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| Lord Stanley, first governor of British Columbia |
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Over a half million trees populate
Stanley Park |
Friday, September 6, 2013 (continued)...
Pat drove our Jeep Cherokee rental, right out of Canada Place parking garage, up Hastings Street (passing through some "not so nice" areas of Vancouver) to Canada Highway 1. It was like driving around Cincinnati with lots of construction and tons of traffic...but Pat maneuvered us right to our exit 53 toward Surrey, BC. The road connecting us to Surrey took us through a beautiful farming area...lots of blueberries, gardens, and farm produce stands. Soon we were near the Holiday Inn; however, the main road into the hotel was being resurfaced, so we turned the opposite direction and quickly found a McDonald's. Not having eaten since leaving the ship, we decided to have a late lunch.
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| Beautiful flower beds adorning the path through the park |
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| More gardens along the park path |
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| Beauty abounds in Stanley Park |
Canadian McDonald's, or at least, this McDonald's was a little strange...very different menu choices...no unsweetened tea...but we managed. I called the hotel to see if there was another way to enter their property, and found that we were able to access it by going behind a neighboring gas station. We had planned to take a tour bus to help us become acclimated to Vancouver, but after a few calls found that there were none available. It seems that we were "past" the tourist season, according to them. So, after resting for a bit and plugging "Stanley Park" into the car's GPS system, Pat bravely headed back into Vancouver. It worked...the GPS took us directly to the amazing Stanley Park. Soaring trees...Sitka Spruce, red cedar, hemlock...landscapes filled with various flowers, gazebos, arched walkways, the Kiwanis Rose Garden...right on the edge of the bustling urban center of Vancouver. After paying for our parking spot we walked through tall trees to Coal Bay and followed the walkway to an information/snack center.
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| The International Kiwanis Rose Garden |
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| Unusual plants, reminded us of droopy lilies |
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There's a horse-drawn trolley available for a tour
of Stanley Park if you don't want to walk or bike |
After picking up a map, we enjoyed some coffee and a Drumstick, as we got our bearings and planned the rest of our day. Stanley Park is over 1,000 acres of densely forested lands, nearly completely surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. It is also unique in that the urban park evolved rather than being planned by landscape architects. It contains an aquarium, children's play area, beaches and bike paths. As we walked the path toward the Totem Pole area, the reflection of the city's sky scape in the Coal Bay with thousands of yachts bobbing at their harbor, against the blue sky was surreal.
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| Vancouver's skyline reflected in Coal Bay |
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| A curve in the 6 mile path around Stanley Park |
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| A crane enjoying Coal Bay |
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| More beautiful flower gardens |
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| Fragrant rose found in the rose garden |
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| This little guy seemed to like life in Stanley Park |
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| Welcoming covered garden path |
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| Colorful daisies to make you smile |
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| More blossoms to enjoy |
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| Coal Bay Lighthouse |
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| A "Little Mermaid" sighting near Stanley Park |
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Tinglet clan totem poles in Stanley Park
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| Totem poles |
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| More totem poles |
We took lots of photos of the totem poles and explored a shop containing many native arts. With the time dwindling on our parking meter, we swiftly headed back to the car so we could explore more areas of the massive park. We drove past the Royal Navy Training Center, along the outside rim of the park, where we located a restaurant for dinner...the Teahouse at Ferguson Point. There were beautifully landscaped flower gardens, as well as, vegetables growing along the path to the front door of the tea house.
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| The Ferguson Point Teahouse |
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| Gardens along the tea house entrance walkway |
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| Sunset at Ferguson Point |
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| Ominous clouds hover over the bay at sunset |
We were seated by a window with a beautiful view of the bay and soon realized that we were in the perfect location to view sunset on the bay. In fact the restaurant even posts the current sunset times, so patrons can plan for a wonderful sunset dinner. After a scrumptious dinner, we walked across the lawn where there were several park benches to sit and soak up the beauty of the sunset over the bay in Stanley Park. What a wonderful way to end our first day of our northwest adventure!
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