Day 64 – June 6

We awoke to another uncustomary sunny Vancouver morning. Diane retired to the beautiful garden that backs Erin’s apartment where she was soon joined by Alex’s aunt, Allison, who owns the house and lives on the upper floor. She is a retired school teacher and a very pleasant woman who served Diane with a morning coffee, toast and newspaper.

We had decided the night before to spend the morning cycling on the waterfront with Erin and Alex. After extracting the bikes from the rear of the beast and getting them road ready we were off, our own little helmeted armadillo. With Alex in the lead and Erin picking up the rear we plied our way through the less trafficked back streets down to the Kitsilano waterfront.

Vancouver is an awesome city for cycling with many dedicated cycling paths, some even separated from pedestrian paths. The waterfront is fully accessible and cycleable with spectacular views of the ocean, mountains and the high rise towers of downtown Vancouver. That access leads to a significant amount of cycle traffic both for recreation and commuting.

We stopped at a cafe along the way for a coffee and pastry and then locked up our bikes and walked around Granville Island where we looked into some of the many shops and explored the market, sort of a smaller version of Seattle’s Pike’s Market.

We also stopped in at the Granville Island Brewing Company tasting room where we sampled a number of their creations. Our favourite was the Imperial Ale, a nicely hopped but not overpowering beer.

Alex is a beer fanatic, certainly not reflected in his waistline, and loves to sample new brews so he was a great guide on what was hot and what was not. Alex gifted us with a couple bottles of this along with some of his favourite beer from Blue Bottom brewery for later in our trip. Nice gift.

Next we went to the Gallery where Erin and Alex work part time. A small gallery specializes in First Nations art and had everything from large wooden totem-like carvings to delicate earrings on display. The owner has a great eye for quality and design and all the works reflected that aesthetic.

We headed back home for a quick change of clothes and then courtesy of Allison we were dropped down on Main Street, an area full of interesting shops and restaurants that Erin and Alex thought we might enjoy. Alex wanted us to see one of his favourite antique stores, Baker’s Dozen. Talk about memory neuron flashes, for some reason that I cannot fathom, upon seeing the store I remembered that a woman I had gone to high school with, Heather Baker, ran a store in Vancouver that specialized in antique toys – could this be the store. I was disappointed to see that the woman behind the desk was not Heather but couldn’t resist asking if the store had been owned by Heather at one time. I was told that not only had Heather originally owned the store but that she still did. Unfortunately she had left early for the day but did call in before I left the store so I had a chance to touch base. Very neat and spooky at the same time, it is a small world.

On our way to supper we stopped at the Portland Brewing restaurant which was at the end of its craft brew competition week so again, with Alex’s assistance we got to try some unique craft brews that normally are not on tap. One of the joys of a great walking and transit city is that you don’t have to worry about driving home.

Our next stop was a favourite Indian restaurant of Erin’s,the more economical side of Vij’s right next door. Not only was the food great but you could buy frozen portions. Erin, who seems to have developed her mother’s sneaky habit of paying for the bill behind my back, had not only treated us to dinner but bought us some frozen portions to go along with Alex’s beers.

We returned home to do a bit of packing in preparation for a 6:00 start the following day as our ferry to Nanaimo left Horseshoe Bay, north of Vancouver at 8:30. It was the end of a really great day in a beautiful city that had put on its best possible weather performance for us. It was a real treat not only to slow down for a day but to spend some time with Erin and Alex as they planned our day. Somewhere along the line I missed when our little god daughter became a woman. It was great to meet her.

I was under directions from Dennis and Esther to do some early reconnaissance on Alex as they have not yet met him in person. Taking my job seriously, Erin is very special to us as well having seen her grow from a little belly bump to a beautiful woman, I watched him closely and at the end of the gave him an unqualified two thumbs up. Erin has done well and so has Alex.