Vancouver, BC
September 17th, 2022

I wasn’t supposed to be in Vancouver at this time. I was supposed to be in Newfoundland. I had been planning this big cross-Canada 7-week trip including Big Sur for my sister-in-laws birthday. I guess it was not to be.

On the way back from Colorado in August, the van started throwing various ominous engine and sensor lights. I nervously beat feet home and found a local Mercedes certified garage that would hook a computer to it to see what was up – though by that time all warning lights had gone out. A couple of sensors were failing that were of little concern, but there was an emissions fault that apparently only Mercedes can address. Probably not harmful, but there was some small chance of it going into the dreaded countdown mode – 16 starts until it won’t.

The Newfoundland trip, during which I would at some points be 1,000 miles from the nearest MBZ dealership seemed ill-advised and the soonest MBZ in Spokane could get me in was October 17th. Unhappiness.

As the lights were now intermittent, I decided to chance a trip to Vancouver Island instead. I figured even of I got the dreaded countdown, I could skedaddle back to Spokane. And BC is sooo close.

My first impression of Vancouver (I had passed through here briefly about 12 years ago) was skyscrapers. Lot and lots o’ them. And the heavy Indian presence means somasas are available at every market. And population density. Multicultural, multiethnic.  Sprawling.

The Vancouver Maritime Museum is moderately interesting and the Museum of Vancouver is good, if rather oddly conserved and presented. Interesting displays presented in a somewhat stream of consciousness manner.

One of the real gems of Vancouver is Granville Island, on which the best part is the public market. It is a short walk from the above museums.

Imagine having a really nice condo…

Close to lots of great restaurants and with this view:

Granville Island itself is purely tourist fodder, but nicely done. There is an artist section with small shops where you can see crafts being created: metal workers, wood workers, artists, and a distillery that I thought looked quite cool.

I was blown away, however by the Public Market. A large building full of gourmet food vendors. Dozens and dozens of vendors for cheese, fruit, vegetables, meet, charcuterie. baked goods, etc. Mind-blowing. One vendor had no less than 17 different meat/seasoning combos skewered up for your grill. I bought five. I bought a little cheese, too. Maybe more than a little. And some delicious butter croissants. Among other things. Overspending seemed wrong, but while the mind was willing, the body was weak.

Oh, my. I went back the next day.

The Capiliano Suspension Bridge Park north of Vancouver is interested in a sort of Disneyfied Nature kind of way. Beautiful rainforest if you can stand large crowds of people stopping constantly for selfies on narrow pathways. Probably not the best choice on the last Saturday of summer. I was later told by a local beertendress “We Canandians hold on dearly to summer.”

A really cool place to visit, however, is the most excellent Vancouver Aquarium. They focus on local aquatics, but also have displays on tropical fish, birds, and even mammals.

Next I leave my land-lubbing days behind me and turn to a life at sea. I ship out at 8:30 in the morning.