Meandering Around Granville Island In Vancouver

Last March was the first time I ever flew out to the west coast of Canada, and there were other things that I did that were not going to football matches or going to high-priced attractions. I want to talk about the other things I did in the very short time that I had here. I stayed in downtown Vancouver for two nights, and downtown Vancouver did not feel all that different than downtown Toronto, with the high-rise condominiums, gentrified shops, and odd people. Regardless, on the morning of the first day when we got to the hotel, we went to Granville Island for some food and shopping.

One thing about Vancouver that I appreciate is the water taxi service that operates in False Creek. There are two water taxi companies that can take you wherever you need to get to on False Creek. My eyes fixated on the building where the Granville Island Public Market is, because I was starving. We hopped on the Aquabus to take us to Granville Island.

The Granville Island Public Market had the usual stalls for fresh fruits and vegetables, various prepared food and drinks, and souvenir stores to browse. It felt like St. Lawrence Market in Toronto, but this felt more spacious. There were many foods to sample and salivate over, but I came to Granville Island to eat a specific dish.

We braved the chill of an early March morning to check out a stall selling lobster rolls. The price of the lobster roll and chips combo at $25 was certainly overpriced, but I was on vacation, so I did not fuss too much over the price and bought the roll. The lobster was fresh but chewy and flavourful.  The whole meal had a damp feel from the lettuce but I did not mind. I would have another lobster roll but not at $25.

Walking around the island and checking out the various souvenir stores was how I spent much of my time. There was one shop called MAKE where they sold creative and artisanal goods from local and indigenous retailers. I mostly remember this store playing all the Chappell Roan hits. Regardless, this was a cool store to check out.

Other things that we saw include breweries and a big toy mall. We were there around 11am local time on a Wednesday, and there were many businesses that were not open, probably because this is not necessarily “tourist season” yet.

I had to go see the famous “Granville Island” sign, and this sign has seen better days. Whoever is responsible for the maintenance of this sign should probably fix that “L” which is not lighting.

I also spent some time staring out into the water because I have not been to Vancouver before, so I wanted to soak it all in. I was on one side of Canada last year, and this year I am on the other side. I have more to say about Vancouver in future posts, but for now, Granville Island was a cool place to visit.