As my kids get older time seems to speed up! My youngest is now a high school freshman and my oldest is heading off to college in the Fall. I still wake up wondering how I got here. With the chaos of work, parenting, and balancing the up’s and down’s of teen lives I find myself anticipating our next vacation months in advance. I think it’s because vacation means time away from day to day demands and offers us a chance to reconnect and just focus on each other.
This past spring break I broke our tradition of laying by the pool in Palm Springs and opted for a new adventure in the opposite direction. While planning I knew I needed to find a way for everyone’s travel needs to be met. I needed some rest and relaxation but my teenagers needed some action. My husband needed both! And for our family good food is one of the most important aspects of any trip! So we packed the skis in our “car topper”, drove to the Canadian border in search of adventure and ended up having more fun than we anticipated!
We started in the heart of downtown Vancouver, B.C. at a little hotel near the waterfront. Our hotel didn’t matter much because we dropped our bags and took off to explore. We spent a few hours shopping in gastown.org which had a fun relaxed vibe. Filled with hipster coffee shops, trendy restaurants, bars (did I mention it was St. Patrick’s Day) and stores lining it’s quaint streets. We had a wonderful dinner at steamworks.com where my 19 year old enjoyed his first Lagger with dad! We ended the night at thierrychocolates.com where we indulged with the most amazing French macaroons and sipping chocolate! We were clearly off to a good start!
The next morning we walked to a local coffee shop that was decorated with old vinyl’s and ended up having the most unusual and the MOST incredible breakfast EVER! And I am not exaggerating. We were literally having a fork war over the Roasted Cauliflower Hash and the French Toast Brûlée. The kids were still talking about this meal days later. You too can enjoy this funky little brunch at Nemesis.coffee and it will change your life!
After an afternoon exploring the Capilano Suspension Bridge park (capbridge.com) and watching my life flash before my eyes as we joined a million tourists crossing a massive old suspension bridge with eyes closed and hanging on for dear life, we headed for the Sea to Sky Highway for the hour and half drive to Whistler. This was one of the most beautiful drives we have ever taken…and we drive everywhere! This drive should be on your bucket list if it’s not already!
We spent the next three, very relaxing and very beautiful days nestled in Whistler Village. I chose to rent a small condo at the edge of the village so that we had a little space to spread out and so that our teenagers could have the freedom to explore without a worried mom. The village is safe, fun and they could come and go as they wanted. Our condo had everything we needed including a hot tub on the third floor. It was clean, cozy and so convenient for everything we wanted to do. You can find it at www.alluradirect.com/2287/
My kids are skiers so this is where the action comes in. They skied two amazing mountains with dad and I relaxed!! PURE MAGIC!
We had some amazing meals in Whistler Village and even cooked in one night. The kids enjoyed the Escape Room and ziplining with ziptrek.com and Sean and I enjoyed spending 30 minutes at -25 degrees in the Ketel One Ice Room, the coldest Vodka room in the world. This was a thrill for us both as we gulped down chocolate Vodka that basically tasted like eating a brownie in Antarctica! Go to bearfootbistro.com/menus/vodka-menu/ There were so many other things to do that we just didn’t have time for. Whistler is a great place to take older kids on vacation as there is something for everyone! We were sad to go but excited to finish our trip back in Vancouver on Granville Island.
If you have never been to Granville Island you should start planning a trip now. I like to describe it as an urban food and art heaven. The Island is nestled under the Granville Street Bridge & even the cement company on the island has artistic flair. The Island is quaint with a public market, art studios, restaurants, shops and amazing views of Vancouver. We stayed on the island at the Granville Island Hotel (www.granvilleislandhotel.com). This allowed us to explore the island without coming and going. Our room gave us amazing views of the water and downtown Vancouver without a high cost. We walked back and forth to the public market a few times for “goods and provisions” including wine, donuts, macaroons, and more. The only thing we didn’t do was take a water ferry to another part of Vancouver. This gives me a good excuse to go back. We had a wonderful dinner at the Sandbar, literally under the bridge (www.vancouverdine.com/sandbar/) which made us feel like really well fed trolls!
All in all Vancouver and Whistler have so much to offer and each one of my kids has already asked to go back! It truly was the best place to vacation with teens. We all came home still liking each other and talking about what we will do when we return!
