Need something to do this weekend? Whether you're new to the city or a born-and-raised Vancouverite, here are five landmarks worth checking out.

Brockton Point Totem Poles, Stanley Park

It's said that the collection of nine totem poles standing near Brockton Point in Stanely Park is the province's most visited landmark. Originally situated at Lumberman's Arch when the Parks Board first began purchasing poles in the 1920s, the collection featured four pieces from First Nations artists from Alert Bay on Vancouver Island. Later, four more poles came from Haida Gwaii and Rivers Inlet on B.C.'s central coast, and in 1962, they were moved to their current location. Because many of the poles were carved as early as the 1880s, replicas were commissioned by the Parks Board and the originals were sent to various museums for preservation in the 1980s. The most recent addition to the Brockton Point collection was carved by Robert Yelton of the Squamish Nation, and was raised in 2009. It honours his mother, Rose Cole Yelton, the last surviving resident of Brockton Point community, who was born in what is now Stanley Park. Although the poles are all from B.C. artists, the stunning and sometimes subtle differences between them showcase just how diverse the carving style can be, and how certain figures change from one nation to the next.

Museum of Anthropology, 6393 NW Marine Drive

There are always plenty of interesting things to see at UBC’s Museum of Anthropology. Right now, in addition to the permanent collections of European ceramics and Northwest Coast art and artifacts (including works by Bill Reid), MOA has exhibitions on contemporary art from Papua New Guinea and textiles from around the world. Just as impressive, however, is the museum itself. Designed by the renowned Arthur Erickson—the man responsible for Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby Mountain campus and the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., among other significant buildings—the concrete-and-glass structure, which opened in 1976, was inspired by the post-and-beam architecture of First Nations longhouses. The grounds, which offer spectacular ocean and mountain views, also feature a reflecting pool, two re-creations of 19th-century-style Haida houses, and a number of totem poles. 

No. 5 Orange, 205 Main Street

Before the Internet offered the world instant access to free nudity, strip clubs were a big thing in Vancouver. Remember the Austin, Cecil, the Drake, Marr, Marble Arch, Champagne Charlie’s, Milltown Pub at the Fraser Arms, Cobalt, Isy’s Strip City, and the quite frankly disturbingly named Uranus Lounge on East Broadway? Today only a handful remain, the most indisputably famous being the No. 5 Orange. Because we live in politically correct times, the Downtown Eastside club doesn’t always get the respect it deserves as a Vancouver landmark, but it’s perhaps better-known internationally than the Lions Gate Bridge or Canada Place. In the mid-’80s hair-metal upstarts Bon Jovi spend time at the No. 5 Orange ogling the talent while in town recording their breakthrough album Slippery When Wet, their experiences inspiring the record’s title. Before becoming one of the grunge-’90s most iconic anti-stars Courtney Love stripped at the club, which she later referred to as the “Orange No. 5” whenever Hole played Vancouver.  The short list of celebrities that have popped in to see what pops up includes Wayne Gretzky, Bill Murray, Ted Danson, Sylvester Stallone, and members of AC/DC. And lest one think No. 5 Orange has somehow fallen out of favour in changing times, the interior was used for an extended scene in last year’s blockbuster Deadpool. Don’t pretend you didn’t recognize it.

Hastings Mill Museum, 1575 Alma Street

The Hastings Mill is, by all accounts, where Vancouver began. First built in the 1860s on the south shore of Burrard Inlet—a time when logging ruled the economy and carrying concealed handguns was still legit—the mill was the social hub of the town. As well as selling supplies like picks and nails—and, more importantly, tonic and tobacco—the building had a large fire burning that encouraged people to warm up and swap stories about who had been eaten by a bear that week. After threats of the building’s sale outraged the townspeople in the late 1920s, the mill was transported on a massive boat across the bay by a female historical society, and finally landed in its present home at the bottom of Alma Street in Point Grey. Now housing artifacts like Vancouver’s first city council table, countless relics from the 1836 steamship S.S. Beaver, and Joe Fortes’s oil lamp (yes, he’s a real person, not just a high-end Downtown steak and seafood bar), the Hastings Mill is so much more than a goldmine of inspiration for your child’s local history project.  

Celebrities, 1022 Davie Street

For the past three decades, except for some years when it sat vacant in the 1990s, Celebrities has been a familiar sight and nightlife destination in Davie Village. It received a plaque from the Vancouver Heritage Foundation in 2013—shortly after an extensive renovation a few months previous—in recognition of its long history, and it continues to be one of the city’s leading LGBT–straight crossover nightspots. First, though, the venerable building, which was constructed in 1908, was called Lester Court and housed a dance academy. Then Murdo and Katherine MacDonald bought it in the 1930s and renamed it the Embassy Ballroom, a spot for big-band enthusiasts to dance themselves silly. In the early 1960s, now called the Pillar and Post Cabaret, it closed due to lack of business. A new operator changed the name to Dante’s Inferno in the mid-’60s, and a new era had begun for music and the club, which segued into the famous Retinal Circus and saw many soon-to-be-famous bands in its first couple of years. Just a few: Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Velvet Underground, Country Joe and the Fish, the Animals, Muddy Waters, Youngbloods, and dozens of Vancouver-area bands that were well-known in the Age of Aquarius. In the late ’60s, Tommy Chong (of Cheech and Chong fame) operated an after-hours club called the Elegant Parlour in the building’s basement, where touring musicians would gather and jam. A late-night visit by the Supreme’s ended up in Chong’s band getting a Motown record contract.