Vancouver Via Ferries...

Today we wanted to be on/near the water.

Our first stop, however, was the most uniquely located, in the heart of the City, Costco.

Brunch for all of us was poutine, a dish originating from Quebec, made with French fries and cheese curds topped with a brown gravy.

Délicieux!

Here's another one of those amazing murals. Wow.

What I love about this town is that everywhere you go, a history lesson is waiting. We found ourselves strolling through Cooper's Park. The site was once home to the Sweeney Cooperage, the largest barrel manufacturer in the British Empire from 1889. Barrels made here traveled all over the world carrying goods such as strawberries and other soft fruits in diminutive one quart sizes up to traditional larger (800 lb) casks for whiskey, beer and salt-cured salmon. The cooperage closed in 1981 to make way for the construction of B.C. Place and the new Cambie Street Bridge.

We also found Literary Landmarks. This one, at the Quayside Marina, showcases Evelyn Lau. This is an area in which the poet walks several times a week, often composing poems, including Quayside. Born in 1971, she was given an award for the best book of poetry by a woman in Canada. As a fourteen-year-old honor student, Lau had run away from her restrictive upbringing to survive for two years as a teenage prostitute and drug user. Her teenage memoir Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid, received much publicity and became a CBC movie. History is found in some amazing places.

For $16 CAD, we each cruised all day on False Creek Ferries. "With nine dock locations, we’ve got False Creek covered! Come take a cruise through the scenic urban waters of False Creek, with False Creek’s original ferry company. Offering friendly service and comfortable vessels, and the most routes and destinations in the area, False Creek Ferries is Vancouver’s favorite little ferry company."

Our first ferry stop was at Granville Island. In the early 1900s, Granville Island was home to factories, plants and sawmills. Many of the old buildings have been repurposed, with a really cool vibe.

Things are a little different from the early days—Granville Island is both a locals’ favorite and a huge draw for visitors. Technically a sandspit and not an island, the neighborhood sits just south of the downtown peninsula, right under the Granville Bridge. The Granville Island Public Market acts as a hub of activity, but it’s also one of the city’s most important cultural districts with theaters, artisan workshops and craft studios.

Next stop was "Kits". In the 1960s, beachside Kitsilano was Vancouver's hippy hangout, drawing comparisons to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury. Today, Kitsilano still has plenty of culture, but its apartments and houses are now occupied by young urban professionals and families who enjoy a modern version of that relaxed atmosphere – this is the birthplace of global yoga brand, lululemon athletica. Just over the Burrard Bridge from the downtown peninsula, the neighborhood brings together a collection of attractions, beach and parks, residential streets, and a couple of main commercial districts.

We delighted at watching these characters at the beach. We later realized that the International DOTA 2 was coming to Vancouver for the first time ever in Canada.

Defense of the Ancients (DotA) is a multiplayer online battle arena mod for the video game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The objective of the game is for each team to destroy their opponents' Ancient, a heavily guarded structure at the opposing corner of the map, which is based on the "Aeon of Strife" map for StarCraft. Players use powerful units known as heroes, and are assisted by allied teammates and AI-controlled fighters. As in role-playing games, players level up their heroes and use gold to buy equipment during the mission. Yes, I don't get it either!

Our final stop was at the Olympic Village, built for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games to house athletes and Olympic officials coming from across the world. After the Olympics, the Olympic accommodations became residential housing. The development aligns with the City's goals, addressing environmental, economic, and social issues. The Olympic Village is a mixed-use community, with approximately 1,100 residential units, area parks, and a growing number of retail and service outlets.

I loved this building, one of the only remnants of the strong industrial history of False Creek, which featured sawmills, steel fabrication plants, logging sites, foundries, shipbuilders and various other businesses dependent on a close proximity to rail and water shipping avenues. Built circa 1930, the original 13,000 square-foot space served in partnership with the Bay Area salt trade in San Francisco, whereby unrefined salt was shipped to Vancouver for secondary processing and extraction.