This is my summary of our sightseeing in Vancouver.  We did and saw a lot of stuff in just a couple days outside of the wedding day.  Amongst the Canucks/NHL craziness, we managed to visit most of Vancouver.

On Sunday (6/12), the day after the wedding, we wandered downtown and found Canada Place and the cruise ship that Jes’ parents were going to board that afternoon.  The sun was out with some residual clouds hanging over, which made my photos much more interesting.

Later in the afternoon, Amy and Jay picked us up from the hotel and took us to Gastown before Jason’s flight back to California.  It’s a cute little street with some boutiques and streetside bars.

After dropping Jason off at the airport, we went to Granville Island where they had an indoor Public Market with lots to eat and browse.   Before dinner, we had drinks and oysters at Bridges with an outdoor seat on the patio.

Dinner was at Guu with Garlic and they managed to cram all 15 of us in a tiny sit-on-the-floor room that was super stuffy and hot.  Somehow we managed to have a good meal and a lot of fun hanging out.

On Monday (6/13), I got up early and went for a run.  It was fun to explore the area on foot and in the rain.  Yep, it was raining.  I ran past Rogers Arena where the Canucks were playing a couple days ago.

I ran along Quebec St. and got a nice view of BC Place where the Winter Olympics were held last year.  I found False Creek and the Olympic Village, which is now a very nice but empty cluster of brand-new condos.  To get back, I ran across Cambie St. Bridge for a total of 3 miles completed.

Later that morning, we took the bus to Stanley Park.  It was a short walk to the aquarium and we made use of the umbrellas that we packed.

The aquarium itself was worth the trip.  It also helped that Eric hooked us up with free tickets.  This aquarium had lots to see including marine mammals such as dolphins and beluga whales.

There were maple trees everywhere and I got some pretty cool shots of the leaves in the rain.

Afterward, Amy and Elaine picked us up and took us around Stanley Park.  There were famous statues in the park and they were all dressed in Canucks gear for the weekend.  Canadians are funny.

We saw the totem poles and the Lions Gate Bridge from Prospect Point.  That’s the bridge that we would take to Whistler.  Ah Whistler…we will meet one day.

Before dinner, we stopped at Queen Elizabeth Park.  It’s at the top of a hill and there’s a beautiful garden to explore.

The last stop after dinner was the beach park near the University of British Columbia.  The view was really pretty and the sun was just setting at 8:30 pm!  Vancouver has some really long summer days.