Travel: Vancouver

Vancouver Collage

This was my second trip to Vancouver. The first time I went was in February 2007. My cousin and I drove up from Seattle and spent one night there, so basically we were only in town for about 24 hours. I remember thinking, “Vancouver…what’s the big deal? It’s kind of like Seattle, but not as good.”

I had a bit more time to explore the city this trip (although I still have lots to go) and left with a better impression of Vancouver. Still though, from what I know about the city so far, if I were to compare it to two other Pacific Northwest jewels (umm…Seattle and Portland, duh) Vancouver would remain at the bottom of the list. And not because of the creepyish apartment below (because let’s face it…that’s pretty cool) or that there wasn’t lots of cool stuff to do, but because of the lack of emotional connection I feel to the city.

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When I came to Seattle for the very first time in 1999 I felt an instant bond with the city. Maybe that’s why I’ve lived here four times. There was just something about it that screamed, “You’re home!” that was unlike any other city I’ve ever lived in or visited, including my hometown. Portland hit me in a similar way. I’ve visited several times and each time I felt like I could live there.

That being said, I had a great time exploring Vancouver and I saw many cool things. Let’s start with my favorite neighborhood (so far)…Main Street.

Main Street is a cool collection of boutiques, restaurants, funky resale shops, decor havens, and art stuff. We started our day with breakfast at Slickety Jim’s Chat ‘n Chew. How great of a name is that?! 

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I had the Je Suis Un Petit Canard, aka scrambled eggs with goat feta and avocado on an English muffin topped with tomatillo salsa. Delicious. This place was really fun and yummy. Recommended.

After breakfast we cruised Main Street to check out the shops. Let’s start with Vancouver Special, a fantastic design store.

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I picked up these great textured MoMA Shape Play Touch-and-Feel Stroller Cards for Nathaniel.

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Plush is a great shop for buying local handmade jewelry and art. I found some great robot bobby pins and pink elephant hair elastics by Melissa Abram, a cool postcard collection by A Cagey Bee (aka Kris G. Brownlee), and a great zippered pouch by Kukubee (that I’m currently using to protect my red Sweet Heart sunnies from Fred Flare).

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I love A Cagey Bee’s wood block prints.

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Especially this one.

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I found some great papers at Urban Source for the collages I’m going to start working on soon.

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At Front & Company I found a box for my drugs by BlueQ.

We had yummy comfort food for dinner on the patio at Burgoo Bistro.

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I’m glad that Nathaniel decided to order and share the mac and cheese. Recommended.

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Umm…I think we missed a spot, buddy.

Other Main Street shops worth a stop include The Regional Assembly of Text, Kiddo, Twigg & Hottie, Barefoot Contessa, and Bean Around The World.

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On Saturday we visited Commercial Drive (or “The Drive” as the locals call it), but before that we had breakfast downtown at The Elbow Room. When we read about and chose this restaurant, I had no idea that my cousin and I had breakfast here the first time I visited Vancouver. Glad to see that it’s still fun and tasty.

The Elbow Room has rules.

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They also have banana walnut French toast made with pound cake. That’s right…pound cake.

After breakfast and finding out where the sluts are, we took the SkyTrain to Commercial Drive. Commercial Drive felt kind of like Seattle’s Capitol Hill, but not as good.

Recommended stops include Mintage (you should at least photograph the Catwoman with weird monkey art), Spank (where I found a cool owl necklace), Cassia Cupcakery, Barefoot Contessa (yep, another location) and Continental Coffee.

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I also visited Kitsilano. Meh. But Jethro’s Fine Grub in nearby Point Grey is worth the trip. Can you say Chocolate Chip Banana Bread French Toast topped with carmelized bananas? I can, and did.

Oh, I almost forgot (because I was so tired that day that I almost fell asleep while I was having lunch…seriously). On our first day we went to the The Templeton, a small cool diner downtown. I had the Vegan Lentil Loaf with mushroom gravy, which might not sound good to some of you, but it really was.

I didn’t have a chance to take a photograph of the sign (which I loved), so I found one online at The Avid Diner’s blog.

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Of course I didn’t get to visit everything I wanted to check out in Vancouver, but that’s what third trips are for. Next time I plan to hit up South Granville Gallery Row, Bird on a Wire, Blim, Salt Spring Coffee on Main, The Gam, Stanley Park, and Granville Island for starters. That sounds like a lot. Maybe some of these will have to wait for the fourth trip.

Thanks for the fun, Vancouver! See you again soonish.