The good folks at Just Here for the Beer are bringing back the Nando’s Canada Cup of Beer next week on July 4th. This will be the fourth annual event which is Vancouver’s largest beer festival.

Last year I played a tiny role as a sponsor (just by promotion) and it’s been neat to follow all the beer-related activities over the last twelve months such a pub crawls, food pairings and movie nights. On July 4th they’ll be at UBC’s Thunderbird stadium with almost 50 vendors including CAMRA BC, and our friends at Rickard’s, and Granville Island Brewing. It’s also the perfect opportunity to explore new brews from across the country, around the province, and over on Vancouver Island.

Photo credit: Urban Mixer on Flickr

VIP tickets (that include a BBQ lunch, 4 full beers in the lounge, tasting tickets, souvenir mug, t-shirt, reserved seating etc.) are $60 and regular tickets (including 5 beer tokens, a souvenir plastic mug, and an event brochure) are just $15. There are also a variety of satellite events including an after party on July 4th.

I first discovered we had the Vancouver Police Museum last spring during the Amazing Hunt as they had a clue box parked outside. It’s taken me over a year to finally get in there and thanks to a chat I had a few months ago with Executive Director Chris Mathieson, I was able to rally a small group of friends (including the Biehlers and Keira) to go on a special tour last night.

Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr

Aside from being a comprehensive museum packed with anything and everything you’d want to know about Vancouver’s grimy, gritty, and sordid past they also run a number of public programs such as Forensics for Kids, educational programs, birthday parties, and spring break activities. One of their most popular features (however probably not recommended for the kiddies) is the tantalizing Sins of the City tour. It’s a walking tour around Chinatown and the Downtown East Side where Chris provides decades-old stories about illegal gambling, prostitution, brothels, opium dens, and everything in between. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

Last year the official Blogathon.org site was out of commission so I took it upon myself to organize Blogathon Vancouver for those in the city that were interested in keeping the tradition alive. This year, the global event is back in full force taking place July 25th from 6am until 6am on July 26th.

Over the last three years I have been involved with Blogathon, either as a cheerleader, donor, participant, or local organizer. Essentially it’s a blogging marathon where participants publish one post on their blog each half hour for 24 hours. Along the way they collect pledges and donations online for the cause of their choice. With the official system back in place, tracking pledges will be much easier for all involved so I look forward to seeing that functionality returning. Another option is for participating bloggers to create a personal donation page on Canada Helps, a system that supports online donations for thousands of non-profits across the nation.

Karen from TinyBites.ca during her campaign / us at Duane’s during Blogathon 2008

If you are a local blogger and would like to participate in Blogathon 2009, please be sure to register on the global site starting July 1st. You can follow @blogathondotorg for their updates.

Once you’ve registered (or even if you’re thinking about signing on) please connect with me so that I can add you to a special Blogathon Vancouver blogroll and help promote your campaign. I have also arranged a place for all local participants to gather (Workspace in Gastown) should they wish to spend their 24-hours with others. The benefit of having people around is that it’s often easier to come up with post ideas, you could do a quick photo walk as a post, there’s encouragement from all sides, and you’ll be surrounded by others enduring the same insomnia/writing frenzy. I will try to register a Vancouver Tweetup during that time as well and Duane will be spearheading a Blogathon event in Chilliwack.

I will do my best to support the participating bloggers (we had 12 last year that raised well over $10,000) and I hope you’ll join us in using our online spaces to benefit some great causes.

Update: If you’re planning on signing up (starting July 1st) for blogathon, and you’re in the Vancouver area, feel free to add these badges to your site so you can start promoting your campaign a bit. After July 1st you’ll have your own donation page link etc. but it doesn’t hurt to start building the hype. Thanks so much to Kontent Creative for coming up with these. Right click and save/copy source for the file.

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I know this must seem a bit grim, but Vancouver’s Mountain View Cemetery is hosting an open house Saturday July 11th and they would like you to come and spend an afternoon with them on the scenic grounds.

Photo credit: Hayley Bouchard on Flickr

I’m certain Mountain View is the final resting place of many loved ones in Vancouver as it has been around since 1887. What makes this story interesting to me as well is some of the people of note who have been laid to rest there. This includes…

You won’t find John “Gassy Jack” Deighton there though as he’s over in New Westminster’s Fraser Cemetery along with the likes of Raymond Burr, and Arthur McBride.

Mountain View is Vancouver’s only cemetery and they would like this open house to serve as a new introduction to this meaningful place. The event will feature tours including visits to their new water features, joss paper demonstrations, and visitors are encouraged to have a picnic near the fountain. Organizers are hoping that a visit to Mountain View with the family could become a new summer tradition for many.

I’ve only passed through during a Haunted Vancouver trolley tour but I’d be really curious to pay a visit during the day to check out all of Mountain View’s history. It may seem like an odd place to spend a Saturday afternoon but it sure is a unique way to connect with your city’s past. Mountain View also hosts “A Night for All Souls” in the fall.

Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub is located just a quick harbour ferry ride across Victoria’s inner harbour and is the home of Canada’s first purpose-built brewpub. Spinnakers produces at least ten different types of ales (not lagers) and they turn around new beers each month, often designing custom brews for community events and fundraisers.

During our visit we were lucky enough to sample some menu items, which were absolutely divine — I must have heard John say “Wow” at least a dozen times throughout the meal.

We had been to Spinnakers before but I think we just ordered pizza (which in itself is great) however we’re much happier to have explored the rest of the offerings.

Our flight of beer included a Hefeweizen, Stout, and Porter paired with lavender white chocolate truffles, dark chocolate raspberry, and another chocolate truffle topped with barley. Our final drink was a Brandenburg 3 paired with Saltspring Island cheese.

We also discovered that adjacent to the brewpub, just across the grassy courtyard, there is a selection of guest houses with lovely rooms. They include a continental breakfast, local paper and an assortment of baked goods supplied each morning. In the off season the guest rooms go for about $149 a night (and up) and in the peak summer months you can rent the entire Mary Street Cottage for $279.

Spinnakers offers local ingredients, fresh seafood, chocolate truffles made in-house, wines, vinegars (made on-site), and of course the hand-crafted beer. On top of that, they even create their own special mineral water. It’s a culinary delight in a comfortable atmosphere (darts and pool tables upstairs) with a glorious view of the harbour. Spinnakers is the epitome of eating local and is a highly recommended stop during your next trip to our Province’s capital.

Our stop at Spinnakers was during our Coast Hotels ‘New Victoria for New Media’ tour – view my Flickr set for more images.