Mukilteo Musings

Only in Vancouver B.C.??

American holidays are a great time to zip up to Vancouver. (There is a Vancouver, WA three hours south and just outside Portland so Seattleites always specify "Vancouver BC".) And we did just that for Martin Luther King Day; we wanted to take a look at UBC because Kaley is considering applying to this major Canadian university. As a result, I have compiled an Only in Vancouver B.C. list.

1. Only on a trip to Vancouver B.C. from Mukilteo can you eat breakfast in one country and have lunch in a different nation in just two hours time.


Peace Arch on the U.S./Canada border

2. Vancouver B. C. is one of the most beautiful cities in the entire world and yet only in Vancouver can you visit, spend the night, and not even see it. (Perhaps in Seattle, too) This is what happened to us and between the darkness, the rain and the fog we never did see the water, the gorgeous mountains or the tops of the buildings. We saw parts of the Lion's Gate Bridge which rivals the Golden Gate only because we drove over it. Even so, Vancouver is still sublime.


Snow when we arrived melted and turned to rain

3. Only in Vancouver which seems to be a lot like Seattle do they actually use umbrellas. There were umbrellas everywhere and there were stores where you could by an umbrella. The rain was definitely more pelting than Seattle to the point that WE actually resorted to the scummy umbrella found in the bottom of our van. Shockingly, and this is the absolute truth, my kids had no idea how to open the umbrella or close the umbrella. Yep, they were born in Seattle!

4. Only in Vancouver were there no political bumper stickers and what a relief it was. Our Governor's race has continued with Christine Gregoire finally being sworn in last week with only 129 vote lead after a hand recount. The republicans are not happy and have hired trial lawyers (I thought republicans hated trial lawyers??!!) to take it to court and they have begun a campaign blitz on radio, TV, billboards and bumper stickers for an entirely new election and I for one am sick of it. Enough is enough. Governor Gregoire is a bright capable woman and she will be a good leader.

5. Only in Vancouver and the rest of the civilized world do they jaywalk. Maybe the umbrellas block their view of the traffic and pedestrian lights but very unlike Seattle, they do not wait for the little blinking happy walking man before they cross the street!

6. Only in Vancouver and all of Canada and Europe do they have my daughter's favorite clothing store--French Connection--known by its wonderful logo FCUK (French Connection United Kingdom). As we were buying her a pair of jeans with ripped holes, the clerk asked us where we were from and we replied Seattle. The FCUK clerk responded, "Oh, Seattle! I love Seattle and I want to go shopping there at Abercrombie and Fitch. We don't have one here." So, I guess the grass is always greener...... .

7. And finally, only in Vancouver, across the street from FCUK, do they have a restaurant with a giant neon sign with the image of a big wave called "Tsunami Sushi". Hmmmm.....wonder if they'll change the name.