B.C.ing You, Part 2

The next morning we rose early and headed to the border, about a thirty minute drive. We took the "quick way" which is more direct and less scenic, but we got to cross at the "pretty" border crossing.

The Blaine Peace Arch.

The wait to cross - if you've ever been to Tijiuana on a Friday night, this isn't really a wait at all. This is like what I get stuck in at the check point between San Diego and Orange County.

Almost there!!!!!

Welcome to Canada! This was Thatboy's first time in Canada, and Thatmom and my first time in British Columbia. We're old pros on the eastern front.

We got to our hotel, bright, shiny, and eager to start the trip. And the hotel was bright, shiny and eager too!

The Westin Grand, located on Robson Street is an ideal location. Just blocks away from Robson, Yaletown, and Granville Island. The hotel itself is named for its shape - a grand piano. Do you see it?

The gorgeous building in the foreground is the Vancouver Public Library. It's gorgeous AND amazing.

And the views are simply phenomenal. We started falling in love with the city immediately.

There's the library again! And in the background you can see the stadium.


But the front room had my favorite view of all:

We were up for a walk, so we decided to walk over to Granville Island. We headed down Granville Street which is currently under heavy construction.

And then we headed across the Granville Street Bridge, which affords a great photo opportunity of the city.

What's the draw of Granville Island? See that sign down there?

No? Maybe you should look a little closer:

But Thatmom didn't raise no fool. Everyone knows you don't go shopping on an empty stomach. So first we headed for lunch.

The Sandbar came highly recommended, not just for the food, but also for the fabulous views if you're lucky enough to be seated outside. We came at just the right time and managed to grab one of the last remaining outside tables.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect that weekend. Sunny and warm, Thatboy and I were in t-shirts and Thatmom got down to just two layers! Because of the construction of the restaurant we had a roof over us and Thatmom kept exclaiming "I can't believe we're outside!"

We started off with fresh bread and beers - both made locally on the island!

Thatmom had requested soup for lunch, and we aim to please. She got clam chowder after clarifying that the clams were local. The soup was different than your usual New England clam chowder in that it had corn and carrots in it, which gave it a very fresh taste. And it was still so creamy!

I went with perfect shrimp dumplings. I don't think I've ever seen dumplings made with such large shrimp. Each dumpling held one gigantic, sweet, pink, shrimp.

Thatboy went with the daily special - a chorizo and chicken quesadilla with a chipotle chili sauce. He was nervous when it came out in the whole wheat tortilla, but he thought it was the best meal at the table.


After lunch we were prepared to venture into the public market.

You can find just about anything at the market.

We left with bread, cheese, fruit, and chocolate for breakfast the next morning. By this time, the beer buzz had worn off and it was time to refill.

We've got a lot of wineries in California, and San Diego has its fair share of breweries, but we do not have a Sake maker. So of course we had to stop in for a taste.

We got a little walk through of the sake making procedure, and got to taste the different types made on site, along with a description of how and why they're different. I never would have thought I'd be able to distinguish between sakes, but each one has a very unique flavor. We ended up bringing back a bottle of the Junmai Nama to enjoy with our fruit, bread and cheese.

We thought we were going to make it back without any more food purchases, until we smelled the aromas coming from this place.

The scent turned out to be fresh croissants, straight from the oven. Thatboy couldn't resist. So flakey and buttery, and hot hot hot! I found something else that caught my eye.

We left with macarons and hot croissants. The pistachio were the hands down favorites - even though they tasted like almond.

Since we walked over, we decided to take the ferry back.

Want to know whether we made it to the other side or not? And what happened next? Is anyone else ready for a nap? Stay tuned for more of our B.C. Adventures!