English Bay Beach

English Bay Beach is always a draw for me when I'm in Vancouver. I was there a couple of weeks ago after almost a week of overcast and sometimes rainy weather. When I have completed my errands in town, this is where I often start a visit to Stanley Park. Looking between these fan palms out on to English Bay you might think this is some sort of subtropical paradise. One can be fooled by the scenery but it's actually a mild temperate climate and a maritime one at that. Below the deck are the change rooms for the beach. There are always ships of some sort on the bay. On a warm, sunny summer day this beach is packed, especially in the afternoon and into the evening. I chose to have my lunch on a bench with a great view of the water. I tossed a few bits of the bread from my wild salmon sandwich to an awaiting sparrow. Of course, the sea gulls and pigeons were eyeing my sandwich very carefully but they got none of it, not this time round but they're looking for their opportunity, so don't leave your food unattended or you'll lose it!

Above is a view of Beech Drive with English Bay Beach on the left. We are looking west-northwest toward Stanley Park. The palm trees that line the street at this point give it all such a subtropical feel. Below is a closer look at one of the trees. Below that you will see a photo of a fan palm with flowers. The resulting fruit looks like small grapes and would be about that size.

The planters underneath the palms are planted with coleus, impatients and lobelias. This makes such a nice colourful setting. There were orange tulips planted here in the spring. That was great too.

Above is a view looking out to the bay and below is another photos of the beach. By afternoon this scene was full of activity. Today the skies are clear blue, it's warm and this scene is sure to be crowded with people taking in the fresh air and sunshine.

There is always ship activity on the bay, especially in the summer. The images above and below just show some of it. False Creek behind me flows into the bay and is very active during the summer months with ferries, boats, yachts and such going back and forth. This is also the way to get to Granville Island and the yacht clubs by boat.

And finally, here is a view of Davie and Denman Streets near the main beach (there are two others, the Second Beach and the Third Beach). Here you can see one of Translinks new trolley buses turning onto Davie Street. There is a bike rack on the front of the bus for those that want to bring along their bikes on a commute. Starbucks outlets, of course, are found every where in the lower mainland. There are several of them between here and Burrard Street to the east. This is where I bought my white tea and wild salmon sandwich before heading to the beach to have my lunch. I hope you have enjoyed this quick photographic tour of English Bay Beach. There are more interesting posts to follow!