Monday, November 15, 2010

Should I stay(cation), or should I go (to White Rock)?

This is Day One of my staycation! I've been to the art gallery and am now poncing about in a cafe with my MacBook, pretending to be a writer. Too bad I forgot to clean the laptop screen and outer casing before I came out, but hey, maybe the smudges add to the bohemian look.

I originally declared the weekend that's just finished to be the beginning of my staycation, but then Nina pointed out on Facebook that it doesn't count because I didn't stay at home. So let's call it a pre-staycation vacation.

It was another moment of genius from Mr E Man. Our friend and former tenant had invited us for dinner and a mini-party in White Rock, about a 40 minute drive away. Recent changes to the BC drinking and driving laws mean that two glasses of wine now put you over the limit, so a commitment to driving home would also be a commitment to being the only sober people at the party (and this friend is known for her parties). She said we could stay over - but she'd made the same offer to several other people, mostly our biggest male friends, and only has a small apartment. Images of drunken, snoring sardines swam into my mind... 

...until Saturday lunch time, when Mr E Man said "right, let's get a B&B and make a weekend of it".

I knew I married a genius.

Amazingly for a miserably wet weekend in November, the first few places we called were full, but we found somewhere eventually. According to Google Maps it was 600 metres from our friend's house - score! So we threw some stuff in a bag, gave the kitties some extra food and water, and jumped in the car.

Now, I'd never been to White Rock before, but it instantly looked very familiar. Like many places in and around Vancouver, I'm sure it's been featured in a gazillion movies and TV shows (checks IMDB: yep, items 2-7 on the list explain it). We checked into our B&B, ran a couple of errands (our friend had called while we were on the road with a unique request: "hey, can ya pick up a couple of laser pointers for me?"), and then - because my parents raised me to always politely support the local brewing and hospitality industries of every vacation destination - it was time to meet up with some other visiting friends for the Canucks-Leafs hockey game! And what a game it was - with two parties of Leafs fans present in the bar, for added fun and insults.

Game over, we headed to dinner (three different kinds of lasagna) and the after-party. It was great fun, even though I got into a rather heated argument of the cyclist vs. motorist variety (hey, Mr E Man warned the guy not to start with me on that topic...) I met some lovely new people, and had a very deep and meaningful conversation with one of our quieter friends, who later drunkenly declared "I'm so happy that you and [Mr E Man] met each other!"

Good times...

...until it was time to go home.

I'd noticed on our way in that White Rock streets are on some of the steepest hills in existence. I mean, seriously, it's like they paved some cliffs on a dare and called them roads. Some of the sidewalks have to have hand rails and little mini-risers to stop people's legs from running away with them when they walk downhill.

And the 600 metres back to the B&B?

Uphill.

That was fun. But we made it back safely, even though we'd neglected to bring ropes and crampons, and also survived the rather hungover breakfast-with-strangers-in-their-own-house aspect of the B&B experience.

And then... the obligatory walk on the beach in the mist and the rain!

 A white rock in White Rock

I actually really love beach resorts in the winter. There's such a melancholy air to them. White Rock did not disappoint - we walked along the beach, skipped some stones, and walked along the pier, serenaded by the fog-muffled quacks and honks of ducks and geese, and the whistle of a train making its way along the water front.

And, of course, we went to visit the white rock.

Mr E Man told me about this rock in the car out there, and I thought the whole thing was hysterical. The original rock had a white top, apparently due to guano. It was so distinctive that sailors used it as a navigational aid. But once the town was named after the rock, they apparently decided the white top wasn't enough...

...so they painted the whole damn thing white.


The white rock in White Rock. This pose was Mr E Man's idea; I think he enjoys testing the limits of how cheesy I'm prepared to be on my blog

The informational sign next to the rock skips this part of the story, but it's pretty damn obvious.

 I guess "Grey Rock Painted White, Badly" isn't as good of a name for a town

Well, I've just had a call from Mr E Man informing me that he's just back from getting some stitches at the hospital after injuring his finger by catching a falling router at work - while it was running. He's going to be off work for two weeks, but he's basically fine. He claims he did it all for me, so he can spend more time with me on my staycation, and please can I bring him some chocolate? So off I go, back out into the rain! It's a hard life, pretending to be a writer...


Mr E Man ponders how cheesy HE is prepared to be on my blog

12 comments:

  1. sounds very fun and relaxing. What an awesome stay-cation vacation. We've had some fun times driving around White Rock in the winter. hehe.

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  2. You love melancholy air? You are SUCH a Brit!

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  3. Sounds like a great weekend trip! WR is a nice little place imho. And I totally understand what you mean with the "melancholy air" - I used to have some christmases in a place where ppl usually go in the summer time (my family is odd?!) and it was always relaxing and lots of thinking ;)

    I hope your staycation will be relaxing too and that Mr E man's finger is ok! Stiches and stuff sounds bad.

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  4. oh, and I won't be able to post on Bob's blog post about the hockey but I did notice I've gotten Alyssa's nick name from last year ;) don't worry, it's a long way to May.... plenty of time to get even (but yeah, maybe not drop Canuck goalie?!! where is the faith?!)

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  5. As I also said on Facebook, you probably deserved the getaway!
    I am delighted to see grey misty gloomy November weather in other places when I can finally go to work on flipflops and colleagues throw spontaneous wine tastings around afternoon teatime. NZ is amazing.

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  6. Glad that you enjoyed White Rock. Brilliant idea to stay in a B&B! Not such a brilliant idea to catch a running router with his hand, but I am impressed he was able to spin it into a story about his devotion to you. Clever man indeed.

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  7. ScientistMother, I can't even imagine those hills in winter! Our friend hasn't spent a full winter in White Rock yet, but she says that even when it's just raining, her old beater of a car barely makes it up the hill. She's planning to park at the top of the hill and walk to and from her house (with snow shoes on) when it gets snowy...

    Hermitage, you don't? You're SUCH a Yank! :) (see, Chall gets it too!)

    Eco, thanks! I think the one of Mr E Man is much better though!

    That Damn Chall, yes, nice and relaxing and lots of peace and quiet for thinking in.

    My family always went to ski resorts in the summer, because the accommodation was so (relatively) cheap. So I guess your family just did the reverse!

    Mr E Man is in some pain, but he usually heals really quickly so hopefully he'll be fine soon. It's his little finger on his left hand, so it could have been a lot worse.

    I ditched Luongo because I have a lot of other Canucks in my team, and when they're on the road that seems like too much of a gamble - all my eggs in one basket. I chose badly again this week, so I guess it's back to Lu next time!

    Nina, yes, it was a nice break after such a chaotic few months at work. And I'm glad you're getting some nice weather after 2 winters in a row (I can't even imagine!)

    Mermaid, yeah, he was a wee bit embarrassed! I've always had a dread of the "I'm at the hospital" call, with all those power tools around, so this was scary at first but like I said it could have been a lot worse.

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  8. Aww, Mr. E-man uses little-finger ache to get off work to be with you. Isn't that sweet?

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  9. Apparently it's less of an "ache" and more of a "mangled". He might need surgery... I didn't know this yesterday :(

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  10. Ouch. I hope he's OK. Keep us informed.

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  11. Still waiting to find out if he needs surgery... he's making an appointment today to get the stitches taken out some time this week, and they'll assess him again then.

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