Throwback: A Thanksgiving Staycation In Vancouver, BC

We have just celebrated our second ever Thanksgiving! Our weekend was filled with eating, drinking and physically distanced fun. As we are leaving Vancouver, BC, we also had the fun of selling our sofa to our friends and helping them move it to their apartment!

Last year, I started writing a post about how we celebrated our first ever Thanksgiving, but I never got round to finishing or publishing it. After reminiscing on what I had previously written, I decided in celebration of Thanksgiving 2020, that I would write a throwback post to what we did for Thanksgiving in 2019* and you can find it below...

One of the things that we were somewhat upset to find when moving to Canada was that most employers only offer two weeks holiday as standard. Fortunately we have both managed to secure work that gives us three weeks vacation each year which, as a couple who love to travel, is a big bonus. Another bonus is that Canada's public holidays are much better spaced out than back home, meaning we get a lot of long weekends - in fact it's just shy of one a month.

Our latest long weekend adventure has been our first ever Thanksgiving. More commonly known in the UK as an American holiday (mostly due to the rise of online "Black Friday" deals), Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated annually on the second Monday in October.

As we are still finding our feet in Vancouver and have not yet put down any roots, we originally decided to go away for the long weekend. After hours of searching and indecisiveness, however, we finally decided to stay at home and check in for a luxurious night at one of Vancouver's oldest hotels - The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.

We headed into the city taking our usual route, 15 minutes transit on the Canada line, and - just opposite my workplace - settled in to our King Fairmont room (CA$288/£137) for the night. After donning our hotel robes and slippers (unfortunately we missed out on a great selfie opportunity here) we took a quick dip in the heated pool and chilled in the saunas in our respective changing rooms before starting a 16 hour binge of complete indulgence.

Back in the room we decided to take advantage of the in-room dining menu and treated ourselves to a Charcuterie and Cheese Board which was genuinely one of the best things we've eaten since we've been here - good cheese is hard to come by in Canada, it has made me even more grateful for Europe - and we devoured it in minutes.

After sharing a beer or two from the mini bar whilst we were getting ready, we headed out for a wonderful date night. Our first stop was the hotel bar - Notch8 - for pre-dinner drinks. Despite pretty much living on beer and wine, whenever we stay in a nice place we are drawn to the cocktail menu! Rich had a couple of Bourbon Sours, whilst I had a Mai Tai in a very funky glass and we couldn't resist the complimentary sea-salted chips (crisps).

Already feeling full, we took the two minute walk to a French restaurant that had good reviews, and funnily enough was actually located in another Vancouver hotel - The Bacchus Restaurant and Lounge.

Having already eaten our body weight in cheese and chips we skipped starters and Rich ordered a main of "Poached Chicken Under Hen of the Woods & Crispy Skin Roulade" whilst I opted for "Yarrow Meadows Duck with Crispy Duck Confit" (each meal approx CA$40/£25), although I couldn't resist a quick glass of Prosecco to make up for the fact that I was a drink behind. We skimmed the wine menu and promptly ordered pretty much the cheapest red we could find, which turned out to be a very nice Pinot Noir, and somehow managed to clear our plates.

We had an exceptional night, both in terms of good food and fantastic service. The only problem for me was that the restaurant was so beautifully dimly lit, that I couldn't get any decent photos of the incredible food!

We finished the night by somehow squeezing in a wonderfully tasting Orange Brandy Crème Brûlée, before stumbling back to our hotel room where we decided that the best course of action was to order room service breakfast for the next day...

At 10:30am there was a knock on the door and yet more exceptional food headed our way. We stuffed our faces and I had one of the best omelettes I've ever had, before sadly it was time to check out. We took a beautiful autumnal walk around the city and seawall, before heading home. Our short, but very sweet Thanksgiving Staycation in Vancouver, BC, was the perfect way to spend our first Thanksgiving in Canada. We can't wait to have many more adventures here. 

And there you have it. Year one, an overindulgent foodie weekend. Year two, amazing food and drink with incredible friends.

I can't wait to see what year three has in store for us...

Have you ever celebrated a holiday in a different country? I'd love to hear all about it. Leave me a comment below :) 

*Please note all pricing was correct as of October 2019