Vancouver

July 11th – Funny thing about going from five days of camping in the woods – jumping down to the southern part of the province where population boomed – you almost experience shell-shock. It’s not huge, but when it’s just you and a friend for five days straight – it’s overwhelming to jump into a bustling downtown metropolis like Vancouver.

And as we arrive in Vancouver – we are set for the city scene once again for the next week. Victoria, Seattle and Portland are our next destinations. Again, there is no time to really relax, as we want to experience the entirety of each city that we will explore. For me, this general area of the Northwest Pacific yearns for my attention. It is one place that I have never been to in the U.S. that I have always wanted to visit and maybe live near one day.

June 13th
We arrived late in town on the 11th and headed downtown Granville for dinner and drinks then headed in for the night. We awoke the next morning to sunny skies and took to the streets heading down Granville to the other Vancouver neighborhoods of Gastown, Yaletown, and down to the waterfront near Cordova St. We ate lunch at a place called Moose’s Down Under, where we tried some Australian Beers with the office lunch crowd. After a good match of Rugby on the tele, we headed out towards Gastown. This neighborhood reminded us of London with the black posts and chains on the sidewalks, and the small quick bite eateries and shopping stores that gave this part of town a comfortable look and feeling. From there, we headed to Irish Heather, a local pub fashioned with Irish culture – icluding their own shebeen; a whisky bar. We didn’t try out the whisky bar, but they do have over 150 kinds of whisky, scotch, etc in the bar – impressive. We headed to the Yaletown next, the cosmopolitan area of Vancouver. Fashion was no doubt part of this district – all the way to the modern rental living spaces that shot up 15 stories into the sky. We walked around but didn’t buy anything – little to expensive for our tastes.

Last night we spent the night at Doolin’s Irish Pub enjoying the live band, Halifax Wharf Rats. The lead singer and the drummer are from Nova Scotia, the bassist from Vancouver area, and the wind instrument player, Michelle is from a little town in East Saskatchewan. We enjoyed the 3 hours of irish jigs that they played, and even got to know a few of the band members. They were intrigued by our trip and introduced us to another woman that has been to Newfoundland, like us, reminiscing of our times there. She also gave us tips for Vancouver Island, where we head to today.

We bought the ferry ride to Vancouver Island this morning – and head over there at 3pm – giving us a few hours to roam Vancouver one last time. On the island, we place to visit the city of Victoria for one night, then head northwest to hit up the beaches, totem pole field, hike through the pine forest, and spend a night camping on the beach. We aren’t sure where to camp yet, but there are a few ideas in mind. From there we head to Seattle and Bellingham for two nights – to enjoy the American side – just miles from Vancouver. We’ll let you know if there is a difference in the two cities on the bay later this week.

Time to check-out! Keep posted as we arrange the new video page and add an affiliate page – a tribute to the pubs, restaurants, bands, and people we have met along the way! 15 videos and a picture gallery will be added in Victoria as well!

Cheers!

Matt & Bryan