A Ship, a Suspension Bridge, and a Speedster

 

Today’s first stop was at the Vancouver Maritime Museum. This small museum 

had some fascinating exhibits. Their pride and joy was the St. Roch, The St. 

Roch was the first ship to traverse the Northwest Passage from west to east and 

the first to circumnavigate North America. The entire ship was inside the museum,

and we were able to board the vessel and explore its many rooms and features. 

There were also plenty of placards that taught about the history of the ship and 

the locations it traversed. 

 

After exiting the St. Roch, we walked through the next exhibit, A Wet & Wild 

Coast: Rum Running During Prohibition. I had no idea that Canadians smuggled 

so much liquor to the U.S. during the Prohibition. Huge profit was made from the 

trade which motivated smugglers to find creative solutions to concealing their 

liquor from American authorities. I’m not one to drink, but I don’t think I'd be more

persuaded to drink liquor that had been smuggled in chum as one smuggler did.

There were a couple other small exhibits, including whales, undersea divers, and

some model ships. I didn’t spend much time looking at them.

If you read my last blog post, I mentioned I thought I saw an area that was a 

filming location for the TV show The Flash. That one ended up being incorrect, 

however, my brother Joe told us that Vancouver’s City Hall was filmed as the 

police station in The Flash. So we quickly drove over so I could get a picture of it 

since it wasn’t too far out from our next stop. Thanks for the speedy research 

Joe!

We drove to Canada Place to park and took a free shuttle to the Capilano 

Suspension Bridge. The bridge is over 100 years old, but has been replaced and 

improved over the century. Suspended about 230 feet above the Capilano River, 

it's a good thing I’m not afraid of heights. The bridge is a little shaky at times, but 

I never felt like it swayed substantially, and it was an easy and fun crossing over 

the ravine. On the other side of the bridge was Treetops Adventure which took us

high up into the forests via platforms and smaller suspension bridges. We walked

around the area a bit more as I completed Dr. Woods Rainforest Explorers 

activity pamphlet. Though it was designed for kids, I enjoyed filling it out and 

learning a couple facts about the forest and the animals that live there (maybe it’s

because I’m just a kid at heart). 

 

We decided to cross the Capilano Suspension Bridge again and stroll on the 

Cliffwalk. This narrow wooden walkway is attached to the side of (you guessed it)

a cliff. You could see the river and forest right under you as you walked the 

circular path. Capilano Suspension Bridge Park certainly has no shortage of 

breathtaking views in my opinion. After buying a few trinkets and fudge from the 

gift shop, we waited for the shuttle to take us back to Canada Place so we could 

get our car and return to our AirBnB. Tomorrow is Canada Day, which is the 

equivalent to Independence Day in the U.S., and I think we are visiting the city of 

Burnaby. See you tomorrow.

 

 

If you’d like to read the day’s events from my mom’s perspective, you can read her blog here.