Wednesday was supposed to be dim sum day, but I ended up waking at 4am, drinking tea, and then going back to sleep until almost noon. So instead we wandered Stanley Park (https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/stanley-park.aspx) a 400-hectare rainforest with beautiful beaches and an abundance of cultural landmarks and art.

We focused on the totem poles and the eastern portion of the seawall, which included a lighthouse, “Girl in a Swimsuit”, Nine O’clock Gun, and the lovely natural beauty of the park itself. We spent a lovely several hours before ending up at the Stanley Park Brewpub & Restaurant for a light nosh. We were all feeling a bit done in, so we went back to our respective hotels, and ended up dining separately.

A note about where my friends stayed: They were at the (difficult to pronounce) Skwachàys Lodge Indigenous Hotel and Gallery and enjoyed it very much. Located just at the border of Chinatown, the former Pender Hotel was transformed from a three-and-a-half-story derelict SRO (single resident occupancy) hotel to a unique Indigenous social enterprise that combines a boutique hotel with on-site housing and studio space for 24 Indigenous artists. There are 18 unique rooms located on the top two floors that support low-cost housing and workshop space to 24 artists in different phases of their career as well as personal and professional programming opportunities to help develop their careers. On the top floor is a small social area with a sauna.

They say, “The Lodge and production space are operated as a self-sustaining social enterprise. When a guest spends their overnight travel dollars at the Skwachàys Lodge there is a social impact – people are housed. Cultural tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism sector and there is absolutely a place for our urban Indigenous artists to participate in this industry as a means of reclaiming their lives and independence.”

Certainly, when I visited them and walk through the gallery space, I truly enjoyed the art of display from current residents. Particularly a trio of very large (18″ long) carved and painted wooden feathers.

My dinner that evening was at Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar. I enjoyed a half dozen Fanny Bay oysters, which had a clean, melon-y flavor and were mid-sized. My main was an absolutely perfect Seafood Linguine with mussels, clams, pacific white prawns, Humboldt squid tossed in a light shellfish butter sauce and topped with Calabrian chili breadcrumb. Perfectly cooked pasta and fish, and the heat of the chili was just enough to bring out the richness of the sauce. Gorgeous.

An old (OLD) bucket list item for Lisa was to go whale watching and a not-so-old item was to go on a cruise to Alaska. Combining both, she went traveling with a friend for her birthday. It was a grand adventure and she has lots of opinions!

I began my journey in Vancouver, BC, which I’d been to a few times back when I first moved to Washington. It’s only three hours to drive, and the border crossing was pretty fast and easy. So, I’d seen Granville Island and walked around the seawall and such. But by going earlier, I was able to enjoy a several day visit with good friends before the cruise.

Being a Hyatt member, I chose the Hyatt Regency Downtown because it was only 10 minutes to the cruise terminal and — just as importantly — a 10 minute walk to the City Centre stop of the Canada Line lightrail from the airport. The Canada Line (https://thecanadaline.com/) runs from the Waterfront to the airport, leaving every 10 minutes all through the day. No need to buy a ticket, your credit card is automatically charged as you enter and exit the stations. It was C$5 for my ride, which took at 25 minutes.

This Hyatt is in a good location, right in the heart of city centre. If you like high-end shopping (Chanel, Coach, Burberry, etc.) you will think you died and went to heaven at how close all those shops are. I found the local Rexall and Staples more useful as I replaced a dead mouse and got some ibuprofen.

While the city centre isn’t all that interesting (outside of the shopping), the city itself is gorgeous. Lots of public art, and so very, very, green. Trees, parks, flowers, trees, and more parks. It’s pretty flat and walkable, but transit goes all over and reasonable cost and timeframes.

Our first evening we went to Black + Blue, a steakhouse recently voted Vancouver’s Best. It’s a classic-looking place, with low lighting, upbeat music, and an elegant menu that includes a good seafood selection along with Canadian Prime, Japanese A5 Waygu, and Japanese Kobe. While the Canadian steaks were typical cuts, you could try 2 oz portions of the Japanese offerings, allowing diners to get a good taste and decide whether those cuts and qualities are worth the expense. Our server was quite knowledgeable about the offerings and was able to assist us in making our choices. As tempted as I was by the halibut, I did get the tenderloin and enjoyed every bit of it as well as the sauteed asparagus with yuzu hollandaise. The bread was exquisite, and we very much enjoyed our bottle of wine (a 2015 Chateauneuf-de-Pape).