June 28,29 2026

Here’s a brief recap of our too brief stay in Vancouver before our cruise.

We love Vancouver for so many reasons…it’s so walkable, so many great restaurants and the folks are so warm and friendly. This is our fourth visit and every time we’ve had beautiful weather, which evidently is really fortunate, because according to many folks who live here…it rains a lot.
We left home Saturday the 27th with a ridiculous amount of luggage…we are only going to be gone for less than three weeks and we’ve filled 5 suitcases. We used to travel all over Europe – multiple countries with just a backpack and carry on each. Anyway, in my defense…I hate to be cold and all my warm clothes are really, really bulky…plus my hiking boots are quite large.
We were flying out of Newark on Sunday morning so we stayed at the Liberty Airport Marriott. Very nice with a restaurant that makes surprisingly good burgers. Timmy had regular fries and I’m sad to admit that I ate every one of my sweet potato fries.

Our six hour flight was uneventful and we arrived a bit early. As we were collecting our bags, Trevor, a frequent Crystal guest discovered us and we had a happy conversation before heading off to our hotel. We unpacked and headed our to explore the neighborhood – and enjoy the electric vibe…Canada had just won a FIFA match and the streets were full of happy fans.


Eventually we made our way to Blue Water Cafe. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and were back at the hotel just in time to catch the last bit of sunset at 9:30.

The next morning I took a five mile walk revisiting many of my favorite spots…I walked to Sunset park, then along the sea wall to English Bay beach…passing through MortonPark to snap a few photos of the bronze sculptures…on my way to Stanley Park. The day began cool and cloudy, but warmed up nicely.

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Stanley park is so lush, so beautiful and there were many cyclists, walkers and joggers enjoying the great weather.

Here are a few signs that I spied on my walk.

Upon my return to the Sheraton, I fetched Timmy and we took an Uber to Granville Island. Bought postcards for the Bugs, spent a few minutes watching folks watching a soccer match, then had a super lunch at the Sandbar restaurant…oh and we stopped into a Rogers chocolate shop and bought an insane amount of chocolate candy. Then we jumped onto the cutest little ferry and spent about 45 minutes on the False Creek.

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We hopped off the ferry for some gelato at the “Village” stop, eventually making our way back to the hotel. Thanks for following along 💙💙💙