Vancouver
September 10th, 2010
Yo Mamma Mamma
When a kids group plays Coachella and is the inspiration behind Brad Pitt's Halloween costume, you know it's captured the zeitgeist.
DJ Lance Rock and the Gabba Gang are taking their hip show on the road to select Canadian cities. High-energy and interactive, the magical boom box will be pumping, and the Dancey Dance section will include a top secret guest at every show (past participants include Sarah Silverman and Snoop Dog). Just try not to push the kids out of the way when you rush the stage.
Tour dates and tickets at www.yogabbagabbalive.com/tickets
June 24th, 2010
Unhurried in Harrison
An hour and a half outside of Vancouver, the city girl in us happily went country with the other kind of wild weekend in Harrison-Agassiz.
stay
Whether you vacationed there as a kid or not, the Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa will have you feeling nostalgic (think Kellerman’s Resort in Dirty Dancing). In between dips in the hot mineral pools and sessions at the Healing Springs Spa, make sure you reserve one night to mambo like Baby and Johnny at the historic Copper Room. Book a deluxe lakeview suite in the East Tower or really commit to the kitsch in one of their retro cottages. Rooms $159-$284, www.harrisonresort.comeat
Hop in the hybrid and take a self-guided Circle Farm Tour of the area. There are stops for everything from coffee to hazelnuts, but our faves are the artisan cheeses from the award-winning Farm House Cheeses and Limbert Mountain Farm with its hillside garden of herbs and quaint tea room where they serve up scrumptious lunch and afternoon tea on weekends. www.circlefarmtour.comIf you’re the biking type, then you’ll want to set aside August 21 for the Slow Food Cycle, which stops at those same spots, and ends with a Chehalis Traditional Salmon Feast. www.slowfoodvancouver.com
do
Take the gang on a tour of the Harrison River by boat to see wildlife (a Sasquatch even) and let the wind blow in your hair. Especially spectacular is the Fall Eagle Tour, where hundreds perch to feast on spawning salmon. Or if you prefer to do the fishing yourself, catch and release trips can be arranged. www.harrisonecotours.comCheck out photos from our Harrison-Agassiz getaway on the Editors’ Diary.
October 24th, 2008
THRILLS AND CHILLS
With All Hallow’s Eve just around the bend, we boarded the Haunted Vancouver Trolley Tour looking for a real scare.
And squealer than real it was, with detailed accounts of local murders and crime scene artifacts. Departing from the Vancouver Museum, the tour takes you to a few of Vancouver’s more haunting historical landmarks—like the famed F.L. Baker residence at 3851 Osler Avenue and Mountain View Cemetery. It also provides a chilling and scintillating portrait of our city’s darker side, from the unsolved mystery of the Scottish Nightingale to Stanley Park’s Babes in the Woods.
It’s the last leg of the tour (pun intended) which stops at the old city morgue for an autopsy demonstration that will really have you squirming.
Nothing a stiff drink can’t cure.
The Haunted Vancouver Trolley Tours depart between 7-9 p.m. and run until November 1, 2008, advance tickets $28, available through Ticketmaster.
September 23rd, 2008
MODERN LOVE
So what if Frank Lloyd Wright invented the carport? We still love Modernist architecture in all its forms.
Vancouver is lucky to have built out during the height of the movement, with stunning examples of post-and-beam homes from the British Properties to Southlands to Burnaby Heights.
So if Douglas Coupland hasn’t invited you over to check out his Ron Thom-designed spread, you can get an intimate glimpse of the style during Heritage Vancouver’s annual Mid-Century Modern bus tour that takes you inside five private residences. This year’s lineup is reported to be the best yet, with the highly-guarded addresses including an Erickson, a Thom, and three gardens designed by the legendary Cornelia Oberlander.
The last residence will host a wine tasting for guests (hopefully in a sunken living room with floor-to-ceiling windows).
After all, the open-plan living room is another of Wright’s legacies.
Saturday, October 4, 1 p.m.-6 p.m., $100 per person ($50 tax receipt). Seventy seats only. www.vancouverheritagefoundation.org
July 21st, 2005
FAMILY MATTERS
The family from back East is coming to stay, and you just can't fathom taking them to Granville Island to videotape cantaloupes yet again.
Here's an idea: send them on a power boat tour of the Vancouver harbour, where they'll get to see the Port in action, the underbelly of the Lion's Gate Bridge, and get up close to the harbour seals, all narrated by a live guide and on-board videos by a former CBC producer.
Cost: $49.
Getting rid of the in-laws for an entire afternoon? All together now: Priceless.
Read more at www.portsalive.com




