Tag: Parks

A lot of people drive along Marine Drive in West Vancouver. They are heading to shop or heading towards 15th Street to access the Upper Levels Highway. But there’s something else you really ought to take a half-hour or so to do. If you want a coffee, you can hit the Starbucks at 17th Street and Marine Drive. There is 2 hour free parking on Marine Drive, which is handy. Then as you exit Starbucks, head right, and right again (south) on 17th Street. Go to and cross Bellevue Ave. You then get to walk over the BC Rail tracks […]

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If you’ve been in Vancouver a while, you might hear the name Joe Forte, which many associate with a restaurant Joe Fortes found on Thurlow Street between Robson and Alberni. (They have a good lunch special by the way.) There’s also a library named after him. However, Seraphim “Joe” Fortes was the Vancouver Park Board’s first lifeguard. When I happened upon an article about him in BC Magazine‘s Spring 2011 edition, I was fascinated to find that the Canadian immigrant experience is old than we thought. Consider these 7 facts about Joe Forte. Born Barbados 1865 Mixed African/European parentage Lived […]

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With Vancouver’s sheltered oceanfront there are opportunities to enjoy the beach life in 9 distinct places. Three of these beaches are accessible to downtown Vancouver via Stanley Park and the others are all south of downtown heading west toward and into UBC (University of British Columbia). My favourite memory of a few years back was a remarkable convergence of an extremely low tide, a glorious sunny day and the time to enjoy a long walk. Three of us realized that we could literally walk along the exposed tidal mud all the way from Kits Beach to Wreck Beach. It was […]

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My experiences with Field, BC have been mostly limited to driving by it. Normally by that point in my voyages east, I was road-weary and just wanting to get to Banff or Calgary. There are however, a few reasons to exit the highway and enjoy your self. Burgess Shale. About 1/2 a billion years ago, this part of BC was an ocean. The Burgess Shale is the largest fossil collection. Emerald Lake Lodge. The view of the mountains and lake is to die for. (Worth the 20 minute drive from Field.) Truffle Pigs Bistro. Just the name makes me want […]

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When you think “surfing” you rarely think “Canada”. However, anyone who knows anything about Tofino knows about surfing. But it’s not the California or Hawaii surfing. Think 10 degrees Celsius water temperature and lots of rain. Tofino is at the edge of the Clayquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and in the middle of the Pacific Rim National Park. One of my favourite things to do is to head down to the dock where you can find the official sign indicating the end of Highway 1 at the bottom of First Street. Imagine that only Pacific Ocean is between you and […]

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Deep Cove is technically in the District of North Vancouver, but don’t tell any locals that. Deep Cove has the feel of a small village at the end of the road. In this case, the road is Dollarton Highway, which is slightly east of the Second Narrows Bridge as it leads into North Vancouver. You follow the highway until you can go no further. The village has a series of shops, bistros, ice cream Parlours and so forth. The real reason for going is Panorama Park, which is not naming hyperbole. The view onto Indian Arm is spectacular. From there […]

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If you talk to people living in the Lower Mainland — what we call Vancouver and its adjoining cities — they will often say “I always wanted to go to Capilano Suspension Bridge.” This historic North Vancouver tourist site is worth the visit, but in my opinion should be followed up with a local walk to see similar terrain outside a contained park environment. The reason for my first visit ever, despite being a 25 year veteran of Vancouver, was a school grad trip that I was helping to organize. For such an event, Capilano Suspension Bridge Park actually works […]

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It was an odd set of circumstances that found me cycling around Stanley Park’s seawall. I was keeping good company with about a dozen other cyclists on a June weekday. It was a work team building exercise and also a way to add steps to our pedometers. The GCC (Global Corporate Challenge) was on and we wanted to boost our numbers. When I was cycling around the seawall, I started thinking about this park. It’s huge. 4.05 sq. km and the seawall itself is about 10 km in circumference, depending on what you consider as the starting point. See this […]

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The Vancouver Maritime Museum is tucked away in the Kitsilano neighbhourhood of Vancouver. It is near Vanier Park and the Museum of Vancouver. I had the pleasure of seeing the famous vessel the St. Roch be officially reopened for display. On May 31, 2014, The Vancouver Maritime Museum had an open house with speakers and a children’s choir from Trafalgar Elementary. (I had insider information about the event from the choir director.) Both inside and out, the museum has artifacts from the long and adventurous British Columbia maritime history. I would try to describe the amazing story of the St. […]

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This hobby operating railway in Burnaby, located in Confederation Park Burnaby, is one of those best-kept-secret situations. I was originally introduced to it by a former member of the non profit society that runs it and subsequently wondered “how did I not know this was here?” When you think model trains, you think, Lionel trains in HO scale. This however is a small scale train you can actually ride. The engineer volunteers who build, operate and maintain the trains and track do so for the sheer joy of watching people, particularly kids, ride these trains. I suspect those running the […]

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