• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Cascadia Kids

Family travel in the Pacific Northwest and BC

  • Home
  • Oregon
    • Mt. Hood
    • Portland
    • Eastern Oregon
      • Bend
      • John Day Fossil Beds
    • Oregon Coast
      • Astoria
      • Cannon Beach
      • Florence
      • Newport
      • Rockaway Beach
    • Southern Oregon
      • Crater Lake
    • The Willamette
      • Eugene
  • Washington State
    • Central Washington & Mountains
      • Leavenworth
      • Roslyn-Cle Elum
      • Suncadia
    • E. Washington
      • Spokane
    • Great Wolf Lodge
    • N. Washington & Islands
      • Bellingham
      • Mt. Vernon and Tulip Festival
      • San Juan Islands
      • Whidbey Island
    • Olympic Peninsula
      • Port Angeles
      • Port Townsend
      • Poulsbo
    • Seattle-Tacoma
      • Mount Rainier
      • Olympia
      • Seattle
      • Tacoma
      • Vashon Island
    • Washington Coast
      • Westport
  • British Columbia
    • BC Family Ski Trips
    • BC Islands
    • Mountains & Coast
      • Whistler
    • Okanagan & Thompson
      • Harrison Hot Springs
    • Vancouver Island
      • Tofino
      • Victoria
    • Vancouver Metro
      • Richmond
      • Vancouver
  • Travel Themes
    • Water Parks, Pools & Amusement Parks
    • Beach Trips
    • Get Outdoors! Camping & Hiking Trips
    • Kid-friendly Trip Ideas
    • Road Trips
    • Pacific Northwest Spring Break with Kids
    • Travel Tips
  • About Cascadia Kids
  • Nav Widget

Richmond

November 11, 2010

Steveston, BC with Kids

Drive past Richmond’s malls and farmland — and you’ll find yourself in the midst of BC’s quaint, walkable fishing village, Steveston. Perfect on a blustery day or a warm summer afternoon, Steveston provides ample opportunity to stretch your legs by walking through village streets – chockablock with unusual fare (a Romanian bakery and a Japanese restaurant, for example), boutiques and simple shops — plus the town’s National Historic Site. Steveston’s a fantastic way to spend a family morning or afternoon. (Photo at right: Statue outside Gulf of Georgia Cannery)

Steveston streets and shops

What to do with kids in Steveston:

Try to decide among the hundreds of toys packed inside Splash Toy Shop (3580 Moncton St.; 604-241-0234)

Pick up a packet of crisps (chips) or package of biscuits (cookies) or pasties at Mary’s British Home Store (3740 Chatham St.; 604-274-2261)

Join a whale-watching, bird-watching or sea-lion-watching tour, or rent a bike via Steveston Seabreeze Adventures. The surrounding area is nice and flat, an easy ride for families — read the Richmond cycling map before you go.

Drive a boat or train, climb on giant wood structures and play in the water park (summer only) at Steveston Community Centre.

Playground at Steveston Community Centre
Steveston Community Centre playground

Put on a coat and head into the 1894-built Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site, built of wood frame and heavy timber. The cannery is as chilly as the day it was in use. The interior is an exercise in grotesque fascination – plenty of bloody fish gut photos, ew, and trivia facts on why, exactly the workers wore broad-brimmed hats (all those seagulls, don’tcha know). On the boat replica, be sure to check the bathroom. You’ll find it in eh…use. On special weekends, craft projects help entertain younger kids.

Gulf of Georgia Fish Cannery
Cans at the Cannery
kid-friendly Steveston cannery
A mock shop inside the cannery

Fly kites at Garry Point Park.

Browse urchins, salmon and the fresh catch of the day among over 600 fishing boats at Steveston Public Fish Sales Float (Fisherman’s Wharf).

Steveston Fishermans' Wharf
Fishing ships at the Steveston Wharf

Don’t want to filet and cook your own? Neither did I. Split the First Mates Platter (Two scallops, two shrimps, two oyster and piece of salmon, cod or halibut) at Dave’s Fish and Chips. and split the massive fresh feast with your partner. Kids’ meals run $5.95 each, with a choice of cod, salmon, clam strips, shrimp or chicken fingers, plus chips, beverage and dessert. Another option: Pajo’s Fish and Chips, open seasonally.

Dave's Fish and Chips Steveston
Dave's Fish and Chips, a kid-friendly Steveston restaurant

Browse adorable kids’ clothing fashions at Buttons & Soles, then walk along Steveston’s wide wooden boardwalk.

Steveston kid-friendly boardwalk
Steveston boardwalk

Do you have a favorite kid-friendly restaurant or kid-friendly activity in Steveston, BC? Leave a note below:

Filed Under: Richmond Tagged With: BC, kids, Vancouver Metro

May 13, 2010

East Meets West: Richmond’s Aberdeen Centre

Over the past 100 years, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodian, Filipino and Laotian immigrants settled in Washington, Oregon and BC. Often, families move back and forth over the U.S.-Canadian borders, so there’s a nice multi-generational, multi-cultural intermingling at this point. Cascadia kids grow up eating sushi, pad Thai and dim sum; they attend cultural festivals with roots in Japan, China or Vietnam.

This cultural coalescence is obvious in Richmond, BC, where 60% of the city’s population is of Asian descent. You’ll find the Chinese-influnced Aberdeen Centre, the Taiwanese-style President Plaza, the pan-Asian Yaohan Centre (featuring a large Japanese supermarket) and the Hong Kong-style Parker Place.

Aberdeen Centre offers many kid-friendly shops and activities, along with Chinese herbal apothecaries, restaurants offering Malaysian meals and a store selling “Lotus Seats” — an electronic, remote-controlled toilet seat.

The Musical Water Fountain Shows shoot off in synchronized combinations of color, light and music.

Water fountains at Aberdeen Mall
Water fountains at Aberdeen Mall

On the third floor, we shopped Gacha Gacha Hobbies & Toys, a twirl of a store filled with dozens of toy vending machines and bins of character toys (Pokemon and the like)

Gacha Gacha

Then we checked out the gym-like climbing zone with monkey bars, coin-operated cars, a canyon room and bunch of slides at Fun 4 Kidz.

Riding a coin-operated car at Fun 4 Kidz

The Centre also features Science World’s Richmond Classroom (second floor), which has a drop-in preschool playtime on Saturdays.

Daiso, the double-decker Japanese-originated mega-store, offers inexpensive toys, household goods and Japanese candies. Most are under $1.

Daiso

Of course, there are also stuffed animal shops, candy stores and children’s clothing boutiques.

And no mall would be a mall without a foodcourt. Aberdeen’s serves up Beard Papa cream puffs, Chinese specialties and the Japanese chain, Strawberry Cones Pizza & Pasta.CLOSED.

Strawberry Cones

Noted as a “kids favorite” on the menu is the Hokkaido Potato Tuna. Unfortunately, not a favorite for my kids. But I love Strawberry’s creative mix of Western and Eastern cultures — in the form of Japanese-style pizza.

And the whole adventure is just a short drive from my home.

This post is part of DeliciousBaby’s Photo Friday.

Filed Under: Richmond Tagged With: BC, kids, Vancouver Metro

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Tips for a Safer Family Vacation During Coronavirus Pandemic July 12, 2020
  • Seattle Cat Cafes and Vancouver Cat Cafes February 5, 2020
  • 18 Tips for Visiting Great Wolf Lodge February 4, 2020
  • Are Great Wolf Lodge Day Passes a Good Deal? February 2, 2020
  • All Aboard! Take the Amtrak Train from Seattle to Leavenworth February 2, 2020

Categories

© Copyright 2017 Pretty Darn Cute Design

Back to Top