Don't Fear the Rain, We Have the "Ducky of Death!"-Jan '14 **Bonus TR DCA 9/1 x2

[khaleesi]

Thank you Sue! Actually, the Chick-Fil-A trip sounds pretty awesome if you ask me!

It was pretty awesome, actually! I had posted on their FB page that we were making the long trip and they contacted me via email and gave me and my entire party free food! And I got balloons and an "Eat Mor Chikin" cow that currently sits on my desk at work. It was incredible! Pixie dust at Chick-Fil-A!

I love character meals! I've only done a handful of them, but they are a lot of fun. I really think I need to do CRT next. But it gives me sticker shock.

I absolutely love it when the characters get down to the kids level. I've only had one interaction with Jasmine and that was in Epcot, but it was wonderful!

Your kiddos look like they're having a blast!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

loved your updates on char. meals we are doing TH, 1900 PF, Akershus and CP
really looking forword to them and you made them come alive for me ty

That sounds like a great line up! While we didn't do Akershus this time, I prefer it a lot more over CRT. And 1900 PF for dinner is one of our favorite character interactions.

Love your CRT pictures. I have never done CRT but am happy to say that Cynthia and I will be visiting Cindy in two weeks. I've heard the food is just OK, but I really need to get in that castle once.

Too funny about your DW always running into her patients. I have a friend who runs into someone he knows EVERY time we travel with him. It's crazy.

Enjoy Vancouver!

Yes, I think eating in the castle once is definitely a worthy experience! You'll probably enjoy it since you have your expectations for the food at a realistic level. I think some people become severely disappointed because they assume based on the price tag that the food would be top notch when they're really paying for the location.

I have two cousins in Vancouver so if you see them say hi for me. I've never made it that far West yet!
It's been a long time (2007) since I've done CRT. We enjoyed it but thought the same as you, food was just ok. Wonderful pictures of the princesses though! And Jasmin sounds like she was great.

I'm sorry your DSIL wasn't feeling up to breakfast at TH, but this:

Too funny! Pediatrician's intuition?

Another great meal, some day I want to do TH for breakfast, looks really good!

I'm sad to report that I have not come across either of your cousins so far during my first three days in Vancouver. And I've been walking around the streets calling out for Wendy's cousins! All kidding aside, such a wonderful city and you Canadians are just awesomely friendly and cheerful!

You definitely should do TH for breakfast!

Loving your TR!

I especially liked this update because I'm pretty postive you were at CRT at the same time as us. In the Aurora picture I'm all the way back there next to the window! And DBF is in the next picture. Too funny. DBF was really not feeling the CRT at first but it ended up being one of our favorite things on the trip. We probably won't do it again with just the two of us until we have kids but I'm so glad we experienced it. And that Jasmine was awesome!

I also love the TH pictures. I just got the word from my brother that I can take my niece for her first trip next January! I'm super excited! She will be almost six and I want to make it so magical for her so TR's with kids in them appeal to me so much more now! And after seeing your pictures of TH I'm postive we will be booking this character meal!

Can't wait for more updates and your amazing pictures! Have fun in Vancouver!

That's so cool that you're in the corner of my pictures! I think this is the first time someone from DIS found themselves in one of my pictures! We were there on Friday (January 31st I think?) morning.

Sounds like so much fun taking your niece with you! Taking a young child to Disney is a whole new experience and you get to see and feel things very differently. Hope you have a blast and I'm sure you'll enjoy TH.

Honestly, I think there is something extra beautiful about the castle with the wet streets in front.

I think the appeal of CRT is more the idea of actually dining IN the castle more so than the character experience. I've never done it, but I imagine at some point I will have to just to do it and say I did. We all can't be like Brenda and get to tour the Dream Suite after all.

Have a great trip to the Vancouver. Pity it's the wrong side of Canada, lol.

Totally agree - CRT and its price tag is all about the ambiance and the location of the experience especially since Akershus can pretty much provide the same character meet and greet experience.

I'm having a great visit in Vancouver! Learning the little things in Canada that are different than the U.S.

It always makes me laugh a little when I see how exhausted non-Disney veterans get. People don't always understand just how much there is to see and do at Disney!

I have heard on multiple occasions that the food at CRT is pretty generic. I suppose if you go there for the atmosphere more so than the food.

I can only imagine what 2 four years with plastic swords were like. Did they manage to sit still long enough to eat?

Nice review of Tusker House. Sounds like a good dining choice if you want to meet the Fab 5 and get into AK early.

(Complete, side note, but the other day my husband and I had Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on for our DS, and I asked him, "Do you think the characters in the parks can do the Hot Dog Dance? Goofy's looks really hard to imitate!" So when you said your DS tried to get Donald to do it, I couldn't help but giggle.)

It's funny that you mentioned Goofy's Hot Dog Dance because whenever I watch the show with the kids, the kids love watching me trying to imitate his dance with my arms and legs flailing about! I don't think his dance would be practical in the parks for the Goofy characters to do - mostly for liability reason. Someone could easily get whacked in the head.

Great character meals Dave!!! The character interactions sounded amazing as you never know how they will be.
Funny that your DW sees her patients everywhere and you don't. I wonder if you are actually hiding behind that huge camera and no one sees you.

That could be it too! No one gets to see my face with my camera practically glued to my face the entire time.

It was pretty awesome, actually! I had posted on their FB page that we were making the long trip and they contacted me via email and gave me and my entire party free food! And I got balloons and an "Eat Mor Chikin" cow that currently sits on my desk at work. It was incredible! Pixie dust at Chick-Fil-A!

I love character meals! I've only done a handful of them, but they are a lot of fun. I really think I need to do CRT next. But it gives me sticker shock.

I absolutely love it when the characters get down to the kids level. I've only had one interaction with Jasmine and that was in Epcot, but it was wonderful!

Your kiddos look like they're having a blast!

Wow! That's awesome they went that far and beyond for your birthday trip!

The kids had such a wonderful time!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I've been missing in action for the past few days thanks to my travels to Vancouver for a conference. My mind and time was focused on this one lecture I was giving but now that's done I'm at a much more relaxed place to the point where I can check in on DIS again while I'm still here.

Absolutely beautiful city. I was here in 2010 for a different conference and my impression of this place hasn't changed. The food is just awesome. So many good places to choose from. The people are all so nice, friendly, and just happy. I've been enjoying all of the small quirky Canadian things too. The blinking green traffic lights. And especially the dollar coins. And the two dollar coins!! When I'm tipping the bellhop or housekeeping, it feels like I'm in Vegas when you tip people with chips.

Anyway, thought I'd check in and give a wave to my DIS friends while I'm here. I got to squeeze in one photo walking tour of Gastown and Chinatown yesterday morning. I have a much more massive tour planned out for tomorrow with lots of walking so hopefully I'll be able to share some more pictures with you then. Here's one I took from Maple Tree Square in Gastown. I posted a whole lot more on my photo website: http://www.dhphotogallery.com/archive.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I just returned from a wonderful trip to Vancouver that I thought I would briefly share my experience in this delightful Canadian city.



I had traveled to Vancouver once in 2010 for another conference so knew about its great food and restaurants heading into this trip. However, last time I didn’t get to venture much out of the Convention Centre and Canada Place area and I was determined to make some time to explore the different parts of Vancouver armed with my camera. I have posted a few of the pictures on here but the rest of the 64 photos from Vancouver are on my website if you’re interested in taking a gander at the full gallery: www.dhphotogallery.com/archive

But before I begin, I just want to say that I love Canadians even more after this trip. Everyone is so pleasant and welcoming and their touch of humor is even more appreciated. I didn’t come across a single grump. Also, I loved the little things that made Vancouver so much different than other US cities. Not only does the city have great bike lanes with medians (!) separating it away from the car lanes, but in the park trails they have lanes for rollerblades! I guess that goes along with their love for hockey, eh? (See what I did there?) Another thing that made me laugh out loud was when a city bus pulled out onto the street with the following electronic sign “Not in service……Sorry.” I’m pretty sure I could live in the DC area and never see a bus display the words “Sorry” for anything. Oh, and how about their version of Sportscenter spending the first 10 minutes on highlights of two hockey games! Not only did they show every goal but they spent time showing all of the other things that would never make it on to the US version. Loved it! And can I say I love the dollar and 2-dollar coins?! Although I have to admit to a silly and embarrassing mistake I made in 2010 which is probably why I appreciate the coins even more. Back in 2010 during my first trip to Canada and Vancouver I had purchased a bottle of Diet Coke at a convenience store. The guy at the register rang up a total of $1.50 for me to which I handed him a 5 dollar (Canadian) bill. He gave me the change back in coins into my outstretched hands. Forgetting I was in Canada and force of old American habits, I waited for another few seconds with hand stretched out expecting him to hand me a couple of bills as well completely forgetting that he gave me the correct change using the dollar coins. When that never came (and clearly still in my American coma) I asked him where the rest of my change was and he gave me this confused look. I further went on (yep, this gets me cringing every time I think about it) telling him that I only received coins and that I didn’t have my dollar bills. As this poor guy was trying to figure what in the heck I was talking about, I finally remembered about the dollar coins. I looked back at him and said “Never mind. I was being a clueless American tourist” and ran out of there like. Anyhoo, moving on with my visit this time which included no such blunders.

I had to give a lecture/talk at the conference in front of about 250 people this time which stressed me out to the point where I couldn’t bring myself to think about which neighborhoods I would like to visit ahead of time. But once that talk was out of the way (fortunately without any major mishaps) I was able to wrangle together an itinerary and squeeze them in between my conference obligations.

On a Sunday morning, I decided to check out the nearby neighborhoods of Gastown and Chinatown before settling in at the Convention Centre for the rest of the day. It was raining as it did for 4 out of the 5 days of my stay but once you’ve done Disney in the rain, other rainy trips are a piece of cake I walked down to Water Street first. Gastown was mostly quiet thanks to the weather and it being so early in the day as most of the pubs, restaurants, and stores hadn’t opened yet with the occasional coffee shop and breakfast places being the exception. The area definitely has its charm with Water Street being lined with cobblestone and the small stores and restaurants with character. The most famous landmark in this neighborhood is the Steam Clock that runs on…..you got it….steam. It gives out some whistles and noises every 15 to 30 minutes or so. Clearly a lot of other people had the similar idea of photographing this popular clock. I tried getting it from different angles but holding an umbrella in one hand while trying to steady camera for some reason didn’t come easy. One of the pictures I took included this reflection of the Steam Clock from a puddle of rain water in the middle of the street. I was thankful that there was so little traffic at that time in the morning as I stepped into the middle of the street for 4-5 seconds at a time to get a shot off then quickly moving back to the sidewalk if there were any cars approaching.



A couple of blocks from there is Maple Tree Square anchored by the statue of John Deighton aka “Gassy Jack” which is where Gastown gets its name from.



After strolling up south a couple of blocks and passing by a half dozen Tim Hortons (I’m guessing this is the Canadian equivalent of Starbucks even though I did see a lot of Starbucks here as well) to find the gates of Chinatown on Pender Street. After admiring some of the unique street signs, lamp posts, store signage, and Chinese herbal store fronts lined with items that I couldn’t even begin to guess what they were, I walked over to Dr. Sun Yet-San Chinese Garden. I think I enjoyed it more because of the rain which somehow accentuated that feeling of spring. Beautifully landscaped and very quiet and serene. I must have spent about 40 minutes or so enjoying the scenery and snapping some photos. As I was taking some pictures and framing this photo, a couple walked in through the entrance of the gardens on the other side of pond sporting red umbrellas. At first I thought about waiting for them to stroll out of the frame before hitting the shutter. But as I waited while continuously looking through my view finder I realized the red umbrellas perfectly fit into the whole ambiance of the gardens. So I tried reframing the view a little and cranked open my aperture to give it that nice bokeh and really liked what I saw so snapped it.



It’s funny how for the next 10-15 minutes or so the same couple of would walk into my photos while I was taking a picture and ended up giving me a look that I liked even more than what I had intended.

After leaving the gardens, I walked back up north towards Vancouver Habour and followed an railroad overpass to a small and cozy park by the shore called Portside Park. I believe it used to be called Crab Park. Loved the view from this park looking across the harbour.



That ended my mini-excursion for the morning as I had to head back to the convention centre. Yep, I’m spelling harbour and centre like they do in Vancouver

The next evening I went out for dinner with three of my colleagues (that I mostly get to see once or twice a year since they live in other parts of the US) to the Fish House in Stanley Park. Great seafood. By the way, during this trip I also got to have dinner at Blue Water Café and Raw Bar (really good!) and Market by Jean Georges (also excellent). After dinner, I decided to take a brief stroll over to the Vancouver Habour side of Stanley Park along the Seawall to catch the sunset and blue hour with the city skyline. After I found my spot, I spent the next 45 minutes taking some pictures. Normally I would be keeping myself distracted with my phone while I wait in between the shots and the lighting to change but being in roam mode, I didn’t have any data access (or should I say I wasn’t willing to pay for them) so I just spent the time looking out across the water which wasn’t so bad either.



I'll finish up the second half of this mini trip report on the next update.

 

[BOG Obsessed]

Coming out of lurkdom to post.
Your pictures of Vancouver are stunning.
Tim Hortons is the go-to place for good/inexpensive coffee and of course timbits (donut holes).
Love your TR, thanks for sharing

 

[saintstickets]

Ooooohhhh....great pics of Vancouver!! I hope there are more. DW and I will be there next August before we board DCL for the Alaska cruise!

 

[khaleesi]

And the two dollar coins!!

We call 'em loonies ($1) and toonies ($2). I don't know if Canadians actually do that, but here in Almost Canada that's what we say!

Tim Hortons (Timmy Ho's!) is insanely popular, but in a different way from Starbucks... for starters, it's not nearly as expensive and they don't have the huge array of specialty drinks. But they have lots of bagels, soups, muffins. I'm pretty sure there have been days when all three meals came from there

Tim Horton was a hockey player who played mainly for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He wound up on a couple other teams and eventually ended his career here in Buffalo (the Sabres). He decided to go into the coffee shop business, but was killed in a car accident before the shops really took off.

I'm not sure how far west they spread in Canada, but I know they have now crossed over into other areas in the US outside of Western New York. People are addicted and we generally refer to their coffee as crack. I don't like coffee, so I have no opinion on that part! But my brother (who lives in Texas) loves it. When he comes to visit, it's the first place we have to stop. And every year for Christmas I sent him a bag of their coffee. My other brother is retiring from the Air Force in a couple months and had really hoped to open a franchise in San Antonio, but since they haven't expanded that far yet he's not able to do so.

There is a shop in the Canadian area of Epcot that sells Tim Hortons products!!!! Just tea and hot cocoa, though.

I might not be able to give a history lesson on the War of 1812, but Tim Hortons? Yeah, I got that

That picture is absolutely stunning.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Coming out of lurkdom to post.
Your pictures of Vancouver are stunning.
Tim Hortons is the go-to place for good/inexpensive coffee and of course timbits (donut holes).
Love your TR, thanks for sharing

Thank you for the kind words and following my trip report! Really appreciate it!

I wish I had known about the donut holes - I would have made a visit inside the store just for that.

Ooooohhhh....great pics of Vancouver!! I hope there are more. DW and I will be there next August before we board DCL for the Alaska cruise!

Thanks! Vancouver is such a beautiful city, I think you'll enjoy it a lot. I posted all of my 60 something pictures from Vancouver on my photography website if you haven't seen them yet.

We call 'em loonies ($1) and toonies ($2). I don't know if Canadians actually do that, but here in Almost Canada that's what we say!

Tim Hortons (Timmy Ho's!) is insanely popular, but in a different way from Starbucks... for starters, it's not nearly as expensive and they don't have the huge array of specialty drinks. But they have lots of bagels, soups, muffins. I'm pretty sure there have been days when all three meals came from there

Tim Horton was a hockey player who played mainly for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He wound up on a couple other teams and eventually ended his career here in Buffalo (the Sabres). He decided to go into the coffee shop business, but was killed in a car accident before the shops really took off.

I'm not sure how far west they spread in Canada, but I know they have now crossed over into other areas in the US outside of Western New York. People are addicted and we generally refer to their coffee as crack. I don't like coffee, so I have no opinion on that part! But my brother (who lives in Texas) loves it. When he comes to visit, it's the first place we have to stop. And every year for Christmas I sent him a bag of their coffee. My other brother is retiring from the Air Force in a couple months and had really hoped to open a franchise in San Antonio, but since they haven't expanded that far yet he's not able to do so.

There is a shop in the Canadian area of Epcot that sells Tim Hortons products!!!! Just tea and hot cocoa, though.

I might not be able to give a history lesson on the War of 1812, but Tim Hortons? Yeah, I got that

That picture is absolutely stunning.

Wow, I had no idea that there was such a Tim Horton's following in the US but I guess it makes sense especially for the northern states near Canada. And I also had no idea that Tim Horton was a hockey player! Good to know. Now I really wish I would have made a formal stop inside to try their coffee and other goodies.

 

[chattadisser]

Wonderful pictures of Vancouver! I have heard nothing but rave reviews from anyone who has ever been there. Seems like a really beautiful, nice place.

I understand the Tim Hortons addiction. I have friends in Michigan who swear by their coffee. I've never had any but apparently it's like Coke vs. Pepsi, either your in one camp or another but never both!

Christine

 

[afwdwfan]

I swear, she’s like a celebrity. I don’t seem to run into any of my patients during our trips. Or maybe they’re just not saying hi to me. Hmmmmmm.

Are your bedside manners lacking???

The meal was a success although handing out plastic swords to two 4 year old boys at the beginning of the meal is just asking for trouble.

Let's be honest here. Handing plastic swords to any number of 4 year old boys at any time is asking for trouble.

There’s just enough variety to make it stand out from the rest of the generic Disney breakfast fare. The ham carving station is always a bonus. The characters were great and Goofy must have been high on caffeine this particular morning because he was running, literally running, around the joint.

That's just Goofy...

I've always wanted to ask Goofy to do the Hot Dog Dance. I mean if Goofy can make his hat flip up in the air and land on his head the way he does on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, I will be impressed.

But before I begin, I just want to say that I love Canadians even more after this trip. Everyone is so pleasant and welcoming and their touch of humor is even more appreciated. I didn’t come across a single grump.

I think you just touched on about all of the Canadian stereotypes all at once.

Beautiful pictures, especially the ones of the skyline on the water.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Your B&W photo of the castle is just stunning

Very nice CRT pictures as well and glad the kids has such a nice encounter with Jasmine.

We love the Tusker House breakfast - like you said, enough variety to make it interesting

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Wonderful pictures of Vancouver! I have heard nothing but rave reviews from anyone who has ever been there. Seems like a really beautiful, nice place.

I understand the Tim Hortons addiction. I have friends in Michigan who swear by their coffee. I've never had any but apparently it's like Coke vs. Pepsi, either your in one camp or another but never both!

Christine

Hmmm, considering how addicted I am to Starbucks right now perhaps it's a good thing then that I didn't try Tim Hortons.

Are your bedside manners lacking???

Let's be honest here. Handing plastic swords to any number of 4 year old boys at any time is asking for trouble.

I've always wanted to ask Goofy to do the Hot Dog Dance. I mean if Goofy can make his hat flip up in the air and land on his head the way he does on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, I will be impressed.

I think you just touched on about all of the Canadian stereotypes all at once.

Beautiful pictures, especially the ones of the skyline on the water.

Thanks!

I'm pretty sure there would have been a lot of broken cups and dishes flying in the air if Goofy had actually done his Hot Dog Dance in the middle of Tusker House.

Your B&W photo of the castle is just stunning

Very nice CRT pictures as well and glad the kids has such a nice encounter with Jasmine.

We love the Tusker House breakfast - like you said, enough variety to make it interesting

Sad that we won't get a chance to eat at TH during our next short visit in October but will definitely plan taking everyone there next year when DW's family and relatives come with us.

 

[MEK]

I have always wanted to visit Vancouver. It looks and sounds like an amazing country! As always, your pictures are spectacular. Glad your lecture went well and you were able to focus on taking pictures!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I have always wanted to visit Vancouver. It looks and sounds like an amazing country! As always, your pictures are spectacular. Glad your lecture went well and you were able to focus on taking pictures!

I know I keep gushing about Vancouver but I really fell in love with the city during this visit. Hoping to be able to take the kids over there in another 2-3 years. And their passports wouldn't have expired yet!

 

[teekathepony]

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful review and photos of Vancouver!

Loonies and Twonies! Or Toonies! I'm not sure if we have an official spelling. That's the $1 and $2 coins anyway. Too funny about waiting for your change. I go the opposite and feel really weird tipping with bills, it always makes me feel like I'm giving away big money.

Tim Hortons is our Starbucks for sure. Starbucks is definitely creeping more and more into Canada and though lots of people do like it, Timmy Ho's is always the go-to.

I'm glad you liked our Canadian apologies. We are an apologetic bunch, it's true. Sorry about that. I always feel oddly happy when people visit Canada and love it here. I say here, but you were about as far away from me personally as you can get.

I can't wait to hear the rest, now I want to get to the other coast!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful review and photos of Vancouver!

Loonies and Twonies! Or Toonies! I'm not sure if we have an official spelling. That's the $1 and $2 coins anyway. Too funny about waiting for your change. I go the opposite and feel really weird tipping with bills, it always makes me feel like I'm giving away big money.

Thanks Wendy!

I wish I had known about those nicknames for your coins! Could have shown off to my American friends at the conference!

Tim Hortons is our Starbucks for sure. Starbucks is definitely creeping more and more into Canada and though lots of people do like it, Timmy Ho's is always the go-to.

I'm guessing perhaps there were a lot more Starbucks in and around the Convention Centre area than there are for the rest of the country. Some of us Americans like myself are hopelessly addicted to Starbucks.

I'm glad you liked our Canadian apologies. We are an apologetic bunch, it's true. Sorry about that. I always feel oddly happy when people visit Canada and love it here. I say here, but you were about as far away from me personally as you can get.

I can't wait to hear the rest, now I want to get to the other coast!

Hoping to post the wrap up update for the Vancouver visit tonight!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Hope everyone had a great weekend! And Happy Mother's Day to all of the great moms on DIS!

Wrapping up my mini trip report to Vancouver so that we can get moving again on Disney updates! I have 60 or so photos for your viewing pleasure on my website: www.dhphotogallery.com/archive. Also if you're interested, I just started a Twitter account for my photography as well.

On my last full day in Vancouver and having wrapped up my conference obligations, I spend the entire day exploring Stanley Park and Granville Island. I must have walked about 11.5 miles.

I first set out for Stanley Park on foot from my hotel at Canada Place at 5am. Let me just say I loved Stanley Park. Probably even more so than Central Park as far as city parks go. Absolutely gorgeous between the heavily wooded trails and the perfectly groomed gardens. The gardens reminded me of the one in Epcot but only larger and more beautiful.

The first half of my hike was along the Seawall as I visited Brockton Point Lighthouse and walked under Lions Gate Bridge.

Here's Brockton Point Lighthouse. I arrived here about 15 minutes after sunrise hoping that the cloud cover would bounce off nice colors. I was very happy to catch this view with absolutely no one around.



Ok, there may have been a couple of joggers who may have witnessed my not-so-gracefull slip as I tried to walk down an unpaved hill and landed on my rear with a painful thud. Nope, no one saw it. Not a single soul. And no one saw the mud stains on my jeans either.

After a couple of long exposure photos, I continued to make my way up towards Lion Gates Bridge. Along the way, I also came across this little fella which prompted one of the fastest lens changes I've ever done so that I could get an up close shot of him.



I think coming across him or her was the moment when I truly felt I was in a completely different world. And while I didn’t move as fast enough with my camera to capture it I also saw a bald eagle fly across the sky above me being chased by seagulls or at least that was the appearance. Those darn seagulls.

Once I reached Lions Gate Bridge, I finally turned around to head back inside the park to explore the gardens and trails. Here's Lions Gate Bridge.



Even walking without once sitting down for 5 hours I only got explore the eastern half of the park. I got lost along the trails once and had to back track a little too but didn’t mind spending the extra time in this gorgeous park. They do have an aquarium inside the park as well which I heard a lot of good things about from various people but I just didn’t have time to fit that in so the only thing I saw was their back entrance where there employees enter.

Here are couple of pictures from the Rose Garden or at least the flowers that were planted near the Rose Garden since yes, none of these are actually roses.





After making a final stop at the Lost Lagoon, I walked back to my hotel where I grabbed lunch at a Fatburger. I then took a cab over to Granville Island because I really wanted to check out the Public Market.



Absolutely loved it! If I lived here I would totally be buying all of the different food items, but I’m pretty sure packing big chunks of cheese, cured meat, and fresh fish in my suitcase would have caught the attention of the customs officers on my way back home. Fresh fruit and vegetables, bakery goods, and all kinds of other goodness were lined up for display inside the Public Market. The only thing I got to sample was some sorbet and gelato as I kicked myself for eating such a big lunch before coming over. Outside of the Public Market, Granville Island also houses galleries, boutique stores, and a Kids Market where I bought a couple of souvenir plushies for the kids in the shape of Moose with red and white Canadian sweaters.

And I just laughed out loud when I saw these sticker signs warning of those "Mine Mine Mine" birds.



I mean it's just ingenious. Instead of telling people not to feed the birds for the sake of the birds' health, they just flipped the script and made the seagulls the villain! Watch out or they'll steal your food! And to make it even better they included basically a menacing mugshot of a seagull that could have substituted for a poster for Hitchcock's The Birds! LOVED it!

Here's a view of Burrard Bridge and Downtown Vancouver from the deck outside of the Public Market.



Spent a good two hours on Granville Island then I walked along the shoreline up toward Vanier Park enjoying the views of False Creek. Don’t you just love that name? It’s really not a creek but a short inlet extending from the English Bay into Vancouver lined with harbors and wharfs. By the time I reached Vanier Park, my legs were pretty much done. I hopped on a very small ferry boat that took us across over to the edge of Sunset Park and by the foot of Burrard Bridge.



I decided to walk back to my hotel from there which in retrospect was probably not a good idea adding another 30 minutes of walking to my already weary legs.

So that concludes my mini trip report to Vancouver. I had a great time and would love to go back again!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Oh my Dave, you came to Canada and didn't go to Timmy's???? That's tantamount to war, lol. I know most would compare it to Starbucks, but I think it's more Dunkin' Donuts style. In any event, it's pretty much as much of a "Canadian" symbol as hockey.

Haha, I feel your pain with all the coins. I tend to get (unnecessarily) excited in the States when it looks like my wallet is bursting at the seams. Not so much when it's all ones. Here they would be be a minimum of fives. And in case no one's mentioned it in regards to the naming, I guess two-nie is self explanatory which derived from the $1 loonie due to the loon on the front. We're geniuses I tell ya. You may have also noticed the lack of pennies. Yup, gone. No more pennies.

AND you got a picture of a beaver!!!!!! You were truly in Canada after that.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Oh my Dave, you came to Canada and didn't go to Timmy's???? That's tantamount to war, lol. I know most would compare it to Starbucks, but I think it's more Dunkin' Donuts style. In any event, it's pretty much as much of a "Canadian" symbol as hockey.

Haha, I feel your pain with all the coins. I tend to get (unnecessarily) excited in the States when it looks like my wallet is bursting at the seams. Not so much when it's all ones. Here they would be be a minimum of fives. And in case no one's mentioned it in regards to the naming, I guess two-nie is self explanatory which derived from the $1 loonie due to the loon on the front. We're geniuses I tell ya. You may have also noticed the lack of pennies. Yup, gone. No more pennies.

AND you got a picture of a beaver!!!!!! You were truly in Canada after that.

Yeah, I did notice that you don't have any pennies which I LOVE! Less loose change which is always good. I first noticed it when the people behind the counter were rounding up or down for the finally tally. Totally awesome.

And now I appreciate the nickname loonie even more with that backstory!

 

[JDUB]

Awesome photos as always Dave. That's one way to stay in shape for Disney walking over 11 miles. You certainly nailed the spring season in DC and now in Vancouver.