We fit a lot of things into our last day in Vancouver. We started the day in Gastown, which is the historic center of the city. The shops are cute and the restaurants are cool. We found a very hip spot called Bao Down (yep, you guessed it – specializing in amazingly creative takes on the steamed chinese buns called bao) and we couldn’t pass it up. Ed + I ordered 3 bao and shared them for a light lunch. It was so good!
(Those tasty bao from L-R: The Flip Side, Two Worlds Collide, Bao Chicka Bao Bao. seriously, click the menu link for the description – YUM!)
We loved this french woman selling her crepes on the street. We didn’t try any, but how cute is her vintage trailer?
After Gastown, we headed for Granville Island which is a neat little place to shop. They even had a Kids Market and Ruby loved that there was her own special Kids Door to enter through. She got to spend a little of her souvenir money and we even went to a pet gift shop and bought something for Jimmy.
The main draw was a free waterpark in the center of all the action, but unfortunately, it was closed. This was a major disappointment for our waterbaby, so we did some quick, on-the-spot research and found out Vancouver had a ginormous outdoor saltwater pool that sat right on the beach. We hightailed it right over to Kitsilano Pool. It’s probably the biggest pool we’ve ever seen!
As Vancouver is still experiencing their record-breaking heat wave, it was a pleasure for all three of us. :)
This was the view of the beach from the pool deck:
We swam well into the early evening and then it was dinnertime. Ever since Ed arrived in Canada, he’d been jonsing for an authentic poutine. We found one of the most recommended spots, Mean Poutine, and Ed reports that it hit the spot! Ruby + I opted for something else than the french fries drenched in gravy and cheese curds (ewwww!), but were happy that Ed got his fix.
We wrapped up the day at Stanley Park (kinda like New York’s Central Park). We wanted to show Ruby the totem poles and we wanted another chance to bust out the selfie stick and get a family pic with the Vancouver skyline behind us. Check and check!
It’s been a great two weeks on the road. This was our furthest destination as we went North, and tomorrow begins the trek South towards home. So far, the trip computer in the car tells us we’ve driven 2243 miles and have spent 55 h, 56 m in total travel time.
We’ll have a big driving day tomorrow, but we’re planning to leave very early. Hopefully, we’ll beat all that traffic at the border. We’ll be driving the coast and sleeping in Astoria, Oregon tomorrow night.
