Vancouver for NYE: Days 3 & 4

Wednesday, January 1-Thursday, January 2: Polar Plunge, Seagull Co-worker, Holiday Lights

I didn't get another brilliant sunrise during our stay, but I still had some lovely views during my morning workouts of the mountains and water and seaplanes.

On New Year's Day, Mr. E and I strolled over to English Bay in the mid-morning to pick up our pre-ordered Polar Bear Swim swag (two towels, sweatshirt for me, long-sleeved shirt for Mr. E). For our second time around, we had decided to wait until the "official" plunge time of 2:30pm and join the masses in the quick run in and out of the water. Yikes! It was CROWDED! If [when] we do it again, I think we'll join the early birds again and take our dip before the rest of the masses arrive.

We had planned pretty well for our attire and towels, and the water temperature was about the same as the air temperature (mid 40s), so it didn't feel too bad. But on the walk back to our hotel, I definitely got chilled! We jumped into the heated outdoor pool for a quick warm-up, but it really wasn't enough for me, so I headed up to the room for a very hot shower.

Mr. E had his massage appointment at 5pm, but I had cancelled mine earlier in the day since I had picked up a nasty sore throat the previous weekend that was starting to morph into a dry cough. Drat! (again) Instead, I relaxed in our room and then headed to the hotel restaurant H2 Kitchen & Bar to enjoy Happy Hour at the bar with my book. Mr. E joined me there, and then we got takeout from Pho 37, the great Vietnamese restaurant we'd discovered during our previous trip. Unfortunately, my order for crispy chow mein with seafood and veges wasn't correct (allium allergy), so Mr. E had to go back to get a fresh batch. Which they had to make twice before it was finally allium-free!!!

Thursday was back to work for both of us. I created my best so far DIY hotel room workstation with a metal table from the lanai on top of the coffee table along with two couch cushions and the awesome new portable monitor that I had just purchased. Not a bad view from this remote office!

I was joined by a seagull friend who became a rather constant companion and co-worker throughout the week. We dubbed him Stanley VanWestin (after the park, the city, and the hotel).

In the early evening, we headed to the Van Dusen Botanical Gardens for the annual Festival of Lights. I'm glad we had our umbrellas, since the weather was drizzly all evening. This was another event that we had discovered during our previous NYE visit, and we enjoyed it just as much this time around, noticing quite a few new and different light displays scattered throughout the grounds.

When we got back to the hotel, we went to the bar at the restaurant to take advantage of the Beer & Burger Daily Deal (for Mr. E). I had a delicious beet salad with a skewer of grilled shrimp, and we both enjoyed the excellent customer service and friendly personality of bartender Luc.