We picked a free weekend and lucked into it coinciding with the last night of the Celebration of Light fireworks festival. We wanted to make a weekend of it so I found a hotel on line that seemed to be in the right area - near the beach for the fireworks, close to Stanley Park and walking distance to the touristy False Creek Ferries. The price wasn't too bad ($130) considering the location (one block to the beach) so I booked it. Later Kim found out it was a hotel and apartment, so we didn't know if I had found a gem or a crack house. You can't trust the internet for anything.
Of course going to Canada means going through the border, which is why we so seldom go, but the trip north wasn't too bad. Upon checking in to the hotel we noticed a lot of security monitors so Kim and I had a hushed conversation exchanging words like "dive," "shabby" and "do you want to leave?" We hung in and braved it. We're both glad we did. The room was a bit down at heel, the torn couch could not be a selling point. But the thing was a suite - two bedrooms, a living room, dining area and kitchen. We could have stayed a week.
Maybe we could have without Jack. That guy makes me look like a good traveller. Blame the heat, his lack of eating, being cooped up in the car and just out of his element but he can be a monumental crank. We tried to take things slow, we started off at the beach so the boys could play in the sand and wade in the surf and that seemed to work for a few minutes. But once we started walking (with Jack being carried) he was nothing by complaints. Eventually he did all asleep in my arms and that was just heaven, of course. Not because of the quiet, but it is still a rare joy for him to cuddle.
Carrying him while trying not to wake him made getting on the boats dicey, but I managed. We took the ferries to visit some waterfront attractions - Granville Island, Plaza of Nations and the Tellus World of Science. Don't bother, well if you go into Science World let me know. We skipped it mainly do to the price. Whew! But the boats were fun, plus they provided both a nice view and a welcome breeze. They also put us in line for the Sky Train which Lucas was excited about. We rode it downtown, went broke buying souvenirs then hopped a bus back to the hotel. Circle complete. Lucas took the downtime as an opportunity to veg in front of the TV. I can report he took to it like a fish to water. We'll continue with our limited TV policy at home.
Our friends Jon, Katy, Xander and Thrace agreed to come up to see the fireworks. They got to town in the late afternoon and made a bee-line for the beach. They wanted to stake out a good viewing spot. They'd done this before and knew their business. I never saw an official guesstimate, but I will venture that there were near four hundred thousand people gathered for the show. It was incredible. The crowd I mean, the show was even better.
We went to the beach and found Jon and company, they even saved us spots. But due to the kids and our tiredness we ended up going back to the hotel to watch. We had a million dollar view from our dump, and I cannot say enough about how wonderful the fireworks were. That may be because of where I'm from. But I don't think many of the Fourth of July celebration in the big cities could even compare with the arsenal that China threw into the air. The Chinese know what they're doing when it comes to gun powder. They've had some practice, and it showed.
So it ended up being a late night for all of us. Still I woke early and decided to walk downtown to see the Olympic countdown clock. Chivalrous that I am, I offered to pick Kim up some coffee. On my trek I noticed some chairs set up on the curb facing the street, making me think there was a parade planned. I found someone to ask and sure enough the Gay Pride Parade was happening later that morning. Now this could be interesting.
We were in the heart of the gay community. You could tell from all the rainbow flags and the large number of same sex couples about. I have pretty good gaydar and it picks up on these things. I'm not saying I could pass as a native, but when I see two men holding hands I think "fags." My imagination ran wild with the possible things we'd see on the floats and I had some very entertaining notions. I envisioned bawdry and lewd but not quite obscene. But I knew in my heart of hearts that my small town existence did not provide me with a pallet large enough to paint the pictures we could see that day. I'm pretty sure the flamboyance to be displayed was well beyond my imagination. Again, this could be interesting.
However, and you knew there'd be a catch, I didn't think we should stay. Kim agreed by the way. Everyone was ready to be home. I saw two catches, the street we were parked on was going to be closed. So we were going to be trapped for God knows how long. Plus Jack didn't need any ideas. I was fine with the boys seeing whatever would come down the street, and while I didn't look forward to explaining any of it to Lucas I also figured Jack spends enough time with at least one hand down his pants that he doesn't need massed encouragement.
But let me tell you about my favorite sight. Nothing from the waterfront, nor the boats, not the fireworks nor any of my imagined paraders. No, my favorite walked by me as I was waiting for our dinner outside a pizza place. I was just sitting there, minding my own business watching the thousands of people walk to the beach. There were people of every description in varying states of undress so the odds of spotting some good were very good, and I was not disappointed. It was a man who walked in front of me, and I'm sad to say I didn't see him coming or I would have taken his picture. He was wearing bright/lurid/technicolor spandex pants, he covered the bulbous region (thankfully) with some very, very short shorts. He also had a tank top, one sleeve - the sort I wear for biking which is basically spandex for your arm (in his case singular), only his was covered in rainbow sequins. If that wasn't enough he carried on his shoulder a boom box, which is always entertaining. But the best part was on his back, he had a little cardboard sign with his name one it - Spandy Andy.
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