Exploring Vancouver - Day 3 - Stanley Park and Chinatown

We filled our third day with two major tourist spots in Vancouver -- Stanley Park and Chinatown. The Aquarium is in Stanley Park so technically we had already visited the park but we wanted to see more of it. After all, I'm an urban forester! Here's a description of the park on the City of Vancouver website:

Explore the 400-hectare natural West Coast rainforest and enjoy scenic views of water, mountains, sky, and majestic trees along Stanley Park's famous Seawall. Discover kilometres of trails, beautiful beaches, local wildlife, great eats, natural, cultural and historical landmarks, along with many other adventures. The park offers a wide range of unforgettable experiences for all ages and interests, including Canada’s largest aquarium.

August 10th was another overcast day and this one brought with it, rain. Thankfully the rain was light so we did not turn back. We walked along the lake, picking and eating blackberries and dodging Canada geese and their poop.

At the end of our stroll was Second Beach, and the tide was low.

We forwent time on the sand to explore the exposed tide pools. In contrast to our misty walk, the sun played peekaboo on the beach so we alternated between feeling cool and hot. The mercurial weather and all our explorations made us very hungry. We ate lunch at the concession. There weren't many fresh fruit options at the concession but fortunately, there was a berry stand set up nearby. We like BC cherries!

We tired after a full morning of walking. We weren't near a bus stop, and none of the taxis going past the beach on Stanley Park Drive were for hire, so we walked out to Beach Drive. The taxi driver's route took us through the main part of the West End. We had only seen the border it shares with Downtown. We napped at the hotel before setting off to see Chinatown.

I have a confession: I wanted to go to Chinatown to visit a specific tea shop. We didn't make it to The Chinese Tea Shop but we played at Andy Livingstone Park and watched large koi swim lazily at The Dr. Sun Yat Sen Park and the Classical Chinese Garden. Notice the dry and patch grass on the hill? The grassy areas in the parks in Vancouver were in poor shape during our visit. Also, all the water features were turned off. The city was in a drought and had instituted "Stage 3" water restrictions. Despite these conditions, we laughed rolling down the hill.

Catch up on our Exploring Vancouver series. And stay tuned for Day 4 on Sunset Beach!