Hi, friends! Today I’m sharing our Day 2 adventures in Vancouver, B.C. (If you missed Day 1 on Granville Island, you can read all about it right here.) It was rainy and a quite chilly on our second day in the city, so we decided to spend the first half of our day inside at the Vancouver Aquarium, which was phenomenal! And I’d highly recommend a trip there if you’re ever in the area.
But first things first! Breakfast at the Red Umbrella Cafe, which was a quick 10 minute walk from our hotel. We had a little bit of a wait (outside in the rain) before we were seated, but I like to think it gave us time to really build up our appetites and to truly appreciate the food in front of us when we finally got it! And boy was it worth the wait!
The inside of the cafe was warm and quaint and felt very local, as it was tucked between unassuming shops on either side.
And look at this cutie patootie! Someone is ready for a big breakfast!
For starters we each ordered a hot drink to warm us up–Allen a hot chocolate and me a french vanilla latte. And oh-my-goodness, this was the BEST vanilla latte I’ve ever had! I can’t even describe what exactly made it the best, but it was perfection! The sweet vanilla flavoring was on point without being overly-sweet.
For breakfast, Allen got the Meat Lovers Breakfast that came with Bavarian sausage, bacon, ham and turkey with eggs, homestyle potatoes and THE BEST buttered toast (I stole a piece from him and would HIGHLY recommend getting a side of it if it doesn’t come with your meal already). The toast was thickly cut (as it should always be!) and super oaty/nutty–just how I like it! For my breakfast, I ordered the Red Umbrella Benedict (only available on weekends) that was essentially a traditional eggs Benedict but with bacon and mushrooms added to the ham! Super delicious.
They also had a bunch of delicious looking pastries–scones, muffins, and biscotti–but we were much too full to try any!
After breakfast we took a leisurely stroll back to the hotel, along which we stumbled upon a cute cupcake shop that we just had to stop in. We ordered a double chocolate cupcake to go for an evening snack later in the day.
After packing up our hotel room and loading the car (we were driving back into Seattle later that evening), we headed on over to the Vancouver Aquarium, which is conveniently located inside Stanley Park. So it was a nice scenic drive (and introduction) to the beautiful greenery in the area.
Tickets into the Aquarium were a little pricey, but I did get the student discount ($39 CAD adult, $30 CAD student) and the Aquarium is a great way to spend an entire day’s worth of activity in. So for us, it was definitely worth it!
When you first walk in, there is this utterly amazing wall of jellyfish that are swirling and pulsing rhythmatically. It’s truly mesmerizing.
From the get-go there are so many different creatures to look at! I’m espeically a sucker for the bright coral and anemones. And we even spotted a lion fish!! So cool.
Next, we went into the rainforest area where there were colorful birds and exotic reptiles. These two blue parrots in particular were fun to watch. They climbed up to the very tippy-top of their tree near the ceiling, pecking at each other like an old married couple the whole way.
Snakes may not seem to be cuddly creatures, but this guy looked particularly comfortable and snuggled in his wrap around the tree. He blended in so well that we nearly missed seeing him!
Starfish fascinate me! And I love how this guy was just chilling on the side of a rock and enjoying his day.
The strawberry anemone (below) was one of the most brilliant colors of sealife I’ve ever seen. So so pretty and vibrant! And the clown fish are always another favorite of mine. I mean…who doesn’t love finding a little school of Nemos peeking out behind anemones?!
The Vancouver Aquarium has an expert jellyfish researcher on staff, and so their jellyfish exhibits are incredible. I’ve never seen so many different varieties in one place in my entire life. It’s definitely an exceptional experience if you ever visit! Below are just a *few* of the jellyfish we got to see!
Seriously, they had every different size, shape, and color of jellyfish you could possibly imagine! One of my favorites were these itsy bitsy ones that you could just barely make out in the flow of water. They obviously didn’t photograph well, but trust me they were so cute! It just goes to show you the incredible variety of forms life can take, even for just one type of animal!
Next, we headed outside to see what kind of larger animals we could find. And boy was I in for a BIG surprise because….DOLPHINS!!! If you didn’t know this about me, I am obsessed with only 2 things in this world. One of which is dolphins!! (I was that girl that would only ever check out the dolphin books at my local library as an elementary student. I’m pretty sure I had them checked out to my name fro Grades 1-5 haha.)
Anyways, I honestly could not believe my eyes when we saw them. I literally lost it with excitement. (I’m pretty sure Allen was either laughing at me the whole time or trying to distance himself from me out of embarassment. 😛 Maybe a little of both…lol. )
They even did jumps and tricks while we were there. I still can’t believe how lucky we were to see it! Sooo amazing!!
Also outside were the sea lions and otters, which were both also very cute and fun to watch swimming around and playing.
There was also an indoor area where you could view the dolphins swimming inside their tanks underwater. It was a really neat area to explore and I loved having more time to spend with the dolphins.
As for the picture above…I was on a dolphin high, so I can’t explain why I chose to do this. Haha! But it turned out pretty funny. (A little too close to matching for my liking! 🙂 )
We then headed back into the main aquarium building where we beelined it for the sting ray pool (where you can touch real-live rays!) as our last stop of the afternoon. Oh my goodness was it a cool experience! They are so soft and slimy and fast! A must-see exhibit if you are ever at the Vancouver Aquarium.
After the Aquarium, we decided to take a drive through Stanley Park. The weather was pretty cloudy and moody, but sometimes we like that even more than blue sky days. It gives the mountains and water and bridges more character, don’t ya think?
We even got another wonderful passerby to take mine and Allen’s picture together! Yay! Sometimes as a party of 2 we don’t have many chances to get a picture together. So it’s always nice when someone is kind enough to take one for us. I always try to do the same for couples and families when I see them out and about because I know the struggle myself!
And of course, we got one where Allen’s being goofy and Kristin’s just laughing! 😀 Very typical us.
While driving through the park, we would go a little ways and then stop in a parking lot to walk around. And then we’d jump back in the car and drive around some more. And get out again when we saw something interesting.
I particularly loved the teal-colored bridge (below) and couldn’t get enough of these lion figures. (So much so that I made Allen walk back quite a ways just so I could get a better picture of them!) So regal and pretty!
The trees in Stanley Park were HUGE too! I haven’t seen the trees in Sequoia or Redwood National Parks, but these were definitely some of the biggest ones I’ve seen thus far. I can’t even imagine how old they must be. Isn’t it fascinating to think of all the history these types of trees have lived through?
New homeowner Allen moving into his Keebler elf tree. Haha!
A pretty cityscape we spotted from one pullout. The buildings there used a pretty aqua glass that reminded me a bit of the ones I saw in Brasil several years ago. So interesting to see how different or similar cityscapes can look from each other, simply because of the type of materials used in their construction.
Next, we stopped at a little pullout for Native Totem polls. Originally, Allen didn’t want to stop, but knowing how much he had talked about wanting to see them, I made him pull over and pay for parking so that we could spend plenty of time reading all the interpretive signs and appreciating the beautiful native artwork of the region. He was happy to oblige. Turns out, Brockton Point is one of the most highly-visited stops in Vancouver and all of British Colombia! How lucky were we to stumble upon it?!
Allen in his element learning about history and culture. That boy is definitely the son of archeologists and would have made them very proud on this trip. I love his enquisativeness about everything, but particularly about learning and understanding cultures other than his own. (P.S. – If you want to learn more about the Totem Poles at Brockton Point, you can read more here.)
Allen particularly liked the older ones that hadn’t been brightly painted.
There was also a large bronze sculpture Shore to Shore in tribute to Portuguese Joe, one of the first Portuguese immigrants to British Columbia. The details of the sculpture were truly beautiful and so intricate. You can read more about it here, if you are interested.
I was also taken by the stonework on the ground surrounding the figure. The black and white tiled spiral was beautiful!
After learning all we could at Brockton Point, we headed on a scenic drive of downtown Vancouver to get a feel for the big city there. From our experience, every city has its own unique feel, and one of the best ways to experience that feel for yourself is to immerse yourself in it, take it all in, and form your own conclusions about it (as opposed to reading about it). So that’s just what we did here in downtown Vancouver. It was rainy and brilliant. Everything and nothing like what we expected.
We had yet to have any truly “Canadian food” while in Vancouver or Victoria, so we decided to stop into a local pub {Steamworks} for beer, burgers, and poutine to change that!
If you’ve never heard of poutine, don’t worry. I hadn’t either! Essentially it is a starch-heavy side meal made of french fries smothered in gravy and cheese curds. It may not sound super appealing, but trust me it is excellent! (and super filling!) If you are ever in Canada, you have to try it at least once.
Since the poutine is so filling, we decided to split a burger (and salad for some greens) for dinner. It was exactly the perfect amount and felt so good to sit down and get some energy after a long day at the Aquarium and exploring Stanley Park.
After dinner, we set out back toward Seattle (a 2-3 hour drive from Vancouver) for the final 2-day leg of our spring break trip. I can’t wait to share with you all the fun places we explored in Seattle in the next couple travel posts!
What about you? Would you ever go to the Vancouver Aquarium? Or try poutine?!
You might also like…Exploring Victoria, B.C. By Foot and Denver Zoo Fun in Spring.
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