Vancouver, BC

There was a large surrealist art exhibit in Vancouver that was about to end it's run so I figured why not drive up for a tiny vacation (just overnight).  I left after work on Friday and I was a little nervous about the border traffic.  It turns out that was the least of my worries.  Even though I left Seattle at 2:30, it took me an hour to to get 30 miles outside the city.  At the border I only had to wait about 15 minutes so I thought that was pretty darn good, but I did get a little freaked out by how serious their questions were.  

Having recently been to Europe, I felt like the customs inspection was a joke.  All they did was look at my passport and then move me along, but not at the Canadian border!  They wanted to know where I was coming from, how long had I lived in Washington, where did I live before that, where I was going, what was I going to do there, what hotel was I staying at, was I really going on the trip alone, who was the car registered to, how long I had owned the car, what was my occupation, and all sorts of other stuff.  I swear I wasn't even try to smuggle anything, but they still made me nervous!

After finally making it into Canada, I thought it would be smooth sailing into Vancouver, but unfortunately I hit another hour of traffic going through some tunnel.  At least I made it to my hotel before dinner time :)  I did a little bit of urbanspoon research, but then just decided to wander the streets and see what looked good.  (This wasn't a particularly well-planned trip.)  It seemed like several of the restaurants I had looked up were jam-packed with lines out the door and crowds around the bar.  Although that indicates they were probably really good, it's not the best atmosphere for eating alone.  Some of the other places looked completely dead, so I kept walking until (just like Goldilocks) I found something that looked just right.

I wound up at the Cactus Club Cafe, which I found out later is actually a big Canadian chain restaurant.  Oh, well.  I normally don't like eating at chains, but I had a nice meal and a nice night.  Since I was sitting at the bar I ended up making friends with the cute boy sitting next to me and we kept chatting until the place closed at midnight.  Too bad that kind of thing doesn't happen in Seattle, but I also don't go out to restaurants by myself in Seattle...

The next morning started off rainy so I decided to check out the museum first.  The exhibit was interesting and they did have works from Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Joan Miró, etc. but it just wasn't really any of their famous stuff which would've been a lot cooler.  Of course in the museum gift shop you could still get tshirts and souvenirs with all the famous paintings on them.

After the museum I just walked around the city and did some sightseeing.  One think that struck me was that although Richmond may be very different from Seattle, Vancouver is not.

This looks an awful lot like Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood.

If you squint, I think this resembles the space needle.

They have interesting public art.

They have cranes and cruise ships.

They have pretty, rocky beaches.

Oh, yeah, and mostly importantly they have yummy food!

After a full day of walking I was tired and ready to head home, but luckily after a couple of hours of driving I'd regained enough energy for a brief stop at the outlet mall north of Seattle ;)