Traveling with Laura

I walked 9 miles today around the city of Vancouver. I hit two major attractions, Granville Island and Stanley Park, as I made one really big loop from my hotel.

You know how you can tell that a breakfast place is good? When there’s a line down the street 15 minutes before it opens. That was my experience at Jam Cafe this morning. Set in the Yaletown neighborhood, Jam Cafe is one of the most popular breakfast spots in Vancouver, so obviously I had to try it. A towering stack of cinnamon bun pancakes left even me being unable to finish it. I should have ordered one pancake and some eggs but I didn’t realize that was an option until it was too late. C’est la vie.

After breakfast I started burning calories. I walked over to the Yaletown Dock and took one of the small Aquabus foot ferries down False Creek to Granville Island. 

Granville Island is known for both its Public Market (similar to Quincy Market in Boston) and artist studios. I walked around the perimeter of the island first, then meandered around the shops before hitting the Public Market. I clearly didn’t need any more food so I settled for an iced latte and sat outside watching a busker sing for a while before moving on.

I took another Aquabus ferry across to Hornby Street and started walking along the seawall, passing Sunset Beach and English Bay before heading into Stanley Park.

Stanley Park is over 1000 acres in size, has a walkable/bikeable 5.5 mile seawall surrounding it, and includes an aquarium, rose garden, and miles of paths and trails. I stuck mainly to the seawall, following it along Coal Harbour out to Brockton Point and then along Burrard Inlet before cutting back across the park to the rose garden. 

My feet and legs were sore after that, so I Googled “Coal Harbour Restaurants” and randomly chose the Cactus Club Cafe for dinner. I enjoyed a frozen bellini drink and cheeseburger on the patio overlooking Coal Harbour before heading back to my hotel for a quick swim and then calling it a night.