In the summer of 2010, I lived in an apartment hotel in Vancouver’s West End.  (Specifically 910 Beach Ave Apartment Hotel.)  I was enjoying Stanley Park’s Second Beach which has a good playground and a marvelous pool as well as the ocean.  My ride back had left and I was happy, during a warm stunning sunset, to walk along the Stanley Park Seawall, which leads to a waterfront walk along English Bay. Vancouver’s West End is known for its eccentrics.  So, people-watching is great.  Somehow with a stunning sunset and warm conditions even the more erratic people have a (relatively) care-free […]

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The best part of living in the heart of Vancouver during the summer is being in the centre of all the action without having to fight the crowds by driving anywhere.  Sure, there are a lot of tourists, but most of them are pleasant and happy to be here.  The parks, pools, beaches, and community centres mean you could have a wonderful summer with the kids, without even leaving the downtown peninsula, if you didn’t want to. Here are a few places and events happening: Klahowya Village in Stanley ParkThis attraction is new in 2010 and is an aboriginal tourist […]

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It’s summer in the city.  The kids are out of school and hopefully not driving parents too crazy.  Summer weather finally arrived in Vancouver just after the Canada Day long weekend.  Good thing as people were starting to get grumpy, waiting for our best season to begin. Summer is truly glorious in Vancouver.  Usually not too hot, but warm enough to swim, sunbathe, sail, bike, whatever outdoor activity you’re into.  My husband and I are from Saskatchewan and we go back to visit our families every Christmas, and have since we’ve had our eight-year-old daughter.  We don’t often go back […]

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The best part of living in downtown Vancouver during the summer is being able to take part in celebrations and events without having to fight the crowds by driving anywhere.  The parks, pools, beaches, and community centres mean you can have a wonderful summer with the kids, without even leaving the downtown peninsula, if you don’t want to. Last Saturday my family attended “Rockin’ in the Park” above the Coal Harbour Community Centre.  It ran from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and was great fun for the kids.  The community centre was celebrating their 10 year anniversary.  We joined up […]

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This summer I had the chance to visit the Farmer’s Market on Homer Street near Thurlow in Vancouver‘s West End.  When you think of farmer’s markets, I have a picture of an empty parking lot with a pile of tables and random stalls of produce. In the West End, it’s a lot different.  The focus on organic produce is huge as well as vendors of everything from crepes to lattes to stuffed animals.  But, it’s a small selection, but frankly quite tasty.  The folks selling lavender had the most wonderfully stinky lavender imaginable.   A further difference was the number […]

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My daughter and I first visited the Fort St. James National Historic Site in July of 2008.  I have a sister who’s been living in Fort St. James for the past five years, and we’ve gone to visit her almost every summer, since my 8-year-old daughter was born. The town of Fort St. James is on the shores of Stuart Lake, 164 kilometres northwest of Prince George.  The town is small (more of a village, really) and the scenery in this part of BC is beautiful.  The lake is quite large and is great for swimming, boating and fishing in […]

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We decided to meet up with friends and check out the festivities for Canada Day at Canada Place this year.  In previous years the kids’ bouncy castles, games, face painting, etc., were under the five sails inside Canada Place.  This year they were all moved to Harbour Green Park along the Coal Harbour Seawall.  This was actually a better location.  The weather was not the greatest with mostly clouds and a bit of rain, so not many kids actually went in the water park, but the washrooms were handy, the restaurant was very busy, and families had a lot of […]

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Cottonwood House was an old roadhouse for weary travellers on their way to Barkerville to strike it rich.  It’s a 20-minute drive east from Quesnel, on Highway 26. Roadhouses were possibly the forerunner to the modern day motel and operated in the 1800s. They were an integral part of the Gold Rush Trail, which carried miners from Vancouver to Barkerville.  Roadhouses offered food and shelter to travelers every 12 to 15 miles along the entire length of the Cariboo Road.  After a long day’s journey, either on foot, horse, or in a bumpy stagecoach, the roadhouse provided a hot meal, […]

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Last summer, August of 2009, I had the opportunity to visit Chemainus, BC, to see a friend in their annual summer musicals. I had never been to Chemainus before and didn’t know what to expect. However, after only about an hour after arriving I realized I had fallen in love with the place! It is located in between Duncan  and Nanaimo, and you can either take a ferry from Vancouver to Duke Point, or Vancouver/Tsawwassen to Schwartz  Bay and drive up from Victoria. Each summer, Chemainus has a Musical Theatre Festival in their beautiful, newly renovated downtown theatre. I saw “Oklahoma” […]

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Barkerville is a gold rush town full of history and fun things to do. It is set in the interior Cariboo region, 88 km (54.7 mi) east of the city of Quesnel, at the end of Highway 26. Barkerville was founded in 1862 and is the largest historical site in British Columbia. Unlike many gold rush towns from this era – which have long disappeared – Barkerville remains a thriving place, rich in history and full of life. You can tour the town with one of the colourful characters from Barkerville’s past, watch the notorious Judge Begbie strike fear into […]

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