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November 11, 2018 In Travel

Vancouver Trip

When did we go….

  • Nov 1-4, 2018

Why did we go…

  • my health and wellness website, tuja wellness (www.tujawellness.com), was sponsoring an event called Gutsy Girls Adventure Film Tour run by Dr. Carla Cupido (www.carlacupido.com)
  • my daughter Robyn and her friends Maddie (in from Nanaimo) and Saskia (in from Kelowna) joined us to make a fun four day weekend out of the trip

How did we get there…

  • I flew in from San Francisco from my previous West Coast road trip
  • Robyn flew in from Calgary
  • Saskia flew in from Kelowna
  • Maddie flew in by float plane from Nanaimo
  • we rented a vehicle to make it easier to get around to all the activities we had planned

Where did we stay…

  • we rented an Air Bnb on Granville Street near Coal Harbour
  • it was a spacious three bedroom apartment in an older building (we were on the third floor, and there was no elevator, so it was a bit of a workout to lug our suitcases up and down the stairs)
  • there was a fair amount of street noise, but it was walking distance to anywhere in downtown Vancouver
  • we had parking in a gated lot across the alley

 

Where did we eat…

  • MeeT on Main (lunch, vegetarian, lots of cool shopping in the same area)
  • Water Street Café (lunch, upscale restaurant in Yaletown in a heritage building containing the Edward Hotel)
  • Botanist (dinner in Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel, upscale restaurant with good food and service)
  • Bluhouse Café (Deep Cove eatery for pre-hike breakfast and snacks)
  • Honey Doughnuts and Goodies (post-hike coffee and ridiculously good doughnuts)
  • Sandbar (lunch on Granville Island sitting on their outdoor but covered and heated patio)
  • Provence Marinaside (dinner with friends at an upscale Yaletown restaurant that married South of France and Canadian West Coast cuisine)
  • TurF (breakfast at this vegan restaurant in Kitsilano that also housed a fitness studio and athletic shop – great vibe to this place)
  • Mali Thai (tasty Thai food and you had to go thru the kitchen to get to the washroom which was a unique but fun experience)

What did we do…

  • represented tuja wellness at the Gutsy Girls Adventure Film Tour event at the Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver (excellent short films on women doing amazing things)
  • shopped at Lululemon, Arc’teryx, M0851, and Herschel
  • walked along the harbour in downtown Vancouver and enjoyed a beverage at Lift Bar & Grill near the Westin Bayshore and the Cactus Club Coal Harbor
  • hiked Quarry Rock in Deep Cove (see separate report under Outdoor Edventures)
  • walked around Granville Island checking out the food market and other shops
  • did a jaunt down and up the Wreck Beach Stairs at UBC (had to walk 15 minutes to the trailhead due to a running race going on along Marine Drive)
  • found and climbed up the incognito Climbing Tree on Cambie but unfortunately the tire swings and hammocks had been taken down
  • checked out the murals on and around Main Street around 10th to 14th street (spectacular work by a huge number of artists)
  • enjoyed after dinner refreshments at Loose Moose and New Oxford

What did we not do that is on the agenda for next time:

  • there are limitless things to do in Vancouver, so it is hard to list them all, and hence I will keep the list brief
  • ride a bike around Stanley Park
  • hike some of the trails in North Vancouver including Grouse Grind which was closed for the season when we were there

Final thoughts:

  • we had reasonably good weather considering the time of year and there was nothing that prevented us from doing anything we had planned
  • it was fun to see some of our Vancouver friends during our stay
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