The swaying Canadian suspension bridge....
We had taken the morning ferry and were looking at a map in North Vancouver. We're looking for a famous "hanging" bridge nearby.
The big surprise was hopping on a city bus down by the ferry boat landing and riding up the hills in the suburbs.
Past all the chain fast food places and a few shops that clearly were Canadian.
The yellow pull cord pings and the bus slows to a stop. Huh?
The crowd starts to get off and we ask
"is this the bridge?"
The driver points across the street to the entrance of a woody nature park.
Yep, this is it. I can see some tall totems just inside the gate.
Nice neighbourhood.
The
Capilano Suspension Bridge is impressive.
Overheard a guide tell a nervous lady that the bridge was strong enough to support it completely filled with people - stacked 7 high.
I was ready to venture out.
Nobody was being placed on top of another.
As the link explains, it's a woody park with the Capilano River running white water 200 feet below the bridge.
If that's not daring or daunting enough, you also can "space walk" out on an arc that juts out from the side of a mountain.
Or climb up to a series of walkway-connected tree houses high above the forest floor.
Remember, this is just a few blocks away from a drive-through McDonald's.
And, back in Vancouver, we still planned to visit the
Jimi Hendrix Shrine at the Backpackers Hostel.
That's another kind of high near Chinatown.
With our feet firmly back on the ground, we found tranquil little parks in the midst of downtown high rise.
The excellent ground and water transportation system opens the whole area to visitors.
A
Hop On - Hop Off bus offered a variety of drivers as you explored the city.
The slogan is
"Very friendly and informative with a great sense of humour."
(Click on the photos for more detail).
It is so much fun to relive a vacation by editing photos!
Double your pleasure.
.
Labels: Backpackers Hostel. Hop on-Hop Off tours., Capilano River, Jimi Henrdrix, McDonald's, North Vancouver, Please click http://photo.meetup.com/687., suspension bridge
New & Old things on Patriot's Point....
It's been years since I went to a
Party At The Point on a Friday afternoon.
I believe I was still working for the paper so more than 8 years ago.
I covered bars, clubs and music venues for
InfoLine so I went pretty often
That's a long run for outdoor entertainment. On a beach venue with no roof.
Weather MIGHT be a factor when you have electrically amplified music.
But,
Will Hoge draws a crowd, despite threatening clouds.
Just before he started, it got cooler and the wind picked up.
I noticed the giant inflated McDonald's promotional arches tilted back a bit.
It was safely tethered so it didn't fly away.
Dark clouds skittered overhead.
Menacing looking.
The view of downtown was becoming more and more dramatic.
All around me people stood waiting.
Or sat in their folding chairs, sipping beverages.
And eating tacos. Nice party. Then the rains poured down.
Yes. You're right.
I
AM huddled under the twin arches.
The angle kept the rain off me and my camera.
And blocked the wind-driven sheets of chilly rain.
Many who had brought chairs now unfurled giant umbrellas.
Will Hoge continued playing as the sound man placed protective tarps over his equipment. There was no lightning so the show continued.
Suddenly a lady waded into the crowd around me and started shoving the arches to an upright position. There were vocal complaints of
"hey, you're getting us wet!"
She responded
"This is my exhibit and I'm taking it down to protect it."
I quickly scampered along the muddy boardwalk back up to the roof-covered patio by the resort hotel.
It was dry there but you couldn't hear the music.
As I drove away, I remembered that a new restaurant had just opened by the Omar Shrine Temple.
Hey, it was on my way home and I needed to dry off.
I ducked in to see what changes had been made to what had been called the Point Grille.
I had used its separate dining room for quarterly luncheons for about 5 years.
I chatted with Chuck Isenberg, the
Harbor Breeze general manager, when I went in and looked around.
They had done a complete makeover and changed the whole dynamics of the main dining room and bar area.
I sat at the bar with a Holy City Pluff Mud Porter and talked to two patrons.
One was a frequent visitor (it had opened softly two weeks ago) and he noted the friendly staff and neighborly feeling.
I waited until the other gentleman finished off his grilled salmon and had his wine glass refilled.
"I see you took a picture of the wine bottle. You should actually try some. It's good," he commented.
Owner of a business in Columbia, he said he and his wife came to Charleston often, liked the old Grille and are pleased with the new dining spot.
He echoed praise for the friendly atmosphere and said the food was worth return visits.
Labels: Grille, Harbor Breeze, McDonald's, Omar Shrine Temple, Party At The Point, Please click http://photo.meetup.com/687., Post and Courier Retirees Group, Will Hoge
The Pipes They Are A-Calling....
Yes. The 39th annual
Scottish Games at Boone Hall.
Well, technically it's called the
"Charleston Scottish Games & Highland Gathering."But it's the place where each year you can get some haggis (the "other" other white meat?) and a Scottish Egg.
In Glasgow it's just called Egg.
My cousin Leslie in Camden is a
ROSS so she has a clan table set up each year and invites me to come share some heritage.
Naturally I take my camera with me and caught some hammer-throwing action this year.
When you fling a boomerang, it comes flying back to you.
These do not!
In the Caber Toss I noticed again that it takes four strong people to lug the 20-foot long telephone pole to the contestant.
Then the burly fellow hoists it up so the small end rests in his palms and he staggers forward to gain momentum and gives it a mighty heave.
To win this contest the pole has to land on the bigger end, bounce forward and topple down so the small end points away from the thrower.
Landing at the
"12 O'Clock" position is the ideal and one succeeded in doing that Saturday.
I had asked my cousin if I could bring lunch? I said I could stop at Burger King.
She answered she would have a lunch spread ready - and it was great - and added
"doing it my way" would not be cool this year.
The featured group this year was
Clan Donald.
Mc and
Mac means
"son of."
(Click on the photos for more detail. Taken with my Canon S90) Thanks.
Labels: "Have It Your Way", 39th annual Scottish Games, Boone Hall Plantation, Burger King, Clan Donald, Clan Ross, McDonald's
He "Kilt" the audience....
Of course there was a McDonald's presence at the 37th annual
Scottish Games & Highland Gathering at Boone Hall.
There was the sponsorship booth with the double arches but also the tale sung by internationally famed Scottish folk singer
Alex Beaton about the
Massacre of the McDonald Clan by the Campbell's at Glencoe.
My blog often involves local music so his rich baritone voice and guitar work needed to be noted.
Tossing of the Caber was another event that drew lots of interest.
And well it should.
The Caber looks like a 16' telephone pole - it takes 4 people to bring it to the thrower - and weighs between 80 and 130 pounds.
These burly fellows hefted it by the "small" end, got it balanced and then ran forward.
The "toss" was to make it bounce on the heavy end and then fall after flipping so the small end faced away from them. Yikes.
My cousin is part of the
Ross Clan and comes down from Camden. She invited me to join her in their tent for the gathering.
I declined again to have some
Haggis, which I tried in Scotland many years ago, but missed an opportunity to try a deep-fried
Scottish Egg.
Labels: Alex Beaton, baritone, caber toss, Camden, Campbell's, folk-singer, Glencoe, haggis, Highland Gathering, massacre, McDonald's, Ross Clan, Scottish egg, Scottish Games, tartans
