Vancouver, BC.

Saying our goodbyes to Matt we left Victoria and headed north to get to the ferry terminal. We didn't have any reservations so we had to watch one ferry load up and leave. We were able to board the second one, on board we lounged in the sun on top deck for most of the trip. The route the ferry took had us weaving through some islands and they seemed to get pretty close at times. The ferry didn't seem to take much time at all before we were arriving on the mainland BC.

Taking the ferry to the mainland. 

The landing point was a bit south of Vancouver so we had a 45 minute drive. On route we decided on what our first activity was to be. We parked the car and headed to Granville Island. The place was busy, we could hardly traverse the crowd at the market. All the food looked amazing but a tad too expensive for our likings. We walked around the Granville Island for a while, gawking at the boats and the sights on the water. The last thing we did before leaving was a stop into the Granville Brewery. I had a flight of beer and Amy a root beer float.

Excited to be in a new city

Granville Island

Sound logic

Using Yelp we found a diner and shared a double layer grilled cheese (sounds more impressive than it turned out to be).

We drove near to Stanley park and proceeded to walk along the sea wall towards the park. There was a lot of people out enjoying the walk and I can see why! We noticed a large screen set up just before entering the woods and found out they show movies every week for free (Top Gun was showing that night). We passed a few beaches with people enjoying the sun and even came across a drum circle starting up. There must have been around 20 people playing and even more dancing and enjoying the music.

Stanley Park waterfront

walking along the coast

Drum circle in the park

Old fashion ferry tours

Bubbles on the beach

We walked around until we ended up at the massive bridge leading over to North Vancouver. We were treated and saw two seals swimming before a riverboat scared them off. Feeling hungry we walked back through the park and found a shwarma place which tasted amazing. Our lodgings for the night was way east of the city at Golden Ears Provincial Park. We arrived just in the nick of time as the gate was going to be closed. The park is massive and we drove what seemed like a good distance before finding the campsites.

The next day we drove to Lynn Canyon where we walked across the suspension bridge. We got across unscathed and walked around to another bridge where we watched some people cliff jumping. We thought of joining but neither of us had water friendly attire and it was a tad cold. We another hike planned but the weather wasn't cooperating.

Lynn Canyon waterfall

On the swing bridge

People cliff jumping down in the canyon

We elected to head into town for a tour of food and beer! We ended up being able to park the car and walk to most of the restaurants and breweries we were interested in. The breweries we sampled were Brassneck Brewery, Powell Street Craft Brewery and Parallel 49 Brewing. For food we ate at Foundations for their famous nachos and at a place called Miura for some chicken and waffles.

Delicious nachos at Foundation

Oppressive sign

At Parallel 49 along with the tasty beer ($4 flights!) we started talking to some fellow patrons and ended up meeting some awesome people. We found out that we were really lucky to get a campsite at Golden Ears. Ashley was kind enough to offer us her place to stay for the night. We were delighted to not have to drive an hour back to the campground. We wrapped up the night eating at a place called Tapas, watched Birdman on Netflix, then bed.

Tasting flight at Brassneck Brewery

Powell Street Brewery

The night we tasted all the beer

Parallel 49 Brewery

We chatted with Ashley for a while the next morning than headed out for a walking tour through Chinatown. After the tour we went to an Chinese bakery that our guide recommend and bought two pork buns to snack on!

Chinatown walking tour

The gates to historic Chinatown

Dr. Sun Yet-Sen classical Chinese garden

Downtown stadium

We walked back to the car drove to the gas lamp district and explored. We watched the steam clock go off and had a difficult time finding an open/non reserved place to eat. We ended up eating at noodle place.

Gastown steam clock

View from Canada Place

We than said our goodbyes and headed out of the city towards America! Before crossing the boarder we stopped at a brewery called Four Winds for some of the most tasty beers in one place I have ever seen. Crossing the border wasn't as big of a deal that I thought it would be. He asked a few questions and looked at the car than waved us through. 

The brewery I've been waiting for this whole trip holds up to the hype