This is really one of the most chilled and relaxing trips we have been so far, and it was a very nice trip. Vancouver is definitely a nice city, with a nice harbor, good food, cool weather. In terms of things to see, there are not too much, and 3-4 days are probably plenty. One place we didn't go is Victoria, which is a day trip by itself. Always leave a reason to go back, right?
Capilano Suspension Bridge
It was cool, not as cool as it looks. I thought it would be a lot more thrilling, but.... meh.... There are free shuttle buses in the city that go there pretty frequently. It is a very family-friendly tourist spot. It is kinda in the nature, but not too much. There's the suspension bridge, the tree houses, cliff walk, totem poles, some birds, etc. It is a very nice close-by getaway for families to go into the woods and walk around, spend the day there.
China Town
Like Los Angeles, there's the "old Chinatown" and the "new Chinatown", and this is the old one, with the gate and stuff. As you can see, there are more tourists than Chinese here lol. There's Chinese garden that you can walk around, which is actually pretty nice.
Gas Town
Apparently, it's the first downtown in Vancouver, named after "Gassy" Jack Deighton who arrived and opened up the first store there, and the area soon became the center of trade and an important port. Now, there are a bunch of restaurants and boutiques there. If you are into shopping, definitely the place to go!
Stanley Park
A very nice park, took a long walk along the water as well as inside the park, and it was beautiful. You can see a lot of people jogging in the park, and I thought, if I live here, I would probably run here!
Granville Island
Food! More food! Basically a market with cooked food, as well as fresh ingredients. We couldn't really buy anything because there's stuff we cannot bring back in the US, also we are not planning on checking any luggage. You can take the aquabus from downtown across, and that's what we did. We decided to walk back to downtown along the water after visiting the market. As we walk back to downtown from Granville Island, we saw a "pirate" ship on the harbor, looked like they were acting, and it was pretty entertaining.
Steveston
It was a tiny fisherman's wharf, but it was kinda cute. I like that it's not really crowded. And of course, there's fish n' chips! How can a fisherman's wharf be complete without fish n' chips, right? We tried some, and it was pretty good! You can also buy fresh seafood here, shrimps, sea urchins, etc.
British Bay
Walking along the Robson street from downtown towards the ocean, and you will see this beautiful beach! We went there after dinner, and saw this gorgeous sunset. The water is definitely a lot cleaner here compared to LA. We saw some creepy smiling statue next to the beach, not sure what it meant, but they for sure are creepy.
Overall, it was a fun and relaxing trip. I can see why people say it is a chilled version of the States. I think it would be a nice place to live, might be a little boring for young people, but definitely a great place to raise a family or enjoy retirement.