waking up in the morning, and not tried to adjust to the local time. We all tend to be night owls...and DS especially can be up all night and sleep all day. But we had evening theater plans the next day and I didn't want us to be tired during the play!

[Anita Latte]

The Forbidden Walking Tour fit best with our touring schedule.

 

https://forbiddenvancouver.ca/forbidden-tour/

 

Our guided walking tour began at 7:00 PM. We met up in Cathedral Square. It was a short walk to the meet point from Delta Suites.

 

IIRC, there were 12 or so in our group for the tour. We three from North Carolina. A family of 4 from Denver. A couple from the UK. A pair of locals. The last party escapes me.

 

I snapped this shot of DH and DS while we waited for the last party to arrive. However many pages into this report, you can finally SEE DH and DS!

 

 

We were a good sized group. Enough for the tour guide to have a decent audience…but still small enough to form a somewhat tight circle to clearly hear our guide when we arrived at our new locale of interest.

 

Overall…the main thing that surprised me about the tour was the use of old pictures, newspaper clippings, and old advertisements…all of which had been laminated and carried by our guide who would grab these visual aids, holding them out at arm’s length, and sweep them slowly around our little circle so everyone could see paper proof of what the immediate area used to look like…or see the proof behind his narrations in the bygone headline…or get a visual for the personality figuring prominently in the history.

 

It was odd.

 

I had formed an expectation that didn’t include visual aids…so I found the pause in the narrative to be weird. But I appreciated the idea.

 

Our guide was a self-described RARE native of Vancouver. Living there all his life. He had an obvious love for his city. His voice was clear and I appreciated his modulation and speech pattern. He was not only easy to hear, he was easy to follow.

 

I did appreciate that he didn’t try to talk and walk. It would have been impossible to hear him and he recognized that. Though he was open to conversation along our route as we moved along from one point of significance to the next.

 

I didn’t treat the tour as a history lesson, I wasn’t necessarily listening for retention. My life has generally been housed in suburbia…generally surrounded by new or newer construction. Only recently, living in a downtown setting, have I come into contact with historical or heritage building on a regular basis.

 

I appreciate seeing the mix of the old and the new. How each city embraces growth and change while maintaining its roots. And I enjoy learning just a bit about that history if I can.

 

Many facts are still with me… but I can’t regurgitate all the facts that were shared during my tour…nor would I necessarily want to here. I believe that even the most planned and researched vacations should still hold room for the novel, especially for those that do the researching and planning.

 

So rest assured…I’m not about to recreate this tour here.

 

If you weren’t aware…Vancouver is like the Hollywood of the north. Many series and films are filmed in Vancouver.

 

As our tour rounded the corner and approached Victory Square, we were surprised by several FBI agents rapidly exiting a large black SUV and yelling after someone fleeing the scene.

 

 

 

Victory Square has several items of interest all around. And as I said, I will not be a spoiler necessarily here… Of note are the oldest trees in the city…the buildings built by the Germans and the British. The War Memorial. Do note the military helmet shaped lamp posts.

 

 

Also of note…but beyond your detection here…is the occasional concert like aroma wafting through the air as a result of the result vote to legalize marijuana in Vancouver.

 

Market Alley…infamous for so many reasons. Most related to opium.

 

 

I didn’t realize that there was ever a Prohibition in Vancouver. It was put to a popular vote to agree to the legislation…and then a mere 4 short years later…it was again put to a popular vote to end the legislation.

 

I didn’t realize the part opium played in Vancouver’s history.

 

It makes for interesting hearing...

We continued on toward Chinatown…

[Italy52]

only say this because Delta is notorious for being inconsistent, so someone else could easily be told "no, you have to consolidate your 3 bags into 2," and that would actually be the correct policy. ;)

 

We found your statement to be true about Delta's inconsistency. We were on 2 flights home where Delta's flight attendants gave different information. Flight one -- nothing but roller boards were allowed in the upper bin (no soft side, no backpacks, etc.) On Flight two, the flight attendants couldn't care what you stuffed into the bins. What???????????????

[waterbug123]

 

The $29 lounge rate is a discounted rate, which we were eligible for through the Delta Gold AMEX card, which we acquired a few months ago in preparation for this trip.

 

Yep, I should have mentioned that the Delta card also gets you the discounted rate! :D

 

 

We found your statement to be true about Delta's inconsistency. We were on 2 flights home where Delta's flight attendants gave different information. Flight one -- nothing but roller boards were allowed in the upper bin (no soft side, no backpacks, etc.) On Flight two, the flight attendants couldn't care what you stuffed into the bins. What???????????????

 

It really would help if they would be more consistent!

[Anita Latte]

We found your statement to be true about Delta's inconsistency. We were on 2 flights home where Delta's flight attendants gave different information. Flight one -- nothing but roller boards were allowed in the upper bin (no soft side, no backpacks, etc.) On Flight two, the flight attendants couldn't care what you stuffed into the bins. What???????????????

 

Our travel days also involved multi flights...two outbound and three homebound. We found that that the inconsistency in what was allowed in the overhead bins related to how full the flight was. When the flight was full, they wanted to reserve the bin space for those that had the larger carry ons and did as you said, saying nothing but rollers up top. If you could fit your bag at your feet...they wanted you to so that all the rollers might fit and they could avoid the gate checked baggage.

 

And I found that the inconsistencies were also related to how timely the flight was. Generally, there was more leniency when there was more of a time crunch. Like...the employees just couldn't be bothered to enforce some insignificant rules (like my carry on of food) when they were trying to load a full flight and keep it on time. I could have redistributed our food to share with DH and DS and have it all get consolidated, but the bag wasn't as full as the pictures appear and so it really wasn't worth the hassle...all things considered.

 

At least, that's my opinion.

 

Also...it's possible that the gate agent couldn't tell if the food inside the bag was home brought or just purchased. Reusable bags becoming more and more commonly used. Our family all sporting our Nalgene bottles...we just may have appeared to be THOSE people so again, she just let me go. ALSO...my response was pretty quick and the way I responded probably conveyed my belief at the time that I wasn't doing anything untoward...she would have had to school me as to the nuances of the policy and again, not worth it.

 

And I'd like to point out that attitude makes all the difference in the world. Having worked in customer service in my younger years...and carrying the basic understanding that this world is full of people who are just doing the best they can to live life...when your treatments of others reflect this philosophy...and you treat others as you would expect to be treated, they generally respond in kind...recognizing that you are also just trying to do the best you can do to get through life.

 

Also, most clubs do not have showers. That feature is restricted to a handful of lounges in airports with a lot of international flight arrivals. ;)

 

I meant to add on to this thought...

 

Our original homebound flights had a 4-hour layover in Minneapolis (the subsequent schedule changes significantly shortened that layover). When first learning about lounges with that longer layover scheduled, I was hoping to find showers in Minneapolis...but the Sky Lounges in Minneapolis do not.

[Italy52]

Our travel days also involved multi flights...two outbound and three homebound. We found that that the inconsistency in what was allowed in the overhead bins related to how full the flight was. When the flight was full, they wanted to reserve the bin space for those that had the larger carry ons and did as you said, saying nothing but rollers up top. If you could fit your bag at your feet...they wanted you to so that all the rollers might fit and they could avoid the gate checked baggage.

 

In our case, both of the flights were completely full so that is why the inconsistency didn't make sense.

 

 

On another subject, really enjoying your posts. We did B2B on the Millennium in May so it is kinda nice to see what other people experienced and did on their cruise. Looking forward to your next installment.

[Anita Latte]

An archway on Pender Street symbolically announces the entrance to Chinatown.

 

Within view of that boundary, we paused to talk about this first evidence of First Nation presence along our tour. Here I learned that the city of Vancouver rests on “unceded traditional territory”…lands that have never been formally “given away” through treaty or other means.

 

 

We circled the Chinatown gateway to enter Chinatown Heritage Alley.

 

 

Here, two very short streets…hence the term alley?...converge and form this circle where many poster like displays surround a central bronze. Our tour stood to the side…allowing the couple of people present free reign in the circle. We heard a broader oral history of Chinatown.

 

Interested in learning more about the tribute in the alley, I found the following link. The home page gives a general description. You have to hit links to actually read the information you could read in person in the alley…so no spoilers if you want to real the text and the photos posted IRL!:

 

http://www.generasian.ca/CHA-eng1/66.165.42.33/cv/html/en/panel_01.html

 

We rounded the corner…see the Chinatown side of the archway…and the shallowest commercial building in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records…aka the Sam Kee Building.

 

 

Interesting to note…the time must be well past 8:00 PM. The sun is still well above the horizon on this Summer Solstice Eve. Looking further into Chinatown:

 

 

Distinct from our first view of Gastown:

 

 

Prior to crossing through what I can only surmise to be the intersection of Hastings Street and Carrall Street…our wonderful guide warned us regarding the very poor area we were about to encounter. He advised that they had been running these tours for a very long time and generally, the street dwellers didn’t interfere with the tour goers.

 

We proceeded to walk through a small area that could be termed “tent city” where tents and temporary shelters of all sorts crowded into open space on the street corner. Continuing on East Hastings Street in the saddest semblance of a street art fair that I have ever seen.

 

I heard, “Just a typical homeless person” from a male voice in a non-threatening but rather ironic tone as we tourists passed through their living quarters.

 

Any locals, please correct my memory in identifying this area and whether or not there actually was a street faire of some sort happening on Hastings. That corner area though…with the comment was hard to mistake. I’m making the point of mentioning it here as a sort of caution for anyone who has in mind to do their own walking tour. Just be aware.

 

Our tour ended near the Gassy Jack Statue…off to the side…away from the first crowded streets of the tour. We received a handout of a very simple Forbidden Vancouver rendered map of Gastown highlighting favorite places for dining and drinking.

 

Referring to this map…I see that our tour was titled “Prohibition City.”

 

I was originally attracted to the “Lost Souls of Gastown” tour, but this tour wasn’t offered during our two nights in Vancouver. The Stanley Park tour looked very interesting to me…and I thought it would add a lot to experiencing this vast park…but again, I was looking for something for Wednesday evening.

 

Having a tour planned really helped us have renewed energy to stay awake longer on our travel day. This was important as we would attend an evening theater performance the following day. No one needs to struggle to stay awake during Shakespeare!

 

Stay up late on travel day.

Sleep in more naturally on theater morning.

Be more alert for the theater that night.

 

I still wonder if we would have been better off not adjusting so well to our new time zone…perhaps our subsequent cruise mornings would have benefitted from our bodies still be tuned to the East Coast.

 

In planning though…it seemed sensible to adjust to local time as quickly as possible.

 

In light of this, I’m very glad that we did this tour. The cost was less expensive booking through Trip Advisor than direct. We enjoyed the tour as a nice low key, rather inexpensive evening activity.

 

I would recommend the tour to anyone in similar circumstances with similar interests. I would not recommend that anyone go out of their way to attend this tour. It is not the main event…but it was a very nice, very pleasant add on...especially considering the delightful 70s temperature and no rain.

 

The tour ended just after 90 minutes or so. I could now look upon the city below from our hotel room window and identify several buildings.

 

It was approximately 8:45 PM.

 

The poke bowls were a distant memory…DS was wondering where we were going to eat?

[Anita Latte]

“Guu

THE place for Sushi in Gastown. $$”

 

Our given handout informed us…

 

Ahh. The sushi mission.

 

We would pass the renowned Gastown Steam Clock walking toward Guu.

 

The bronze plaque reads:

 

“THE GASTOWN STEAM CLOCK

Designed and built by Raymond L Saunders

Horologist

 

The world’s first steam powered clock has been created for the enjoyment of everyone. The live steam winds the weights and blows the whistles. Every 4.5 minutes one steel weight will travel by steam power to the top of the clock. The gravity driven “falling ball” drive was ‘engineered’ by Douglas L Smith. Each quarter hour, the clock will sound the Westminster chimes. The large whistle will sound once on the hour. The steam is supplied by the underground system of Central Heal Distributors Limited. The component parts cost $42,000 and the clock weighs over two tons.”

 

What is the big deal about a clock in a town?

 

You have to hear it to understand the appeal.

 

As I mentioned in the beginning of this report…I have a love hate relationship with pictures of places that I want to see. On the one hand, I appreciate them…and on the other hand, viewing too many of them can give my actual vacation a weird sense of having been there done that.

 

Mom understands this phenomenon well. She has an entertaining story about encountering a Borg IRL.

 

As I understand memory, your brain doesn’t necessarily differentiate between seeing a picture of a steam clock, for example, and seeing the steam clock IRL. Your eyes have essentially SEEN the steam clock...end of story. See a bunch of pictures of something…your brain is literally just seeing it over and over so that when you see it yet AGAIN…even if the current experience is LIVE versus photograph…it’s kind of all the same thing to your EYES.

 

Hence all the arguments regarding desensitization resulting from frequent viewership.

 

I have learned over the years that the same desensitization applies to tourism. I do my best to limit viewing photos of items of interest on my soon to be experienced travels for this reason.

 

Thus…I didn’t see many photos of this Steam Clock. And I’m not about to show you one here. Because the surprise of the clock was worth experiencing.

 

I didn’t know that the mechanics of the clock are on full display. The sides of the clock tower being made of glass or other clear material. You can HEAR and SEE the workings.

 

The SOUND is what is so wonderful about the clock.

 

You can’t capture that in a photo in any case.

 

It’s worth hearing. And seeing.

 

Don’t go looking for a video that I am SURE is out there!

 

Again though. Incorporate this into your touring plans. It’s not really a destination…but experiencing the clock is a unique to Vancouver sight worth seeing.

 

After spending many ticks and tocks viewing and listening to the steam clock, we continued up Water Street to Guu.

 

Guu is a large restaurant, but it doesn’t necessarily FEATURE sushi. We consulted with the maître de who pointed out the few sushi related items on the menu…which left us wondering if the tours had mistakenly identified Guu as “THE place for Sushi in Gastown” when they meant to write the name of the all sushi and nothing but sushi restaurant next door?

 

MoMo Sushi.

 

DS wanted to hit up the “real” sushi place. Down the stairs of Guu, out to the street and up to the door next…to see them flip the sign to CLOSED in front of our eyes.

 

At this point…I mentioned that Grandma and Grandpa should have landed at the airport within the last hour. They should be through immigration and maybe they would be hungry too?

 

No one has an international calling plan…we would be relying on WiFi for communication…so we made the short walk back to our hotel to get in touch with Mom and Dad.

 

It should be noted at this time that DH has been dealing with knee pain. Unfortunately, it’s chronic. It can come and go…lingering when aggravated…causing significant pain when it is. This travel day had involved a lot of walking…and a lot of cramped sitting…so DH’s knee was making its presence known in a most unkind fashion.

 

Time for a bit of a rest in the room.

 

The sun is supposed to have set at 9:21 PM on June 20, 2018. These photos were taken around 9:40 – 9:50 PM from my hotel bedroom window in between texts with Mom.

 

 

 

I used the rail of the window to steady the camera in lieu of a tripod…

 

Mom and Dad were just a couple blocks down the road at the Auberge Vancouver Hotel. They had consulted with their concierge for a late dining recommendation. Cactus Club Café, IIRC.

 

Unfortunately, the walking distance. The knee pain. No joy there.

 

We had passed the Steamworks Brewing Company walking back to Delta Suites from Gastown. I called the Brew Pub to learn that their dinner menu transferred to their late night dining menu at 10:30 PM.

 

We could JUST make dinner.

 

http://www.steamworks.com/brew-pub

 

We all managed to meet, be seated, and begging our server to see if we could still get a burger at 10:20 PM as we had been handed late night dining menus…not dinner menus.

 

If we could order immediately, we could get the greatly desired burgers. SCORE!

 

Our table ordered two Steamworks Burgers and one Brewhouse Burger. The couples each split burgers and DS ate that huge thing all. By. Himself.

 

We were all hungry. Most food is pretty darn tasty when you are hungry. Regardless…these were big, beefy well cooked, juicy, messy…once you get your hands wrapped around it just so, you don’t want to risk setting it down to eat a French fry, kind of burgers.

 

The beer was might fine too.

 

Mom enjoys wine and had never really enjoyed beer…until she sampled Beamish in Cork, Ireland. Learning that, DH turned her on to the more flavorful darker craft beers in the world. Now Mom loves a good stout…and a tasty porter. She likes that rich full bodied beer. She ordered a stout, which we all sampled…all agreed that the house stout was yummy.

 

Dad doesn’t particularly care for heavy beer. He is the EXACT opposite of Mom with regards to beer. He will usually order any available Pilsner. Which he did. And enjoyed.

 

DH and I are going through an IPA phase…very on trend in the world of craft brewing today. We tried a couple different house IPAS. We did prefer one to the other…IIRC the Session IPA was the winner.

 

Warning: the taps change faster than the menus can. Service will advise as to what on the menu is available and what is available that isn’t on the menu.

 

We spent a good couple of hours here…it was good to see Mom and Dad after not having seen them in so long. I had a brief week with them in February…after not having seen them in over a year…but DH and DS hadn’t seen them since Christmas before last.

 

Time flew by. I believe we came close to closing down Steamworks.

 

While there…I took advantage of the free WiFi to send an email to Marty…aka martincath on CC. I just knew that trying to meet for breakfast at 8:00 AM was not going to be a good thing. We needed to meet just a little bit later.

 

Fortunately…he checked his email before bed and we were sorted for our morning meet up.

 

We parted ways with Mom and Dad.

 

We headed back to Delta Suites where we made up the pullout sofa bed for DS. We probably could have called to have the bed made up while we were out…but our thoughts weren’t there. It was easy enough to do.

 

We called it a night in Vancouver…very grateful for blackout curtains.

[martincath]

^Hastings & Carrall always has some street folks hanging out. The wide triangular sidewalk area is technically a park - Pigeon Park to all the locals, but I've heard folks trying to rebrand it as Pioneer Place on occasion - and does often have a few tents, sleeping bags, tarps placed over trolleys etc. so I think you are recalling correctly Anita. It's also one of the spots that verbal cracks about 'tourists walking through my bedroom' and similar happen.

 

There is actually an 'official unofficial' street market that allows the binners to sell scavenged items retrieved from garbage, supposedly without any fenced goods allowed, and it started on this block of Carrall but moved quite a while ago - but impromptu sales of scavenged/stolen stuff happens all the time anyway, and art is quite often displayed for sale at Pigeon Park. There's a guy, Ken IIRC, who does paint quite prolifically when he's not lost in a needle-dream.

 

DS didn't miss out on stellar sushi at Guu either - while this and the other izakayas do perfectly decent sushi, the menu is very broad and rolls rather than sashimi are definitely more common on the menus. As to why they're advertised by the tour folks... follow the money;-) Alpha is my pick of the izakayas on the sushi front, they claim to have actually invented a couple of rolls back in the day and do a higher proportion of sushi items than Guu or Hapa. Did he manage to get down to Kaide, or somewhere else, to satisfy his sushi craving?

[Anita Latte]

Did he manage to get down to Kaide, or somewhere else, to satisfy his sushi craving?

 

Marty! Thank you for the local insight on that area. I never felt unsafe. But I was happy that I was in a group...that it was still daylight. I wouldn't want to walk through that area again. I'm sure it's generally fine...but I personally would avoid that area.

 

DS wanted to go there so badly. It was only a mile away...but that mile was just too much for DH to contemplate. He did get some sushi...though I'm sure it wasn't the best. He enjoyed it.

[Anita Latte]

Going to bed after midnight was not the goal in the staying-up-to-a-normal-bedtime on travel day strategy…and yet, for better or for worse…that’s what happened.

 

The midnight oil regularly burns in our household…past midnight was actually a normal bed time. Local time. That translated to after 3 AM home time. For DS...also normal.

 

DS is a typical teen…capable of staying up to sunrise and sleeping the majority of the day away. Repeat. Repeat. Going to bed without an alarm is the ultimate vacation for DS. I remember those days...

 

Travel and vacation are not always synonymous. Whereas vacation inspires visions of leisure…TRAVEL often requires alarms.

 

Sorry DS.

 

Originally, we planned to meet for breakfast at Medina’s at 8:00 AM, restaurant opening time. This would be our best bet for finding timely seating for 6 in a popular restaurant that combines 2 and 4 tops to create a 6 top.

 

Nevertheless, we needed a bit more of a sleep in than the 8 o’clock meet would allow after our long travel day…I was so happy that Marty understood that our lack of enthusiasm for waking early was just that…and not a reflection on our actual meeting!

 

We pushed our breakfast meet with Marty to 10:00 AM.

 

To refresh everyone’s memory…this was our WAFFLE breakfast morning.

 

Liege waffles…here we come!

 

http://www.medinacafe.com

 

Delta Suites was along the path from Auberge to Medina. We met Mom and Dad in our lobby and headed off together to Medina. Where we officially met Marty IRL.

 

We dub DH “Safety Man” and his protective instincts rise up whenever I’ve mentioned meeting CC members IRL. I’ve met up with several ladies that I’ve been talking to on the Fashion Board for over 6 years. DH always expressed concerns.

 

Which have, so far, been completely unsubstantiated.

But not uncommon. I got to hear the most hilarious voice mail left by one CC members daughter expressing great concern over her mom's safety given that she was meeting up with STRANGERS from the internet. Hearing the words Axe Murderer in a deep southern accent is pricelessly funny. (Especially when the mom is welding a hefty chef's knife...shout out to you Debbie!)

Why do people always talk about Axe Murderers?

 

Think of those logistics. How hard it would be to wield an axe in such a manner. And yet…

 

I want to say right here…right now…later this night, DH tells me how wonderful it was to have Marty join our touring today. Marty…we all had such fun with you!

 

Medina is undoubtedly popular…and as expected, there was a wait. 45 minutes for a table for 6. Alrighty then. We were asked for a local phone number…if a table became available earlier than expected, we would be called. We gave them Marty’s cell number. All the US cells were in airplane mode. Marty said that in all the times he has given his number…he has never been notified that his table was ready sooner than stated.

 

Mom and Dad had picked up Starbucks on the way to our lobby meet…but our threesome needed some caffeine.

 

Medina doesn’t really have room inside for too many people to wait. The waiting room overflows onto the sidewalk. Medina asks that your loitering doesn’t impede sidewalk traffic. It was just as well that we decided to go for a bit of walk to get our morning coffees while “waiting” for an available table.

 

Revolver was recommended for some tasty bean brew… so off we went.

 

Today’s weather dawned quite overcast. And breezy.

 

After yesterday’s beautiful weather…I thought I would be fine in short sleeves again…but I was chilled. It’s just as well that we needed to do a bit of a backtrack this morning…on our coffee run, we paused while I hightailed it up to our hotel room to retrieve some long sleeved over shirts for DH and myself.

 

Otherwise…DH was wearing shorts again, with short sleeves. DS was wearing fashion joggers again, with short sleeves. I was wearing the same capris, also with short sleeves. DH and I wore our walking shoes…DS his Converse.

 

Revolver DID have good coffee. Or coffee FLAVORED drink, in my case.

 

http://revolvercoffee.ca/home/

 

Side note…I avoid cow’s milk. I tolerate milk products…but generally feel better when I substitute almond or coconut milk in my lattes. Non-dairy milk products were available everywhere.

 

When we returned to Medina…we waited for a hot minute while they set the table that was already available and waiting for us.

 

And I had ANOTHER latte!

 

 

Breakfast lived up to expectations. Both in the food and in the company.

 

First…the food.

 

DH was all about the waffles. No surprise. He was going to carb it up at breakfast.

 

DS and I were so tempted by the other offerings…but also wanting waffles. We split the Les Boulettes. 2 Poached Eggs. Spicy Moroccan Lamb Meatballs, Roasted Pepper, Black Olive & Tomato Stew with Raita and Grilled Focaccia…AND ordered waffles.

 

EXCELLENT. All around. Medina is a place where I could work my way around the menu.

 

The waffles are made in advance. They are on display near the check in counter. I believe they regularly restock the waffle supply up front. They serve you however many waffles you order on a single plate with small bowls of your requested sauces.

 

The lavender chocolate was good…but my favorite was the raspberry caramel.

 

Second…the company.

 

It was a joy to have Marty in our group.

 

The art of conversation. Marty has it. We benefitted from it…not only during our brunchy time breakfast, but also during our walkabout.

 

It was unexpected that Marty continued to walk us around after breakfast. We were ultimately headed to Granville Island. He escorted us through the streets of Vancouver and ultimately to the ferry pick up near Science World.

 

Walking around with a local…especially Marty, who has experience being a tour guide…and is very comfortable with the mantle of being the local know-a-lot and happy to share…helped to bring to life the streets of Vancouver. Already, he had shared during our coffee run…not only about the town but himself.

 

I hope he enjoyed himself with us as much as we enjoyed being with him!

 

Marty filled us in on several hot spots for filming in town. We talked about Arrow, iZombie, Deadpool…among many, many others. DS recognized so much as he has such a good memory for these things.

 

What is that Coliseum lookalike building?

 

The Vancouver Public Library!

 

 

DH took a picture of our crew. From left to right…Dad, Mom, Marty, Me, and DS. The weather had warmed up quite a bit…especially walking around, I no longer needed an over shirt. For those curious…my touring bag is a Baggalini cross body messenger.

 

 

I happen to LOVE a good library. I know that I would spend hours here were I to live in Vancouver. This library features an enclosed area where many eateries and shops line one side and the library overlooks from the opposite. Patio furniture creates a welcoming, light filled indoor space that feels like the outdoors.

 

Marty says there is a lot of filming that occurs here because it looks like the outdoors…but has the control of the indoors to sustain film production in all weather conditions:

 

 

We didn’t linger…we were headed for the free area of the Chinese gardens…

[Anita Latte]

We were back in Chinatown.

 

Red lamp posts. Gold dragon finials. Panda adorned banners.

 

 

The Sun-Yat Sen Park is located adjacent to the Dr. Sun-Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden. The PARK doesn’t charge admission, but the GARDEN has an entry fee. Marty explained how the park differs from the garden in terms of its authenticity in the construction materials but not its character. To hear Marty talk about it…the park offers a taste of what the garden expounds on.

 

We like free. Free works for us.

 

The park is beautiful.

 

It’s described as an urban oasis in the heart of Vancouver’s Chinatown.

 

Very accurate, I think.

 

The park is a walled garden. Taller than average stucco walls surround the garden…not only blocking line of site to eye level city views…but also deadening the noise of the surrounding city. Tree lined paths wind through the shady park. A tranquil lily-filled pond is the centerpiece.

 

Our party rested in the gazebo overlooking the pond for a bit.

 

The city towers over the landscape, but sitting in the park feels like finding a quiet, peaceful nook in the midst of busyness and activity. The sound of running water further helps to inforce the out of urban experience.

 

 

I am not comparing my photographic artistry to Monet…but I can absolutely understand his study of water lilies. Brightly colored blooming water lilies gathered together in clumps on the pond’s surface.

 

 

I believe a brief rain shower fell while we rested in the gazebo.

 

DS and I made a visit as brief as possible to the adjacent Chinese Cultural Center Museum. Admission is by donation. They don’t have public washrooms…and yet…

 

I can share that the museum was the type that had many pictures with a lot of text. It’s the kind of museum that you read your way through.

 

There were several jade sculptures. Ornate multi-mast sail boats that stood several feet tall with no touching signs. They were fantastic works of art. Of the few pieces of furniture on display, the opium bench was the most interesting.

 

Photography is not allowed in the museum.

 

We were alone in the museum.

 

I believe that the exhibit continued to a second floor…but we did not visit it. We felt our visit had been long enough to qualify as a patron.

 

We returned to the group. We were all ready to move on.

 

Our touring continued toward the False Creek Ferry stop located by the Science Museum.

 

This area is full of residences. Parks, open spaces, and a paved waterfront walking path intermingled with what appeared to be apartment buildings. Restaurants and other more residential oriented services were also here. Post Office. Drug Store.

 

A review of London Drugs said that it appeared to be the CVS or Walgreens of the area. There was one nearby which we hit up to find some OTC pain killers for DH. The typical US ones weren’t helping much…we were after the more powerful ones available in Canada.

 

The pharmacist was helpful. There is no associated production but you do have to ask for some OTC pain relievers that are stocked behind the pharmacy counter. You could say they are BEHIND the counter, but no prescription required.

 

We also picked up some bottled waters and made our way to the ferry stop.

 

The sun was breaking through the clouds. More and more, it was turning into another gorgeous day. Perfect weather for enjoying Granville Island. Next on our agenda.

 

[TeaBag]

Love your pictures, Anita, especially the "Monet" one. You are making me want to take the day off to enjoy Granviille Island. We love that place. It was so good of Marty to meet you and give you a personal tour. I didn't know he was a guide. Now I know why his info is always so precise and up to the minute.

[Anita Latte]

Love your pictures, Anita, especially the "Monet" one. You are making me want to take the day off to enjoy Granviille Island. We love that place. It was so good of Marty to meet you and give you a personal tour. I didn't know he was a guide. Now I know why his info is always so precise and up to the minute.

 

Thank you!

 

To be clear...Marty has BEEN a tour guide in the past. Where he lived prior to moving to Vancouver. He is not officially a tour guide right now. And absolutely...he has great information, not only because he just does...he can relate what he knows to travelers in a way that is extremely helpful. He's an asset on the forum for sure...in person, he is just that much better!

 

Also...to be clear...we parted ways when he had landed us on the waterfront area in sight of the entrance to the ferry dock. He didn't tour Granville Island with us.

 

There is so much to like about Vancouver! I could easily spend more time there. So much to see and do. I would definitely return to Granville Island.

[Anita Latte]

After our trip to London Drugs…we headed down to the ferry dock, where a ferry was already waiting.

 

We wanted the blue boats…not the rainbow boats…because the BLUE boat routes include the Maritime Museum stop in Vanier Park. The blue boats are False Creek Ferry ferries.

 

http://granvilleislandferries.bc.ca

 

Mom paid for the fare…she had the Canadian Dollars. You could pay with cash ON the ferries OR you could use a card, but only AT Granville Island. The little office there can run a card. A cash transaction was less complicated.

 

We three were adult fares. Mom and Dad qualified for a senior rate. We ended up buying a total of 10 tickets. We used 1 ticket each to go from Village / Science World to Granville Island. The other 5 tickets would be used to travel from Granville Island to the Maritime Museum stop.

 

The little ferry boats are all indoor seating space. The bow and aft have wrap around bench seating. Nothing but windows surround the interior. The pilot sits on a raised seat in the middle of the boat. You have to "mind the gap" entering and leaving the ferry while the ferry may or may not be bouncing about on the water. Duck your head down if you are a taller person.

 

Sitting was nice.

 

I don’t wear any sort of physical fitness tracker…nor do I have a pedometer…I can’t quantify all the walking we did…but it felt like we had been on our feet for a long time. DH’s knee was bothersome.

 

I appreciated seeing the waterfront from a boat perspective.

 

While sitting.

 

In the shade.

 

Ahhhh.

 

Comparing this little area of Vancouver to a somewhat similar ferry in Fort Lauderdale…

 

When I think back on Fort Launderdale…I think of boats and fancy single…or at most two-story houses on the Fort Lauderdale shoreline. Reading fun boat names and admiring elaborate pool centric landscaping…mansion like homes with walls of windows overlooking the water.

 

Thinking back on Vancouver…I think of many, many tall, mostly glass buildings on the waterfront. A bit of a high-rise canyon. With some lovely parks dotted along the shoreline. I couldn’t help but think how lovely it would be to live in this area. It’s a congested feeling…in a way…but the proximity to water creates open space…good head room…and the numerous waterfront parks offer ready opportunities to just enjoy the area…our threesome kept commenting on how livable we thought Vancouver was.

 

The quirkiest sight seen was what amounted to a small subdivision of houseboats. Most of them were two-stories. Unique in style and color. Tiny house houseboats!

 

I’m so intrigued by the tiny house movement…

 

I just realized that the last picture I posted of the ferry dock was the Granville Island dock. Context gives the impression that it was the dock by the Science Center…

 

Looking at the time stamp on the photograph…it was 2:50 PM.

 

No wonder we were hungry!!

 

Those waffles were HOURS ago…

 

More sitting appealed to DH and his knee…

 

When we saw all the clearly available tables on the patio deck at the Bridges restaurant…RIGHT THERE as we walked off the dock…the perfectly temperate weather and the views of the…you guessed it…BRIDGES and waterfront. The thought of eating lunch there was irresistible.

 

Check out the menu.

 

Looks good.

 

No brainer.

 

Table for 5 please.

 

http://www.bridgesrestaurant.com

 

OMG!!! Looking at this website…I see that we could have saved 20% off our bill because we had same day tickets to Bard on the Beach!!! UGH!!!

 

Oh well. Moving on…

 

This patio is a delight. Here we are enjoying the beauty of the day…on VACATION. You can see the bridges, the high rises, and the boats in the background of all these photos of our group:

 

 

 

 

The icing on the cake was an accordion player who had set up at the wooden arch at the ferry dock entrance. The sound really carried! It blended into a familiar musical background as he played through well-known melodies.

 

Practice picture taking with ultra zoom…

 

[Anita Latte]

I don’t have a lot of food porn…

 

In the past, I’ve subjected my men to my writing of dining reports on disboards. The year before DS became an adult in WDW, we took advantage of a deal and had the premium dining plan for a one week vacation! If you know…then you know the planning that went into that. Back in the day…my guys were even enthused to help improve my photos and staging and whatnot. It gets old though…

 

These days…I’m more selective about food pictures…going for what I perceive to be rarer photos…rather than repeating what is readily available and often reported.

 

I’ve never seen Bridges’ food porn! So…

 

Everyone was feeling salady after our heavy breakfast. A good salad can hit the spot on a warm, sunny summer day. I agreed…BUT…I happen to love soup. I went with a combo. I ordered the Seafood Chowder: smoky tomato broth, local seafood and fresh vegetables with herb focaccia and a Caesar Salad: creamy garlic and anchovy dressing with baked croutons and parmesan (the dressing is made in house).

 

 

 

DH ordered the Hot Seafood Caesar: sautéed prawns, halibut & salmon on our classic Caesar salad:

 

 

Too many things were tempting DS…and salad wasn’t one of them. I steered him clear of the halibut fish and chips because I knew that we would be having that in Juneau. He ultimately chose the Seafood Pasta: sautéed prawns, salmon & snapper, lemon cream sauce with peas and grape tomatoes.

 

 

Mom and Dad ordered the same…Mixed Green Salad: market fresh vegetables, organic greens & honey lemon vinaigrette…add salmon filet:

 

 

Good food. No complaints. Many compliments.

 

We shared a bottle of white wine between the adults.

 

Dessert?

 

We all passed in lieu of waiting to see what goodies could be found in the Public Market. Our next destination.

[dporter]

Enjoying your review, thank you for sharing.

[CaptnG]

Having a great time following along!

Just wanted to say I can sympathize with noticing the available discount after the fact.. realized after our trip to the natural history museum and intrepid museums in New York that our local museum membership includes the ASTC feature that would have gotten us into both museums for free.. which would have saved us about 200$ 🤦🏼*♀️

Felt like a big oversight once I realized that, but at least our money went to support a good cause.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Anita Latte]

Enjoying your review, thank you for sharing.

 

I'm so glad. Thank YOU for reading along!

[Anita Latte]

Having a great time following along!

Just wanted to say I can sympathize with noticing the available discount after the fact.. realized after our trip to the natural history museum and intrepid museums in New York that our local museum membership includes the ASTC feature that would have gotten us into both museums for free.. which would have saved us about 200$ 🤦🏼*♀️

Felt like a big oversight once I realized that, but at least our money went to support a good cause.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I'm so glad it's a good time! Sincerely!

 

OMG. We planned a trip to NYC that coordinated with DH's business travel. I wanted to see something on Broadway...if only I'd know that there was an employee sponsored program for such things and I could have saved about $50 a ticket... It is the most frustrating things to discover discounts you could qualify for AFTER the fact! One reason why I shared here...even though I want to pretend that I didn't see that! ;p

[Anita Latte]

Granville Public Market was calling our name…

 

https://granvilleisland.com/public-market

 

Late afternoon on a Thursday…we were prepared to encounter crowds…but we didn’t. We had no problems maneuvering through the aisles…seeing whatever was of interest…grabbing super yummy tasty samples!

 

My favorite might be the coconut lemon bars…YUM!

 

Teeny tiny tastes on toothpicks…so good.

 

I like the artistry of the produce displays. Cherries so plump and large, they are stacked into pyramids as tall as their baskets are deep. Deep Red. Yellow and Red. Row upon row of colorful raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

 

I enjoy cooking. Hate cleaning. But truly enjoy cooking. Chopping can be meditative. It’s creative. I rarely follow a recipe exactly. I like to improvise. I imagine my changes are improvements.

 

I like to eat. Or rather, should I day DINE? Implying a level of eating above daily sustenance.

 

Much of what is sold here is intended to be taken home and prepared. There’s the butcher. The fishmonger. The cheese seller. The market is broad in scoop…and many venders are deep into their specific, focused product. Not just meat…all the different cuts. So many different kinds of fish…of cheese.

 

There is a great variety of prepared food as well. Meal like food. A single stand with a focused menu, prepared to order. Tables and chairs were available inside as well as outside.

 

One bakery had a blueberry thing that looked Oh. So. Good.

 

It’s fun.

 

My guys have a thing for pickles. DH especially. The pickle booth had a dozen varieties of pickles available to sample.

 

Fun…but…

 

It’s OVERWHELMING.

 

So much food. A few other things…specialty soaps and handmade goods… IIRC, someone specialized in knitting merino wool baby caps in adorable styles and themes.

 

Probably not the most entertaining or interesting thing to be doing when you are FULL.

 

DS was ready for dessert.

 

We expected to find gelato and we did. There are several venders. SO many flavors. DS picked coconut.

 

I just couldn’t.

 

We wandered a bit…but without a purpose…and feeling NO appetite…it was difficult to look at all this food.

 

One possible agenda for the day had us gathering a bit of a picnic…hunt the market and gather whatever appeals. Eat that for a meal prior to going to the Bard on the Beach that evening. Our timing was off for that though…

 

I was completely distracted by DH’s knee.

 

He was in pain.

 

Walking was painful. He wasn’t complaining but it was obvious. When the plan is to just wander about and see what’s interesting…and you KNOW that walking is uncomfortable…and is in fact HURTING someone…well…it’s hard to be enthused to continue to wander aimlessly about.

 

I didn’t know what to do.

I knew DH wouldn’t want to spoil anyone’s enjoyment of the afternoon...

 

I just didn’t know what I wanted to do here anymore.

 

No one did really. This was all my plan.

 

My plan was failing!! ARGG!!

 

I expected a map of the island to be readily available. I thought our foraging would inspire our exploring. No regrets over the way the day had unfolded, but I literally just didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to just keep walking around with no purpose.

 

There’s a brewery around here. Anyone?

 

We left the market to head toward the brewery…if anything was interesting along the way…fine. But we were headed for a bit of a sit over a cold one.

 

The Ukama Gallery has an arresting stone sculpture of a large cat in the window. A puma? The white stone was strategically rough and raw here…smooth and polished there. And glittery. We were drawn into the store. Many interesting sculptures on display.

 

We made it to the brewery.

 

Our timing was questionable though. And no one was especially enthused for a drink. It was more of an impromptu time filler…and that’s not necessarily a good idea. Especially when DS can’t partake.

 

What to do?

 

DS said he’d like some coffee.

 

Alrighty!

 

We headed back to the market area where we knew coffee was available…gelato for those now ready for dessert…and tables and chairs.

 

Later…we will wish that we had had the wherewithal to pick out something to eat LATER. For AFTER the performance.

 

Meanwhile…we paced ourselves through this rather dead zone of time…then headed down to the ferry dock to catch a ride to Vanier Park.

We were attending the evening performance of "As You Like It" at Bard on the Beach.

[bunnyette]

Could you not have left DH & DS at the coffee place & shopped on your own? I’ve done that...

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Anita Latte]

We waited a bit for the ferry to the Maritime Museum stop to arrive.

 

Unconfirmed…but I had the impression that there might only be the one ferry boat running that route. I recall hearing someone making a connection at Granville Island to that stop…they were told the ferry would be along in about 20 minutes.

 

We waited many minutes for the ferry to arrive.

 

Then we waited many minutes while the ferry hung out at the dock for however long waiting for the possibility of additional passengers.

 

We observed a rather engaging event right next to our ferry as we sat on the aft wrap around bench. A smaller powerboat rental had returned to the dock immediately next to where we were waiting for the ferry to arrive. As the rental operator backed into the his "parking place" on the dock...the comment "He's never done that before" was heard.

We had boarded our ferry boat and were hanging out. Another family had rented that same powerboat and were getting sorted for their day on the water. Our little ferry had to be scooted along the dock to make way for this rental to be able to set off.

 

I can't recall exactly WHY this had captured all our attention. Something was very funny if IIRC. My point is only that there is so much in the world to observe...when you have a chance to leisurely plod along with your day...and take the time to observe your surroundings.

With only one other family on board…we set out.

 

With one stop along the way, we landed at the Maritime Museum dock.

 

This dock is a point of interest in and of itself. If I am accurately connecting my subsequent research to my experience, the dock where the False Creek Ferry lands near the Maritime Museum is called Heritage Harbour. Every summer 9-15 different vessels, depending on size, that have a connection to BC history, or are believed to be of interest to the general public, are docked there.

 

The retro appearance of the first boat we saw docked as we departed the ferry was our first clue…

 

The placard detailing the history and pertinent information regarding that vessel was our next clue…

 

Each subsequent boat displayed a unique character…and with each placard, we realized that we were seeing some sort of display…we made the rounds of all the vessels currently docked for our viewing pleasure.

 

On a previous family cruise on the Constellation, while in port in the Florida Keys, we all toured the US Coast Guard Cutter Ingham. If you haven’t been…and have an interest in such things…we all HIGHLY recommend touring this National Memorial. It’s a Maritime Museum and National Historical Landmark.

 

https://www.uscgcingham.org

 

I couldn’t help but be reminded of that previous vacation as we simply walked along the docks…seeing seaworthy vessels that looked NOTHING like what I would care to sail on the open seas. Inspiring visions of the currently released, or soon to be released film, “Adrift”…I recall seeing boats WAY too small for my own comfort out of sight of land that had sailed noteworthy journeys.

 

At least with my current experience.

 

Again…not necessarily something to go out of your way to see…BUT…definitely worthy the time to pause and enjoy if you are going this way.

 

OUR this way was on the path along the Vanier Park shoreline to find Bard on the Beach.

 

https://bardonthebeach.org

 

It IS possible to walk to Bard on the Beach from Granville Island. The distance is deceptively long though. Because of the shape of the shoreline…it is a shorter walk from the ferry dock to the tents. If only there were a pedestrian bridge…THEN it would make sense to just hoof it to the theater from the island…but IF you were trying to walk the shortest distance…dock to tents is preferred.

 

It’s a lovely walk.

 

It was questionable swimming weather for my accustomed-to-a-more-southern-climate self…but the locals were having a fine day at the beach.

 

 

Continuing on the path…we had a clear view across the bay of downtown Vancouver.

 

 

I think I mentioned the chaperoning of the chorus class trip to Chicago earlier in this thread. We had a meal at a famous hot dog restaurant on that trip. DH and I were excited. As silly as it is…sometimes, you just get in the mood for a hot dog. We’ve lived near Sonics…in the past, we’ve taken advantage of their signature hot dogs…the Chicago Dog being a favorite. While we were in Chicago…we really wanted a Chicago Dog.

 

There we were in Chicago at this famous hot dog joint and we couldn’t find a “Chicago Dog” on the menu.

 

DUUUUHHH…the “Hot Dog” on the CHICAGO restaurant menu WAS a “Chicago Dog.”

 

I wonder…should you just call them GEESE when you are in Canada?

 

 

The weather was fine. The lack of crowds. It was a peaceful walk around the park.

 

Soon we could see the tents.

 

 

The approach from the park’s walking path is from the backside. Continue on the path, cut through the parking lot, and eventually find the front:

 

[Anita Latte]

Could you not have left DH & DS at the coffee place & shopped on your own? I’ve done that...

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Nope.

 

Perhaps if we were talking about a more significant period of time...and if I had been in the mood, maybe. It was just an awkward hour. I'm not a big shopper...aimless wandering is something I have to be in the mood for. If I know I'm not going to buy anything...I don't really see the point in looking at things. I don't mind looking if someone else is interested...but no one was expressing a desire to do anything in particular. Or even in general. We all just looked at each other! LOL.

[Anita Latte]

Bard on the Beach.

 

As You Like It.

 

A bit of refresh on the memory…this is the reimagined Shakespeare play for the 2018 season.

 

“It’s the 1960s, and free spirits are escaping from Vancouver to get “back to the land”. This joyful tribute to love, laughter and music features 25 classic Beatles songs, from “I Want to Hold Your Hand” to “All You Need is Love”, performed live by the cast. Come join in the fun! – you’ll leave the theatre with a song in your heart and a renewed faith in our shared humanity.

Directed by Citadel Theatre Artistic Director Daryl Cloran, who helmed Bard’s 2015 hit musical production of Love’s Labour’s Lost.

 

Please note: As You Like It is approximately 2hrs 30 mins including intermission. Patrons are welcome to take their seats 15 minutes prior to curtain to see a pre-show wrestling event onstage, featuring Charles the Wrestler!”

 

Mom just told me today that attending this play was one of the highlights of our trip for Dad. This could be because he was completely NOT enthused to attend and considered his attendance to this play obligatory because I had planned it...and that’s what we all were doing this evening.

 

So there you go.

 

One of my best friends from college says, “You just never, never know.”

 

The bad news is that I was 30 minutes off in my thinking for when the show would start.

 

The good news is that I was 30 minutes early.

 

The bad news is that we were twiddling our thumbs for longer than necessary waiting to be able to take our seats.

 

The good news is that there was a sort of pre-show talk designed to familiarize the patrons with the generalities of the plot prior to the performance.

 

The bad news is that the seating for being able to HEAR this talk was very small and completely filled by the time we realized it was there and that we wouldn’t be able to hear it from where we had grabbed an available seat.

 

The good news is that we had a seat for waiting.

 

The bad news is that we had a bit of a wait.

 

If you attend Bard on the Beach, note that there is a guest services area where there is a map of the world on display. Patrons are invited to grab an available stick pin to pin the map at the place of their domicile so that all attendees can admire the far reaching appeal of the night’s entertainment.

 

It was interesting to note that there were so many visitors from overseas…

 

Definitely enter the tents as soon as allowed.

 

The seating was surprisingly comfortable given that the theater is constructed each and every season and is essentially a temporary venue. Again…for the purposes of seeing the seating more than just my family:

 

 

We were seated in row G…IIRC. We had the perfect view of the stage.

 

 

If you have a chance to see this production…DO be sure to see the wrestling match that everyone urges you to enter early to see. You will laugh. I swear. You will.

 

And as we were sitting there wondering if the reimagined Shakespeare would have updated dialogue…or would it be the original text…

 

Before our very eyes, with nary a transition from the gaiety of the preperformance wrestling match,

Suddenly, dialogue spoken from those upon the stage

Announced itself to be the original text of the famous playwright

Not a translation, nor an interpretation thereof.

Whereupon I did by mine own self discover

To focus mine ears to the hearing of the speech

And let mine own mind to relax in the manner of a beach,

To allow waves of words to reach mine own consciousness,

And dare not an attempt to translate the strangeness of sentences,

Discern I could, the manner of speaking of that fine character Yoda

Had he been vocal during that distinguished time of long ago

During which the famous King James was put to scroll

Then easily did I discern the twists and turns of the plot

And did I laugh and laugh and laugh?

I did.

 

OMG…We ALL laughed.

 

I believe that we all agreed that we hadn’t laughed that hard in a long, long time.

 

If you can, I highly recommend that you go.

You wonder how on earth the Beatles songs could be incorporated into the play? SEAMLESSLY. It was as if the lyrics to the songs were written for this play and this play alone so wonderfully were they sung by the characters...giving almost new meaning...or rather, visualized meaning to the well known words to the well known songs.

 

We all appreciated that the play did not attempt to stay true to the original Beatles tune but made the songs their own...having duets made from what was originally a single voice...and most gratifying was the fact that the music was LIVE. An onstage band played while the characters sang. It all flowed. You would have thought that the Beatles music was a soundtrack for As You Like It.

Can't recommend this play enough.

 

Of note…the bathrooms are porta-potties. Very nice porta-potties. In two different areas. Know that the area to the right can not be accessed through the area to the left. You will not be cutting in line, or creating one of those horrid which side goes now scenarios if you bail on the much longer left side line to join the much shorter right side line at intermission.

 

Also note…guest services say that they call a bunch of taxis to come toward the end of the performance.

 

They SAY they do.

 

And while they may call…do the taxis answer that call?

Edited July 11, 2018 by Anita Latte