Category Archives: British Columbia

Dear Daughter Got Hitched: Stanley Park, Vancouver Aquarium and Totem Poles

By Wednesday, our small family group expanded to include Dear SIL’s parents and brother and we all went off to the Vancouver Aquarium because dear daughter wanted to touch the stingrays. That is an odd goal that she has … to visit stingray tanks in as many zoos and aquariums as possible. So far she has Vancouver, Tacoma, Chicago, LA and Galveston, TX. The Vancouver Aquarium is justifiably  internationally famous and some of our visit highlights included the jellyfish, the otters and seals (so playful), the educational shows, the frogs and that I got to be there when the penguins were delivered back to their habitat.

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Afterwards we went to see the Totem Poles, which are also in Stanley Park. Interesting facts about totem poles can be found here.

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Dear Daughter Got Hitched: Ocean Concrete, Granville Island

Ocean Concrete is Granville Island’s longest established tenant (1917) and they have a splendid mural on their silos. The mural is by Brazilian brothers Gustavo and Otavio Pandalfo and was created in 2014. Ocean Concrete is an active industrial use in an area that had been primarily industrial, but in the 1970s it began its transition to a mixed use of retail, education and craftfolks. More about Granville Island can be found on their website.

While dear husband, dear daughter, dear (future and now present) son-in-law were on the island, I also discovered a Little Free Library (8963). The LFL’s owner blogged about it here.

And of course there are a couple of more photos because the island is just that wonderful! As you can see in one store front, it was almost Canada Day (7/1). This is a national holiday. According to Wikipedia, “Canada Day (French: Fête du Canada) is the national day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the Constitution Act, 1867 (then called the British North America Act, 1867), which united the three separate colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into a single Dominion within the British Empire called Canada.” This particular Canada Day is the 150th anniversary of the original, so of high importance.

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Dear Daughter got hitched: Deer Lake Park, Burnaby

Dear daughter and her fella needed a marriage license, so much of Monday, June 26, was devoted to paperwork, but we still took some time to check out Deer Lake Park in Burnaby. I had it in my head that I would see large topiary in the shape of animals, but we never did find the large bird I was expecting. For the record, that was my fault for not being ready with a map and not having wifi. We did get a glimpse of a topiary carousal horse and found this great insect.  The joy of the park was the stunning view of part of a city skyline over the lake and the lush greenery. While strolling around we also we enjoyed the very friendly Canada geese with their gawky teenagers (in geese years). And there was some delightful art and unusual plants.

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