On Saturday night before taking in the Von Bondies show at Richards on Richards, we walked down into Yaletown for a quick pint. Milestones looked packed so we walked about 200 yards past it and stopped it at another restaurant.
As the waitress was pouring John’s Guinness into his glass I noticed something and couldn’t get out the words, “ugh lipstick marks!” until it was too late. His glass indeed had lip imprints caked on by the dishwasher (at least we hope).
Henry sent me a link through del.icio.us to this CBC story on Friday, “49 Metro Vancouver restaurants have violated health standards since January.” Sure enough, I checked the attached PDF and Saturday’s restaurant was on there for “Pest infestation, Failure to maintain premises, equipment and utensils in sanitary conditions.” I wish we would have seen this before the weekend but I’m also pretty glad all we did was have a pint.
The PDF contains 48 more establishments around Metro Vancouver that have failed to comply to health standards over the last few months. It also lists the dates that these places were closed and reopened although unfortunately I think Saturday’s restaurant hasn’t quite learned their lesson yet. I suggest you take a quick look before planning your next dine-out experience.
A while back our friend DaveO suggested a grand tour of local and city-run par three golf courses in and around Vancouver. Seeing as how I’ve only played courses in Surrey, and one pitch and putt in Vancouver, I figured this would be an excellent opportunity to play and tell as we go.
Here’s a quick list of some local Pitch and Putts, all of which are low-dough (under $12 to play 18 holes).
Park Use Clearly marked trails make for nice long walks. Central Park also offers children playground and a great pitch-and-putt for those of you who love golf. If you are a nature lover, this urban forest will give you lots of trees to enjoy a relaxing afternoon.
History “According to The Greater Vancouver Book (Editor in Chief: Chuck Davis)1, it was once a naval reserve set aside as a source of masts and spars for ships of the Royal Navy. The park was named to honour Mrs. David Oppenheimer, the wife of Vancouver’s second mayor, who was born in New York City.” [Central Park, Burnaby Wikipedia]
Notes I normally would only swing by Central Park whenever I visit my Burnaby-based friends. I expected it to be incredibly busy. However, I found that it was really nice to just walk around with my friend and spend a leisurely evening without all the hordes of people that flock to Stanley Park or Queen Elizabeth Park.
If you’re a driver in downtown Vancouver the beginning of June might cause you a few headaches. Aside from the “usual” Canada Line or water main construction, June is “Bike Month” in the city and several events will be taking place that involve some major road closures.
Triathlon Vancouver: The Triathlon events will cause a few disruptions along some major arteries from June 1st until the 9th. On Thursday June 5th things kick off with the Parade of Nations along Beach Avenue, starting at the Inukshuk at English Bay. Access to Stanley Park by vehicle will be either limited or completely cut off during the week as well. One Sunday June 8th Davie street will also be closed from Denman to Burrard.
Car Free Day Vancouver: This year’s Car Free Day involves several communities across the city simultaneously: Cambie Street, Kitsilano, Main Street, Marpole, and the West End. As you can probably deduce, roads in those areas will be closed.
Something that doesn’t involve road closures but still encourages alternate forms of transport is the Commuter Challenge: “The Commuter Challenge is a nation-wide event that promotes friendly competition among organizations and cities to see who can get the highest percentage of employees out of single occupancy vehicles and into healthier and cleaner modes of commuting such as walking, cycling, transit, carpooling, vanpooling and teleworking. This year the Commuter Challenge runs from June 2-June 6.” The Commuter Challenge is in honor of Canadian Environment Week, June 1-7, 2008 and Clean Air Day on June 4th.
For anyone making the change from gas guzzler to pedal power, the City of Vancouver issued a handy Bike Route Map in 2007 that should prove to be pretty useful.
After rescheduling from late April until this weekend, I’m pretty darn ready to go see the Von Bondies rock out at Richards on Richards tomorrow night.
In all honesty I was first introduced to them when I started watching Rescue Me, as their song C’mon C’mon plays during the opening credits.
It wasn’t until John started sharing more of their songs with me that I truly started rocking out to all things Von Bondies, starting with their second album Pawn Shoppe Heart in 2005.
Advance tickets are $12.00, though Ticketmaster and Zulu Records. Those who had tickets for the original show on April 25th (like us) will be able to use them tomorrow (doors are at 7:00pm).
