Weekend In Vancouver BC!

Being located on the North Coast of Oregon puts us a lot closer to Canada than I thought! We decided to head out of town for the weekend to spend a couple days in Vancouver BC. I lead a class/workshop about fountain pens at my local library once a month and the only weekend we had open was that weekend...which had us leaving at 1pm. Big mistake! What should have been a 6.5 hour drive turned out to be a 9.5 hour drive. I will go to Vancouver again but next time I am leaving bright and early in the morning! So Friday was challenging and then our hotel room was on an impossibly loud street. Saturday morning we regrouped, asked to be moved so we could actually sleep and were quickly accommodated. First stop of the day? The Vancouver Pen Shop. Ok, to be honest this was actually the reason I wanted to go to Vancouver. I don't hear about dedicated pen shops often and I wanted to check this one out. Well it turns out we happened to arrive on the day they were celebrating two long time employees so there was a little party going on and some extra discounts. What a friendly group of folks at the shop! 

After taking my traditional two laps around the store I asked to see a couple pens that caught my eye. After some vacillating I ended up with BOTH the Platinum 3776 Limited Edition Kinshu and a Graf Von Faber Castell Calligraphy set! I thought I might sell one as I did get decent pricing but I love them both so much I haven't listed anything yet...and I inked the Kinshu, oops!  

After dropping off my new pens at the hotel we were off to Charals Pen Shop...very different then the VPS but just as jam packed with fun stuff. Unfortunately they have lost their lease and are closing. We bought some discontinued inks and paper to resell as well as some replacement nibs and pencils for Perfect pencil and a Montblanc Solitaire that was available at a nice price. 

By then we had been looking at pens for hours and needed some lunch. Stopped for that and then walked over to the Montblanc boutique. I didn't expect to see anything new but you never know so off we went. We did not see anything new but after talking to the staff there they let us know that had two high artistry pieces in house that they could show us...that was pretty cool. These fountain pens are art works and so beautiful to see. 

What a fun day in Vancouver! Spent too much money but really enjoyed meeting some new people and being in a city for a bit. We will definitely go back!