Then on to Swartz Bay to catch the ferry to Vancouver. Again, it was super smart to make reservations far in advance because the lines for multiple ferries were staggering! But if you had a ticket, it was pretty easy to get in your line and the ferry loading and sailing was super efficient. There's just something special about getting on giant boats or trains or planes that makes everyone excited which is fun. I stayed up on top of the ferry, taking pictures, while everyone else spent a bit of time inside shopping.
The ferry ride itself was very nice. I had chosen this particular route because it went between islands and took just a bit longer. Also, it was the Spirit of British Columbia that we were on, so it was the biggest and fanciest of all the BC Ferries!
Among other things, we passed a few lighthouses, other ferries, a narrow passageway where the tide was flushing through creating whirlpools, and interestingly, we actually crossed into US Waters for a super brief moment which I noticed was marked with nothing more than a line of orange buoys. Obviously the route sneaks back into Canadian Waters because the Tsawwassen (south Vancouver) Ferry Terminal is just barely across the line on the Canadian side.
While on the ferry ride, we sat down to figure out where we would go in Vancouver. Again, the kids had their prioritized favorites and Dohnele picked from that. We settled on the Bloedel Conservatory at Queen Elizabeth Park which is also the highest point in Vancouver. We got there, but it was in the 90s and we were all pretty hot. At least parking was easy. But we did have to hike the last little bit uphill. But the park was beautiful and the views of the city were impressive. I hadn't realized this, but Vancouver is just one large city on the Fraser River Delta; there are others of impressive size as well - Richmond, Burnaby, and Surrey. Anyway, they each standout on the horizon when looking at the whole area.
The Bloedel Conservatory is super impressive and definitely some of the best $10 we spent on the whole trip! I thought it would be a sauna in there and wasn't looking forward to it, but the whole thing is climate-controlled all the way down to the moisture, precipitation, breeze, and of course temperature. Anyway, there's a nice little walkway all around the dome with koi, birds, and amazing tropical vegetation.
After the Conservatory, Dohnele really, really wanted to go to the Punjab Market which is a neighborhood in Vancouver where everything is Indian. So we went. We went to a couple stores and stocked up on spices and snacks from India. Zephyr picked our dinner spot. He actually picked it out months in advance and was drying to go: the Down Low Chicken Shack. And I'm glad he picked it out because it was truly amazing. Yes, it was "just" fried chicken, but it was absolutely hands down the best fried chicken I've ever eaten! It was so good, we even bought Zephyr a t-shirt! The girls didn't want anything to do with meat, so they had smoothies in the car.
Dinner was kind of right at sunset, so we went on a walk through Stanley Park so we could get some good views of the city. But eventually, as the light faded, we had to leave and head north to Whistler. Of course we ran into night road construction along the way which delayed us about an hour. And shortly after that, we had to do an emergency bathroom break because dinner had finished digesting. But we eventually got to our hotel in Whistler and checked in for the night.
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