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15 Things We Love About Vancouver: September

Historic Burnaby Art Gallery

1 Watching Antony and Cleopatra (to Sep. 24) at Bard on the Beach.
2 Sara Canning. The actress wasn’t born here, but we still claim her as a local.
3 Shakin’ your groove thang at the city’s most popular nightclubs.
4 Burnaby Art Gallery and all the other sights in Deer Lake Park.
5 Eating at any of the local cooking schools, such as Bistro 101 at Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, Culinaria at The Art Institute of Vancouver, and JJ’s Restaurant at Vancouver Community College.
6 The annual Terry Fox Run (Sep. 19), raising money for cancer research.
7 Local wineries.
8 Taking the first ferry to Victoria or Nanaimo and watching the sun rise.

Perch on "Echoes" by Michael Goulet. Photo by KK Law

9 “Echoes” by Michel Goulet, an art installation on Kits Beach and part of the Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale.
10 Dining at Earls.
11 Robert Bateman. The Canadian painter is visiting Vancouver to meet fans and sign copies of his new book, Bateman: New Works, at Chapters on South Granville (Sep. 25, 2 p.m.).
12 Reading reminiscences of a month’s eating in Paris in Cooking for Me and Sometimes You: A Parisienne Romance with Recipes (French Apple Press, $29.95) by Barbara-Jo McIntosh, owner of Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks, which stocks every tome a budding chef could ever need.
13 The Superdogs at the PNE (to Sep. 6).
14 Indulging our sweet tooth at Stuart’s Bakery.
15 Dropping by The Granville Island Brewing Tap Room for a pint of Brockton IPA—and picking up some small-batch beers to take home after.

BC Ferries: By the Numbers

In honour of BC Ferries’ 50th birthday, we present some other important numbers in the history of this passenger ferry line that connects the province’s coastal communities

By Sheri Radford

1 We’re number one! BC Ferries is North America’s largest passenger ferry line.

2 On June 15, 1960 (its first official day of sailing), BC Ferries was named the British Columbia Toll Authority Ferry System and it consisted of just two ships—the MV Tsawwassen and the MV Sidney—and two terminals—Swartz Bay on the Victoria side and Tsawwassen on the Vancouver side. The company has grown to 36 vessels and 47 ports of call.

Photo of BC Ferries vessel in Howe Sound near Vancouver by Tom Ryan, courtesy Tourism BC

16 Back in 1960, it cost $5 for a car and $2 for a passenger to ride the ferry. Those rates remained the same for the next 16 years.

24 In the past half a century, 24 babies have bounced into the world on BC Ferries vessels.

95 It takes approximately 95 minutes to travel from the Lower Mainland to Vancouver Island, via either the Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay route or the Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay route. The slightly longer Tsawwassen to Duke Point route clocks in at 120 minutes.

2, 100 Bigger is better: the largest ships in the fleet, the Spirit of British Columbia and the Spirit of Vancouver Island, measure 167 m (548 ft) long and carry 2,100 passengers and crew on the Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay route. In comparison, the 34-m- (112-ft-) long Nimpkish carries 125 people.

185,000 BC Ferries conducts 185,000 sailings annually.

702,000,000 Each year, the company transports more than 20 million people. To date, more than 702 million passengers have travelled on BC Ferries. Just think of all the hamburgers and Captain Kids Meals.

For more information, click here.

15 Things We Love About Vancouver: July

BC Ferries photo by Andrea Johnson courtesy Tourism BC

1 BC Ferries, now celebrating its 50th birthday.
2 Heading east to visit Fort Langley (where BC had its beginnings) before lunch overlooking the vines at Domaine de Chaberton Winery’s Bacchus Bistro.
3 Joshua Jackson. He was born in Vancouver, he appeared in The Mighty Ducks and Dawson’s Creek, and he’s back in town right now shooting the third season of Fringe.
4 Why I Love Vancouver, by Linda Solomon. Find it at local bookstores.
5 Shopping for everything local at Trout Lake (and other) farmers’ markets.
6 Hanging out all morning in wide-open garage-door cafes, such as JJ Bean Coffee Roasters at Main and 14th and Kitsilano’s Bistrot Bistro.
7 Fireworks during the HSBC Celebration of Light (Jul. 21, 24, 28, 31).

Fireworks photo by Danielle Hayes courtesy Tourism Vancouver

8 Celebrating Canada Day (Jul. 1).

9 The seawall.

10 Listening to the waves lapping while barbecuing hamburgers on Third Beach as the sun sets somewhere behind Howe Sound.
11 Dapper dogs in mini tuxedos. Find clothes for your own posh pooch at Barking Babies.
12 Spending an afternoon strolling through the Vancouver Art Gallery.
13 Unusual cuts of meat on the menus at Salt, Refuel, Campagnolo and The Irish Heather, part of the “waste not, want not” philosophy of the local nose-to-tail dining movement. Your taste buds won’t be disappointed.
14 Totem poles in Stanley Park.
15 Perfect summer days that never seem to end.

Hot Essentials: Come Sail Away

One of the three ships with 2010 Winter Games motifs, part of the BC Ferries fleet since 2008. Photo courtesy BC Ferries

Explore beautiful British Columbia with the help of BC Ferries, which makes regular sailings to the Sunshine Coast, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands). For an easy day trip, head to Victoria, our historic provincial capital.—Kristina Urquhart