The Granville Island morning was the kind of stuff that make you really disappointed once you are back from vacation. It was a picture postcard day in terms of weather in what is clearly a very photogenic city. I also sometimes wonder if we tend to observe more to photograph in a city that is not where you live or work. Well, there is certainly the practicality where I tend to notice so much but only have my tiny point and shoot. I have drawn the line on the phone camera, it does not quite cut it for me but then there are moments when that has come to my rescue.

I have always said, the rule of thumb when dealing with children is the ensure they are adequately pleased with life before the rest of the adventure. To this end, our first stop was the Kids market. This is a contained mall of just kids stores and rides and entertainment. Something like this stops short of being too glitzy and jarring in this place because all of the Island is comprised of independent stores rather than commercial chains this is always something that makes me wistful, there is a huge joy to the lack of standardization that these display. All the stores are colorful adding to an amazing cornucopia and what can only be described as a sheer riot of colors. After about an hour here (I also peeked in to the Brewery while Dad was with the kids, tied something fruity and headed back. If beer is your thing this is quite the place to go.

So onto to sustenance, I wanted to look around and see what caught my eye. I was drawn into this store and café that was lined with planters of herbs, lettuce and chard. What can be a greater advertisement for a farm to table kind of concept. The emphasis on green and eating local is very deeply entrenched into the food culture in the city, making me realize that we still can do more in NYC in this area.

 The menu was just the right size and packed with an assortment of amazing things. Their kids menu had more that chicken nuggets and French fries, what a surprise. The kids settled for a fancy looking grilled cheese with a bowl of chicken noodle soup, the soup was a clear broth with rice noodles and an adequate assortment of vegetables. Onto the real stuff, they had things such as potatoes roasted in duck fat which was tempting but I stayed away from. We had an interesting fish soup or chowder a very flavorful assortment simmered in coconut milk. The fried oyster sandwiches that we had hit the spot, they oysters were nice and moist. The house salad that I had also was just amazing, in fact the vinaigrette was sheer magic. All of this was complemented by a beautiful sunny day and musicians in the plaza contributing to the atmosphere.

 We ended the adventure by walking into the public market  – fresh food and local market with an amazing selection of things and walking back down the boardwalk to the car.

If I could keep one piece of this perfect day with me for the rest of the year, I would place it in a keepsake pendant and put in on a silver chain and carry it with me. As I write this, I realize that the year has its challenges as does life, so one should catch every rainbow when they border on life’s edges.