Harry Jerome | Stanley Park

Thursday | 23 August 2001 | Vancouver, British Columbia: Half of our waiting is over! The tire arrived from Abbotsford, B.C. and a guy brought it over today, jacked the motor home up and replaced the tire. It was yet another dreary, rainy, cold, cloudy day in Vancouver. We have not had even a glimpse of the sun since our arrival, but hopefully this rain is reaching the forest fires in the Rocky Mountains. Capilano RV Park has a dodgy electrical system and every time I turn on the heater, I blow the breaker! Brrr!

While DT waited for the tire guy, I took the car and drove over to the nearby Safeway. It was the first time I had driven in a month - except for moving the BC2 behind the motor home when we were hitching or unhitching, I have not been behind the wheel. (Probably hundreds of Canadians are thankful for this fact.) I wanted to peruse the aisles - lots of good stuff in the local grocery stores, many things I like from the UK and many things Lisa enjoys - so I stocked-up some of our favorites. 
 
This afternoon, the under-repair mirror-eating bridge was going to close overnight, and we were having dinner on the other side, so we left early and drove into downtown Vancouver for touristing and shopping. Since the weather was very bad, we tried to remain inside the covered shopping areas and indoor malls. We had a good time, enjoying the shops and people-watching. Our dollar goes far and even DT was tempted to do a little clothes shopping - something he rarely does without Lisa's critiquing-eye. We found even more fun food gifts in the Market Square of The Hudson's Bay Company, stopping to enjoy a cup of tea ourselves. We also walked through Eaton's Department Store - very smart - and bought a small box of famous Purdy's Chocolates.
 
On the way to dinner, we drove through rain-soaked Stanley Park. While driving past Brockton Oval, DT was reminded of another terrible time he had in Vancouver, probably in 1977 or 1978 - in this very park. We flew up here so he could run in the Canadian Cross Country Championships - and he had a terrible race! But, DT was cheered up a bit when we came upon a statue of Harry Jerome, Canadian Athlete of the Century and University of Oregon Duck track team member!

Duck Harry Jerome


Totems in Stanley Park

Stanley Park is very beautiful, a huge urban park full of paths, ponds, a track, a lawn bowling club, yacht club, beaches, picnic grounds, horse-drawn carriages, an aquarium and a children's petting zoo, with a paved path wrapping all around the park's seawall. It is heavily forested - a rain forest - with huge, old cedars and lush with ferns. There are several restaurants, kiosks and souvenir shops. Continuing our drive along the parkway, we had a lovely view to really put us back in a funk:

Lion's Gate: mirror and tire-eating bridge

But no worries - our evening was just about to get to near perfection - we were dining at the Teahouse at Ferguson Point in Stanley Park! (NOTE: The Tea House is now called The Sequoia Grill.) We have been lucky enough to dine here a few times before and have never been disappointed. The Teahouse is in the quaintest building, ivy-covered and surrounded by beautiful gardens. There is a large conservatory at one end and large windows in the smaller, cozy dining room overlooking the sea. We had a very romantic, candle-lit table for two - complete with white orchids, a wonderful attentive waitress (from Edmonton) who kept bringing me icy cold gin tonics. With lemon. Just perfect. The restaurant is very famous and now has a very Pacific Rim-style menu as the new chef is Chinese. (NOTE: No longer true - a new chef too.) I had a vegan dinner of fried tofu, served with broccolini and shitake mushrooms in a spicy green cashew, ginger and soy sauce. This heavenly plate was garnish with my favorite greens - pea sprouts! I was nearly squealing with delight! DT had the seared Ahi, with wasabi and soy sauce. He claimed it was the most tender tuna he has ever eaten. We were most pleased with our meals and have proclaimed tonight's dinner the "Best of the Trip".
 
To get back to Goldie, which was sitting just across the water from the restaurant - on the other side of the closed bridge - we had to drive all the way through Vancouver to Highway 1 West and cross the Narrows Bridge. This time, DT made the turn into the RV Park! What a nice day - considering we are just waiting for parts (no word yet on the mirror's arrival) and had terrible weather.
 
NOTE FROM LISA: She phoned this morning to say goodbye as she is off to no-cell-service-land: rafting in West Virginia with GW Pan-Hellenic. Okay, all together now... begin humming the theme song to Deliverance.

RV Park: Capilano RV Park