Pink Salmon Festival

This afternoon, we hit the beach after Amélie's nap. I LOVE the fact we can access several beaches within 5-10 minutes of our apartment. First we went to Kits Beach and that was WAY too packed, so then we wandered over to Vanier Park, which I had never been to before (but Melvin had passed on a bike ride). It had a sliver of beach, which was enough for our little family of 4. The best part is the kids are so self-entertained at the beach that it is an easy activity for all.

We could see the downtown skyline, north shore mountains and Stanley Park from where we sat. And this, my friends, is why Vancouver is so amazing - water, mountains, beach, city all within 5 minutes from each other. The map below is a good reference. Our apartment is over the Burrard Bridge and to the right and we were sitting on the coastline by the Vancouver Museum.

Moving on, we were VERY lucky to be at Vanier Park during the Pink Salmon Festival!! It was organized by the Pacific Salmon Foundation and promoted pink salmon as a sustainable seafood choice.  We had no idea it was here today and who cares, one may ask?

Well, free pink salmon for everyone!!  We played on the beach until the line whittled down, which was right in time for dinner. They had some of the best seafood chefs in the city making pink salmon 3 ways. We had salmon baked, grilled and poached (I think) with potato salad, green salad and coleslaw as sides. 

DELISH!

Salmon: another reason to love B.C. 

Chocolat

Melvin and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this weekend. We typically go on a trip, but we have so many trips we've committed to that we decided to keep it low-key this year. In addition, his company had so many events the day of our anniversary, so it was good to be around for that.


Anyway, we decided to indulge in Fleuri's Chocolate Buffet. It is held every Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, with 2 seatings - 6:30pm and 8:30pm. We went on Friday at 8:30pm after having a picnic dinner with the kids by the seawall. I made some stuffed peppers and pan-fried some wild rockfish. The buffet was pretty insane and we felt pretty bad about ourselves afterward, but whatever. You really can't beat chocolate bread pudding as a dessert.


Yesterday, we had HSBC's annual Latin Diversity BBQ and the spread was pretty impressive. Tomato Salsa, Chickpea Salad, Guacamole, Salad with Homemade Dressing, Grilled Ribs, Steak, Sausages, Corn, Yuca and Watermelon. It was super organized and the weather was spectacular. After the picnic, we got ready to host one of the manager's from the U.K. and another coworker, plus their wives. We had beer/wine at our place and walked over to Hapa Izakaya for a great dinner of Japanese Tapas.


I think me and the kids will hit the beach today, while Melvin's out for a bike ride with his friends. It's so hard to believe that Hurricane Irene is hitting the east coast right now!