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| English Bay sunset |
With three solid days of outdoor pursuits
under our belt, Other Half and I made a brief sojourn over to the mainland to
visit one of my all time favourite cities, Vancouver. For it’s food, scenery, and lifestyle, Vancouver will always
impress me as the city that did it right, and it’s residents seemingly take
full advantage, a fact that I’m both impressed by, and jealous of. Mountains!
Ocean! Full city living! Ah, bliss … 2 nights was not enough here.
Our ambitious plans of completing the
Grouse Grind the afternoon we arrived quickly fell apart as we spotted the
extraordinarily fluffy king sized bed.
It was like a cloud, and what was supposed to be a quick rest before
heading out soon turned into a two hour nap and our window for the Grind had
closed. No matter, we were in
Vancouver and knew a good meal would quickly erase any lingering thoughts of
climbing a mountain of stairs (literally) for fun.
Have you heard of Guu? Have you Guu’d?
Because if you haven’t … I can’t recommend it enough. A small family of Japanese Izakaya restaurants, Guu is a
legend in Toronto, of which there are two locations, but originally hails from
Vancouver (which has five locations). Each Guu location is slightly different
from the next, a different theme, different house specialties, different
experiences, but all of them without a doubt (or at least the three I’ve now
been to) are awesome.
And so it was that on our first night in
Vancouver we made a pilgrimage to Guu Original. For the most part, Guu is like Japanese tapas, perfect for
sharing, order lots, and enjoy the experience. I won’t go into detail about
what we ate, just know that there was a lot and it was all delicious. The
chefs wore hats that claimed “Guuing may be addictive” … They don’t know how
right they are.
The remainder of the first night was
relaxed, involved cupcakes, and a good movie. Sometimes it’s nice to make a
strange city feel like home.
No trip to the West Coast is complete
without some sort of water activity, and so the next day we woke up early and
headed out to Deep Cove for some laid-back sea kayaking (read: no rapids, no
currents, just nature and fun … and sore arms).
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| Deep Cove, BC |
Deep Cove is the perfect spot if you’re new
to kayaking, or want a more relaxed journey on the water. It has a ton of land-meets-sea to
explore and wildlife to see. Rentals are available from the Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak Centre, and include brief instructions on how to paddle, what to do if
your capsize, and some great spots to explore. Overall it was a great
experience.
Before leaving Deep Cove, we stopped in at
a little place for lunch that I had found online, and boy oh boy am I glad we
did! Honey Doughnuts and Goodies was exactly what the doctor ordered. Famous,
obviously, for their honey doughnuts, we almost went back to get a couple more
for the road … we resisted, but barely. Dense, but light, dripping with a honey
glaze and still warm from the oven, we happily ate one before our main lunch
arrived, and the other quickly after.
If I lived in Vancouver, I’m pretty sure I would be making regular trips
to Deep Cove just for the doughnuts!
After the kayaking and doughnuts, the rest
of the trip was a fairly gluttonous one.
While on our way to a recommended Thai restaurant, we convinced
ourselves into going to another Guu (Guu Garden) instead – turns out Guuing
really is addictive.
I wont wax poetic about the other great
meal we had here, just know that I’m not one for repetition when it comes to
food on vacation in a city like Vancouver, and I could have happily gone to all
five Guu’s if we had the time.
The following day, our last in Vancouver
before heading back to Victoria to hang out with the family again, we opted to
spend the morning wandering around the wonder that is Stanley Park. Spending time getting lost on the trails
was a great way to say goodbye to this great city and really take in all it has
to offer.
Obviously it was time for one last meal
before catching the ferry and so we headed straight to the food trucks. I love
food trucks for their (usual) creativity, and each city seems to offer it’s own
flavour.
Stop #1 was to Japadog, an infamous
institution of a food cart in Vancouver. It started in 2005 when Vancouver still faced many street food restrictions, namely, if it wasn't a hot dog, you probablu couldn't sell it. With flavours like Terimayo that includes teriyaki, mayo, seaweed and more, the
flavour combinations are unique but not to be missed. Not even close to your average hotdog cart.
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| Okonomi from Japadog |
Because one lunch wasn’t enough, we also
stopped off at Tacofino, one of the many roaming food trucks within the city.
You guys … best … fish … taco … ever! Ever. The fish was light, the slaw was
crunchy, the salsa was fresh, the combo was to die for.
After 3 food filled days in the city, it
was time to head back to the island. The rest of the vacation consisted of
hanging out, eating sushi, some fresh caught fish courtesy of Other Half and
his brother waking up at 4am to go fishing for the day, and a return trip to
Blue Fox Café (it was that good).
Eventually it was time to come home again,
which is always a sad but happy affair. If you haven’t been to the west coast,
go. If you’re from the west coast, please appreciate it. And if you’re planning
on going, enjoy each day because there is so much on offer… it’s an extremely
hard place to dislike, you’d have to try awfully hard.
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