July, 9 2001 - Vancouver

We spent a lot of the day at Granville Island. It was a beautiful day, clear skies and perfect temperature. The Public Market had all kinds of food, fruits, fresh meat and fish. It would be fun to be able to shop here regularly. There were lots of art studios and gift shops. We saw hundreds of yachts and houseboats that looked like the ones from “Sleepless in Seattle”. We ate our lunch overlooking False Creek. This is a great place to spend a day.

Granville Island

View of Vancouver from Granville Island

Granville Island Dock

In the evening we went down to the beach area, surprisingly the water wasn’t all that cold. We had dinner at The Boathouse; we sat on the patio and looked out over the beach. It was great.

Vancouver Beach

July 8, 2001 - Vancouver

The sun comes up early here, around 4-4:30. We couldn’t sleep in so we went to Pikes Market for fresh fruit and baked goods. We stopped by the original Starbucks for coffee. I think I saw a bear!! There was a lady sitting on a stool gnawing on a large raw filet of salmon. Seattle does have its share of weird people, but everyone we have talked to is very friendly.

After our bear encounter we headed off to Canada. We took a few back roads. It is so beautiful…trees, ferns, mountains, coast. We even went through some farm land.

We got to Vancouver around 10 and spent 3-4 hours in Stanley Park. We ate lunch at the Terrace Café in the park. We shopped and walked through Gastown and Chinatown in the afternoon. We had dinner at The Boathouse Restaurant overlooking the harbor and Vancouver Park.

Washington Coastline
Stanley Park
Vancouver from Stanley Park
Stanley Park from Vancouver

Canada Place - Vancouver Ship Terminal
Downtown Vancouver

Gastown

Chinatown

July 7, 2001 - Seattle

We took the shuttle to the airport. The plane left on time and we arrived about an hour early! The plane seemed smaller than I remember. No room to move.

We got to downtown Seattle around one. It was crowded, but it was a beautiful sunny day. We walked around Pike's Market and the Wharf. There were a lot of weird kids around. We took a trolley down to the waterfront to Pioneer Square and Chinatown. Everything is beautiful…flowers in hanging baskets and planters. There were a lot of homeless people here close to Pioneer Square. We ate Chinese food at the Garlic Tree. We talked with people who live here…guess we found a good place to eat.

Pike's Market

Pioneer Square

July 6, 2001 - On Our Way

After dropping the boys off, we waited for 45 minutes at Port Lavaca Ford for our car. Drove back to the house to leave the truck and finally got on the road a little after five. Checked into the Wingate Hotel and ate dinner at TGIF.