Walk to the Marina

Last week I took a rare mid-week day off to go on a cruise. What to do, do I drive downtown and pay for parking ? do I ride my bike and leave it in a parkade ? I was meeting Mrs Skoot so we would possibly have two cars down there and have to pay double for parking. Then do I take the bus which is half a block from home ? Or do I take the Skytrain (subway) instead and walk the mile to the nearest Skytrain station. Decisions, decisions . . .



Even though my foot is not yet back to normal, I took it easy and decided to walk the mile . As I allowed lots of time, I decided to get off at the Cambie Street station and walk the rest of the way . It's amazing what you notice while you are surveying your surroundings at walking pace



In order to get to the downtown area you have to travel across one of many bridges. Today I was going to walk over the Cambie Street Bridge



I set a slow pace and the bridge is shorter than it seems but looking at the walkway it appears to never end, though it is only about 1 kilometer long



I turn around to see I have walked from the top of the hill. The building on the left is Vancouver's City Hall.



It is a pleasant day with lots of marine air which is expected to burn off around noon. The temperatures are just right with a strong breeze blowing over the water . I am soon nearing mid-span and can see my destination on the other side aboard one of those white yachts



As I get closer I snap another close up photo



Eventually I get to the other side and have to cross through Yaletown where there are some fancy condos with creative water features



This one looks sort of like a tree with barren leaves so I just have to walk through it . Unfortunately I did not bring my tripod and could only put my camera on the ground and it chopped off my head



I was still a bit early so I decided to have a snack at one of the restaurants in the Marina area. I grabbed a sidewalk table and ordered a heathly sandwich accompanied with a healthy beverage



Two waters because I was thirsty and it was easier to carry two glasses to the table instead of having to get up a second time for the refill . My grilled salmon sandwich was simple



and very tasty . I was still had an hour to kill so walked around the corner to the Roundhouse Turntable Plaza which is still under construction



The Roundhouse was where rail cars and engines were put on a circular moving platform and redirected to various garages which were arranged in a cirle. CLICK HERE for more information



Of course the turntable is now in a fixed position



I was thinking that it would be nice to have a Roundtable mechanism in your own garage so you could turn your bike around



The rail tracks go into each "former" garage and have been left in the ground . There is also a railway museum on site and they have restored the first engine, No 374 that entered Vancouver during May 1887 .

I took many photos of waterfront homes during our cruise and generally had a relaxing time watching the scenery float by. Here is one taken from the stern, of Lighthouse park in the background . The lighthouse is still in daily operation but recently through automated control