Road Tripping: Vancouver

N and I had a great vacation. We wasted no time and left for the lake right after work on Thursday. I wanted to start our vacation right away so we got out of town as soon as we could. We were going to Vancouver the next day and although heading to the lake only saved us an hour on the road the next day, I was happy to have that little head start. 

Leaving that evening also meant we got to stop in Canmore for dinner. Poutine at La Belle Patate has become a bit of a tradition for us whenever we head west on the Trans Canada. I know it sounds odd, but it's some of the best poutine I've ever had. Dare I say better than in Quebec? (Mmm yes, I do. Someone come and challenge me on this one!)

The next morning we were on the road bright and early. We wanted as much time in Vancouver (for eating, of course) as possible so we'd packed food for the road so we wouldn't have to stop. Sometimes I mean business on road trips. None of this fast food for us. Nope, we had Crave Jerky (if you haven't tried it, get the chili lime. Epic), cheese and summer sausage, blueberries, apples, and skittles. I've yet to go on road trip with N without him sneaking some candy into the mix at some point. I crave savoury, he craves sweet. 

We got into Vancouver around 4, dropped our stuff at my friends house, and headed out exploring. I'd been hearing amazing things about Earnest Ice Cream and I just had to try it. It turned out their new shop wasn't far from where we were staying, so off we went. 

They weren't lying. It is seriously good.

I tried the whiskey hazelnut and the lavender before settling on the salted caramel. I know I should try other flavours, but I just can't resist salted caramel ice cream. I told myself I had to compare to my favourite Village Ice Cream. The verdict? I still love Village for my salted caramel fix, if I lived in Vancouver, I'd definitely be hitting up Earnest as often.

I think N had the Milk Chocolate. I remember having a sample of that one later and it was like pure chocolate. It's a bit odd that I don't actually remember what he had. Apparently, I was too absorbed with my own ice cream and with taking photos of the adorable shop. I'm sure this comes as a surprise to everyone.

It was almost dinner time by the time we finished so we hoped on the sky train to head downtown for sushi. I don't think I can go to Vancouver and not have sushi. Maybe if I lived there, I'd get over it. I doubt it, but maybe.

Just looking at those photos from Kadoya Sushi is making me incredibly hungry. That sashimi was so perfect and buttery. I'm sitting in front of my computer drooling a bit. At least I'm home alone so no one can judge me. 

After dinner we headed over to gas town. I hadn't been to gas town in recent memory so I was in awe of how awesome it was. There were people out everywhere: enjoying drinks on patios, riding bikes, eating delicious-looking food. It's become such a fun neighbourhood. 

We'd planned to meet up with some friends of mine that I hadn't seen in almost 10 years, so we put our names on a list at Alibi Room and then headed elsewhere for a drink while we waited. I wanted to snap pictures of everything, but N tried to reign me in a bit. We'd been in the car all day and he was definitely ready to enjoy some beers. 

Alibi Room was great. It was fun catching up with old friends and their beer selection is amazing! They have mostly local beers but there's also a good selection from the rest of the West Coast. There were lots from Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland and from from further down the coast in Washington and Oregon to get us excited about the rest of our trip. It was exactly the kind of place I could see us going if we lived in Vancouver. I love different bars (N will probably tell you that I loved it because it was trendy, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the beer selection and atmosphere too!)

The next morning we headed to 49th Parallel for coffee. I'd heard good things about it and wanted to try it out. I love coffee but N could really take it or leave it. Turns out we hit the jackpot cuz they also have unreal donuts. Like seriously unreal. It was only a few blocks from my friends house so I wish her the best of luck at resisting those donuts. We shared a maple bacon crueller (will I ever tire of this flavour combination?)

N and I are both incredibly predictable at coffee shops. Hers? A latte. Always. I can't resist the beautiful latte art and the subtle sweetness of steamed milk.

His? An americano or a drip coffee. Black. Always black.

The coffee and their café were both amazing. I'm pretty sure I planned this entire trip with coffee, food, and beer in mind. That is literally all we did. Don't expect to see photos of much of anything else besides the amazing restaurants we ate at or the beer and coffee we drank. Would you really expect anything else though? 

Later that afternoon we headed to a family friend's wedding. It was on their beautiful property and the weather was gorgeous. We all got a little warm during the ceremony, but it's hard to complain about such a perfect day. My whole family was there and we had a lot of fun dancing, chatting, eating, and taking a million photo booth photos. 

We did somehow manage to get a nice one before all of that though. I don't think I've ever had a photo with both of these very special guys in my life. They clean up pretty well. (and every once in a while, my brother is capable of refraining from making a ridiculous face. Who knew this was possible!) 

That is basically it for our whirlwind Vancouver trip. One day I'll go to Vancouver and actually have enough time to see and do all the things I want to (I hope). This trip, despite being short, was really great though. We fit in a lot of things I wanted to do and had so much fun at the wedding. I'm so happy we were able to celebrate with them! 

The next day we headed down the Pacific Coast Highway for Portland. That's another post though. N is out playing hockey and, as usual, I've lost track of the entire evening. I'm not sure how I always manage to do that. Sometimes (always) I still need him to tell me it's time to go to bed. Ah being an adult! 

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