Landon Tour Bus

Saturday was spent touring Vancouver proper with Duane and family, the Landon tour bus pulled up in front of our marina and we hopped in for a drive around beautiful Stanley Park named after Lord Stanley, a British politician and governor general in the late 1800’s.  The Park is surrounded by Vancouver Harbour and English Bay, offering bicycle paths, play areas, beaches, a teahouse, and an outdoor swimming pool.  Circling back into town, we drove past the impressive cauldron at the Jack Poole Plaza which was lit for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. 

Gastown District, Vancouver B.C.

Next stop was Gastown, which is similar to our Pioneer Square with pretty tree-lined streets, historic buildings, and lovely ornate lamps.  Gastown was Vancouver’s first downtown core and is named after “Gassy” Jack Deighton, a steamboat captain who arrived in 1867 and opened the area’s first saloon.  We stopped for some souvenir shopping and to have lunch at the Steam Works Brewery, we had such a nice time bonding with family and helping Porter celebrate his upcoming 12^th birthday. 

The Steam Clock in Gastown, Vancouver

While in Gastown we visited the steam-powered clock, a must see.  Although not built until 1977, the Steam Clock is styled to appear as a 19^th century antique.  The clock is powered by a small one-inch piston engine supplied with low pressure steam from the centralized steam heating system that serves a portion of downtown Vancouver.  The engine drives a gear train, which drives an ascending chain lift to lift ball weights.  The ball weights travel to a top track and load onto a drive chain providing the driving force to the clock while the ball weights descend.  Five steam whistles are mounted on top the clock case, the large central whistle counts off the full hours and the four auxiliary whistles produce the Westminster “chime” every 15 minutes. 

The Police Museum

Soon it was time to plug the parking meter with additional coins and hike a few blocks to the Police Museum which proved to be another interesting stop.  The museum is housed in a historic building that once served as the coroner’s court, the city’s morgue and autopsy facilities, and the city crime laboratory.  The museum houses numerous artifacts, including Thompson sub-machine guns and other confiscated weapons as well as photos and documents of crime scenes. 

Morgue at the Police Museum

The room which served as the morgue is also open to the public.  A bullet hole can still be seen in the window of the morgue where a would-be assassin attempted to kill the pathologist who was getting ready to examine a body. 

A Murder Attempt

Someone was in the back alley waiting for the pathologist to wash his hands near the window and fire upon the one person who could find the secrets the body would divulge.  Fortunately the bullet missed its mark and the autopsy was completed.  A short walk southeast of Gastown lead us into Chinatown where we strolled through several markets displaying dried fish, shrimp, and other items that we couldn’t identify.  The area, obviously less fortunate, stands in stark contrast to cosmopolitan Vancouver; the boundary line is quite abrupt and is clearly obvious. 

Market in Chinatown

In the early years, social, economic, and political restrictions hindered the development of the Chinese community. 

Dried Mushrooms?

Today, wealthy Chinese, mostly from Hong Kong, live throughout the various districts in greater Vancouver, including the suburb of Richmond where fifty percent of the population is Chinese.  As a result, Chinatown has declined over the years.  Nevertheless, it’s an interesting area to visit and there have been recent efforts to revitalize historic Chinatown.  Our day out with the family was coming to an end but we reminded ourselves that quality is better than quantity.  We said our goodbyes and walked back to our marina while Duane and family departed southwest for Granville Island before heading home to Seattle.  We will miss their company and adventuresome spirit.