Ford Pier

Solo musician, founder of the rock band the Vengeance Trio, and founder of the string quartet Strength of Materials

Dream Vancouver summer day: Rain. So I can watch a baseball game or read a book on the couch with my hilarious and lovely wife without feeling guilty about not being out climbing a mountain or basking like a walrus in one of the gravel quarries we use for beaches or frolicking in the frigid oily brack that washes up against them or otherwise engaging in any of the emblematically “Vancouver” activities our town is most bruited for. As such pastimes go, my speed is more savouring the shriek of idling Maseratis, not making eye contact with mendicants, and indulging in the character-building exercise of not making vomit noises whenever somebody uses the word “location”. But if that were all there was to it, I would have left long ago. No, for me it’s all about the people who live here that I’m lucky to work and play with. They are by far and away Vancouver’s most valuable resource and most attractive feature. My frequent interface with them is important to me, and is the disport most likely to interrupt my estivation.

So, I would be pleased if, at some point in the late afternoon on this ideal summer’s day, the rains would cease, permitting a walk through one of the city’s remaining unspoiled residential neighbourhoods (Mount Pleasant, Trout Lake, Strathcona, Hastings-Commercial) to meet with some of them for dinner (La Quercia, Peaceful, Grub), drinks (the Narrow, the Bottleneck, the Sylvia), and dancing (the Rickshaw, Vancouver Playhouse, China Cloud), or some combination thereof (the Lido, WISE Hall, LanaLou’s). This ideal day in Vancouver finishes off as it doesn’t often enough IRL with ice cream from Rain or Shine, Earnest, La Casa Gelato (a truly magical place), or any spot that carries my favourite, Salt Lick.

Should any of these conditions be prevented from being met, acceptable alternatives include VanDusen Botanical Garden, the Maritime Museum, the H.R. McMillan Space Centre, the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, or Nat Bailey Stadium, especially if there’s time to walk at least part of the way there. The summertime is for connecting with the city and its people on foot.

Best summery Vancouver thing I’ve never done: Hand on heart, as a motorist, I have never executed a left-hand turn after a light has turned red, but it looks like such fun that I’m dying to try!