Buck a Shuck

The second plate - as good as the first

All along the Pacific Northwest - from SF to Seattle - we encountered the ubiquitous Happy Hours and $1 Oyster Days. It wasn't until we reached Vancouver that the Happy Hours stretched from 2-7 and the oyster days were everyday. So when confronted with half price beer and cheap oysters, there's only one thing to do....
Vancouver is set out in a somewhat square matrix so it's easy to find your way around. And there's also a hop on/hop off bus, which we've found is the easiest way to get to know a new city. Our first night we happened upon a restaurant a couple of doors down from our hotel which promoted local produce and beverages. It was the perfect intro. What the Canadians do well is support their local wines - in this case from B.C. as well as Oregon and Washington State. The Yankees tended to skew their lists towards some more obscure European regions and varietals...not what we were interested in drinking !
There's some good food in this place, and not over expensive. I treated myself to some elk stew ( which was approved by the Librarian because of its farmed and organic origins ). Fish continued to be the order of the day, the one we both enjoyed was halibut. The weather continues to be warm ( low to mid 20's ) - not what we expected, but making sightseeing more enjoyable. There's a vibrant arts community here and one of the largest city parks/gardens in North America.
With only a day and a half, we weren't able to do Vancouver justice - we didn't make it to a church, cemetery or museum - but we were able to organise the car hire for the road trip on our return...leaving Damien and Kathy the onerous task of picking us up from our ship. We managed a little souvenir shopping ( had the brilliant idea of getting Jamie something from the House of McLaren - but everything - except the signage on the front window - was branded MacLaren ! ).
After the outer covering of a wheel from one of our suitcases peeled off ( sorry Kallista ! ), we bought 2 new ones . With the generous luggage allowance from Hawaiian Airlines, Violeta will be the beneficiary of presents that should take her through to at least her 10th birthday ! The only downside was that our hotel room was on the 3rd floor and there was no elevator !!

Dancing Musk Ox - an Inuit carving in soapstone - worth every dollar of the $7,600 asking price