For me it is St John’s, Newfoundland. I would want to go there to see what in the world makes anyone stay in such an inhospitable place!! That or else Halifax, Nova Scotia to dig into some unlimited lobster feast. Oops, that is two. Well? Where do you want to go before you have to go?

Want to know more about life on the road? Travel questions on your mind, check out the These Boots Travel blog for a ton (or is that a tonne?) of info.

Spanish Banks Twins in Hazmat Suits

She immediately said, well, “You.” Making me quickly adjust my mental list to place her at the top of that list. In all honesty I have no idea how I would function if she was stolen away for more than a day. But anyway, assuming she is there for me, my three essential items would be, number one…disposable diapers. There I said it; disposable diapers are my crutch. I can’t even imagine life without them at this stage.

Next would be the double capacity stroller so that I can take the little ones anywhere. I love our double seater Mountain Buggy stroller. It just makes life so much easier. If the girls are going apey in the house I can load them in the stroller and go out for a walk. Where we end up, doesn’t matter. Gives me, and perhaps more importantly, gives my Sweetie, a sanity break from watching the kids slowly tear the house down from the inside outwards.

The third essential item is my camera. This is essential to me because how else would I be able to share all these great moments that we have if it was not for the camera?

Riding Two Up

So, what are your three essentials? Why are they essential to you and your existence? Care to share?

Steveston Salmon in Bags

However, before we could do anything about the sockeye salmon, we had to stop at a thrift store to get my Sweetheart a pair of jeans. Before we left home I noticed she was wearing jeans, and me, being the helpful sort that I am, reminded her that it was going to get sunny and probably much warmer later in the day. So she ran back upstairs, pulled off her jeans and put on a very cute and summery skirt.

Oops. I should not give fashion advice. As soon as we stopped the car and opened the door the wind just about tore the door off. My Sweetheart looked at me and told me to drive back to the thrift store that we had passed on our way through Steveston.

Steveston Thrift Store

So much for my wish to get away from shopping. Eventually my Sweetheart came out of the store with a massive bag of baby clothing and toys. Then it was off to the Steveston waterfront.

Steveston Gulf of Georgia Cannery

The Gulf of Georgia Cannery is a beautiful setting; it is even used as a back-drop for wedding pictures.

Steveston Wedding Party Pics

The boats were all lined up at the wharf and the people were lined up waiting to get a piece of this year’s record sockeye salmon run.

Steveston Wharf

Personally, I hate line-ups so I refused to take part. Apparently they were selling sockeye salmon off the boats for $15-$20 each. A jolly good price that many were more than willing to pay. Instead of buying an entire sockeye salmon though, I wanted mine golden-fried with chips.

So along we went to Pajo’s Fish and Chips.

Steveston Pajo's on the Water

The line-up was 30 minutes just to order your food and then another 30 minutes to get the food. Having two toddlers with us (and me with my blood sugar getting dangerously low-equals me very cranky) we decided that the Pajo’s at Garry Point would probably be less busy. (Cue the laughter here).

Steveston Pajo's at Garry Point

Actually, at this one I walked right up to the counter and ordered our food (salmon and chips, thank you very much). Forty-five minutes later we sat back and ate. I have to admit, it was worth the wait and the kitchen staff at Pajo’s were busting their butts all day. Cudos to them for their efforts at feeding the masses today.

Steveston Salmon Pajo's Kitchen

After eating I took the family over to see the Steveston Fishermen’s Memorial. This memorial is a giant net mending needle with the names of people who have been lost at sea inscribed in the base of the memorial.

Steveston Memorial

I am saddened every time I visit the Memorial and I see my uncle’s name, Toby Bjerke and his boat the Mistress on the memorial.

Steveston Memorial Toby Bjerke

The loss of too many of my family member’s was part of why I was so passionate about the water safety contest/giveaway that I recently ran. Far too many people die from preventable deaths like drowning. We really do need to change the way that we think about water and safety. At any rate, today was the day that I met with the winner of our water safety contest, Deni, commenter #9.

Deni and Stacey with Story

Ironically, when her name was drawn I was concerned that she might live somewhere far away in the USA or who-knows-where. No problem, she lives close by our family and we met for a coffee this morning so I could hand the gift card over to her. Even funnier, her and her husband also have twin girls that she blogs about. You can visit her blog at These Happy Days dot com.

But back to our Steveston day-tripping…on our way out of Steveston my Sweetheart says, “Hey there is a guy selling salmon, let’s stop.” No lines up, no waiting, $12 a fish, beauty. Next thing I know there is a “thump” as she drops a bag in the trunk of the car. She then jumps in and we drive away.

Then we get home and I open the trunk.

Steveston Salmon Pre-Gutting

Well my Mom worked in a cannery when she was younger, so what the hell, I can gut, clean and behead a salmon I suppose. My theory is that I might have picked these skills up from my Mom through some genetic thing-like thing, seeing as she worked int he cannery years before I was born.

Get out the trusty Swiss Army knife and the Ginsu knife and away I went at it.

Steveston Salmon Gutting

It was actually easier than I thought it would be.

Steveston Salmon Off with the Head

And then a little clean up.

Steveston Salmon Gutting

Having a background in Shakespeare, all I could think about was Lady Macbeth as she tried to clean the blood off her hands. “Out damned spot, out…” or something like that.

Soon I was done my bloody handiwork though.

Steveston Salmon Swiss Army Knife

The gutting and cleaning was actually the easiest part of the process. We do not have a knife sharp enough to fillet the salmon so it was a bit of a mess trying to complete that task. Regardless, it tasted really good!

Another great day in the city. What a fabulous city we live in!!

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is touring in support of what I figure is their 34th album. If you are interested in seeing the Nitty Gritty Dirt band, on October 19th they are playing in Chilliwack at Prospera Centre. As usual, you can purchase your tickets through Ticketmaster or…you can win them here!!

To win tickets to see the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band play in Chilliwack (c’mon folks, it is only an hour east of Metro Vancouver!) do the usual, comment on this post about why you want to see them AND post in the name of one of the opening acts for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. AND finally, post along with your “why you want to see this concert” comment, the name of one of the current members of the band or one of the former members. There certainly is an interesting list of former members.

Is that straight-forward enough? For clarity, one more time;

1. Post a comment saying why you want to see the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band concert
2. In your comment mention the name of one of the opening acts for the NGDB concert in Chilliwack
3. In your comment mention the name of one of the members or former members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (now don’t be copying your neighbour’s answers!).

So, easy enough!! For the skinny on entering contests on Stacey Robinsmith dot com, read this thing. If you are tweeting to get an additional entry to the contest please add in our Twitter handle, @PapaStacey so that we can make sure your name goes into the draw each and every time.

This contest will run through until 11:59pm on Friday, October 1st, 2010. The winner will be chosen through a random draw. Have at it  now folks!! And, to keep things civilized, let’s make it one entry per day. Go ahead and enter every day, if that works for you, but let’s keep it to once a day. Thanks y’all!!

New West Youth Centre and Century House

As you can see in the above photo, the Youth Centre is attached to the back of Century House – the place where many New West seniors go to hang-out during the day.

Seems kind of an odd location? Not so much says Councilor Jonathan Cote, point-man for City Council on the Youth Centre. There are a number of synergies that develop from having the two groups in one location. First off, the city’s data showed that most of the seniors leave Century House by about 4pm. Most of the youth are in school until 3pm. So the two groups are really only on the site at the same time for a very limited time.

Other synergies the city found were that the senior’s were in need of a new computer lab. A Youth Centre would need a computer lab. Weight room? Both groups could use a weight training room. Multi-purpose room? Both groups could use it.

New West Youth Centre Weights Room

However, the youth who were an integral part of the planning of the new Youth Centre wanted an area that was limited to youth-only. And they got it;

New West Youth Centre Lounge Area

The Lounge area is a space reserved for youth. In this space there will be, as you can see in the above picture, a Foosball table, and a bubble hockey game.

New West Youth Centre Bubble Hockey

There will also be plenty of areas where young people can simply sit and chill-out (if that is what young people call sitting around and talking with their friends noawadays).

New West Youth Centre Sitting Areas

Lounge area is filled with beautiful natural sunshine.

New West Youth Centre Natural Light

One of the things that you immediately notice as you enter the Youth Centre is the paint. The walls are painted in colours that simply make you feel peaceful as soon as you enter the space. Councilor Cote was quick to give credit where credit is due, the youth chose all the paint colours.

One of the things that the youth advocated for was the addition of a gym space. However, Council did not feel that it was appropriate to encroach into Moody Park anymore than they already had. Also, seeing as the Youth Centre is very close to NWSS, it was thought the gyms at NWSS would be accessible to youth groups.

Although there was not room for a full gymnasium, they did add in a multi-purpose room that can be used for many sport activities such as badminton, yoga or other exercise type activities.

New West Youth Centre Multi-Purpose Room

Another advantage of attaching the new Youth Centre to the back of Century House was that the washroom facilities already existed; remember the outdoor washrooms? Down those creepy stairs and into the scary space behind Century House? Those washrooms have been updated and are now inside the building.

New West Youth Centre Washrooms

As well as having the Lounge area for the youth there is a full kitchen for their use. There will also be a large screen television added so that movie nights are an option for the youth.

At the end of our tour I asked Sandon Fraser, Youth Services Coordinator, what the hours of operation of the Youth Centre will be (considering the proximity to NWSS, I thought what a great place the Youth Centre would be to hang-out rather than sitting in a Math class). Sorry kids, the Youth Centre will not open until 3:15pm. It will stay open until 9pm Monday to Thursday and on Friday and Saturday nights the Centre will stay open until 11pm.

One more benefit of locating the Youth Centre in Moody Park is that 45% of the youth in New West live within a 10 minute walk of the new Youth Centre.

Perhaps the very best thing about the new Youth Centre is that the federal and provincial governments contributed close to $2 million in the project so that the City of New West only had to come up with a contribution of approximately $1 million.

Overall my impressions are that this is a first class facility that will become a place prized by the youth of New West. I will report back after the September 15th grand opening.

Well done

PNE 100 years of fun!

And then we walked over to the rides section. The girls were nonplussed by the rides;

PNE Thinking about the rides

Knowing we were going to the PNE I skipped breakfast because I knew all the nutritious food that we would encounter…

PNE Candy Floss

Our first encounter with mini-donuts…

PNE Fun Dunkers

More mini-donuts, this time from Mr Ken…

PNE Mr Ken's Donut Factory

And the international cuisine available…

PNE Food of Mexico

The scone tradition lives on…

PNE Scones

PNE Scone with jam

A fabulous new addition to the food choices of the PNE and to Vancouver, the mobile Dragon Truck…

PNE Dragon Truck

I fully intend on writing a full blog post on this concept but the idea of a mobile food truck is relatively new to Vancouver, but soooo delicious!! I had the Fries with Asian inspired spice and curry aioli…amazing…

PNE Asian spiced fries with curry aioli

And then the real thing…mini-donuts…

PNE Mini-Donuts

And mini-donuts ready to eat…

PNE Ready to eat

And no PNE is complete without a barbecued meat sandwich…

PNE Barbecue Meat

And you know these guys are serious about their barbecue when you see they bring their own barbecue, and firewood!

PNE Smokey's Tender Beef

And my all time favourite PNE food…

PNE Wiggle Chips

No trip to the PNE is complete without a burger from Jimmy’s Lunch. Add a big ol’ scoop of those fried onions…

PNE Jimmy's Lunch

Wash it all down with a 20 ounce root-beer from Buckeye’s…

PNE Buckeye's Rootbeer

And finally, for dessert I had a single scoop; I had to show restraint at this point of the day…

PNE International Ice Cream Factory

So that you do not throw any of your garbage on the sidewalk like a rotten litterbug, the good people at City Hall have provided garbage containers…

PNE Garbage Containers

That wraps up our foodie tour of the 2010 PNE. Uurrrpppp.

The original plan was for me to have lunch in the Navigator’s steakhouse concept restaurant, Prime 7.

Prime 7 Steakhouse

However, that did not come to pass. While I did not get to dine in the Prime 7 Steakhouse, my guide, Florian Kibgilka, the Food and Beverage Manager, toured me through the steakhouse.

Here is the table that I dreamed of sitting at.

Prime 7 Dinner Table

The Navigator sources beef that is certified “prime” grade by the USDA. Their beef is from the finest Black Angus cattle and then dry aged for 28 days resulting in a tender texture and buttery taste.

When I perused the menu, I saw my dream meal; a Hearts of Romaine Caesar salad, Jumbo Lump Crab cakes and then…a 36 ounce Porterhouse steak that is carved table side. For a side I would have added the twice baked potato and a side of truffle fries. I’m in carnivore heaven.

Below is pictured the carving station for the prime rib. Beside it is the Hearts of Romaine salad prep cart.

Prime 7 Carving Station and Caesar Salad Station

Alas, my dream meal was not to be.

Until Florian said to me, “I hope you are hungry. Now we go for lunch.” You have to imagine that being spoken with a super-sexy German accent. Sort of like a kinder, gentler Terminator.

At any rate, we headed over to the Compass Rose for lunch. The Compass Rose is the Navigator’s main restaurant. It is a large room that can hold a couple hundred guests and yet nearly every table has a window view.

The Compass Rose

Usually the Compass Rose serves continental cuisine for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Kibgilka informed me that wherever possible, the kitchen acquires fresh, local ingredients. For instance, on the second night of the cruise out of Vancouver they are in Ketchikan Alaska where they will acquire a locally caught fish.

As we sat down Florian asked me what my pleasure was. I acknowledged his position as Food and Beverage Manager and told him that I would trust his discretion to order for both of us.

Before I even knew it, a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc was at our table. Shortly thereafter the Pacific Northwest Seafood Rendezvous arrived; prawns, crab meat, and scallops with three different sauces. I have to admit that the seafood appetizer was so delicious that I ate it before even thinking to take a picture of it.

Next was the roasted garlic and potato soup garnished with creme fraiche and herbed croutons. The garlic was roasted to a very subtle flavour so that it was an accent to the flavour of the soup, not an overwhelming influence.

Roasted Garlic and Potato Soup

I had our server add a grind of fresh pepper to the soup. To me the soup was a home-run; I was wondering how I could ask for seconds without seeming gauche.

Following the soup course came the main; broiled fresh local halibut fish fillet sitting on an artichoke-potato puree with scoops (from the world’s smallest ice cream scoop) of fresh seasonal veggies alongside. The sauce was a blood orange beurre blanc with a drizzle of basil oil in it for taste as well as visual appeal.

Broiled Fresh Local Halibut Fish Fillet

My halibut was cooked to perfection. The fish flaked apart perfectly revealing a lovely moist interior. The basil oil in the beurre blanc sauce added a stunning visual to the dish as well as added a unique flavour twist.

After the halibut had been served and consumed we prepared for dessert. To refresh my palate I had a lovely Cafe Americano. Then the dessert arrived.

Chocolate Trilogy; chocolate raspberry mousse, chocolate cherry sorbet and chocolate biscotti with ginger ganache. Wow, delicious, sensational, out-of-this world. Yes, I enjoyed it.

Chocolate Trilogy Dessert

After completing the dessert course, I had to! I did not want to offend the chef, I enjoyed another Americano.

And then the friandises arrived.

Friandises

Sadly, especially now as I look at the picture, I did not get a chance to sample the majority of these delicate treats. My mouth waters when I look at these tiny morsels.

And then we sat back, sipped our coffees and just let our meal settle.

So although I did not get to sample my dream-sized Porterhouse steak, I am all the more fortunate to have had the pleasure of dining at the Compass Rose. Not only was the food exquisite but the service was exceptional. My water glass was always full, my wine glass was topped up regularly; we were served professionally and discretely at all times.

So that was my visit to the Regent Seven Seas Navigator. Soon the Navigator will make its final journey of the season from Vancouver up to Alaska. After that final sailing out of Vancouver the Navigator will continue on from Alaska to Russia and down along the Russian coast and into the Asian ports of call…what a dream…ahhh…after one afternoon on the Navigator I am prepared to throw it all away and cruise into the sunset. The Navigator….what a ship…

As my regular readers will know, I posted my description of the Navigator on Thursday with a promise to have my description of the food services (amazing and delicious) posted today. Instead, my home turned into a puke-a-rama-vomitorium last night.

Both of the girls picked up some kind of a puke-bug and have been puking semi-regularly for the last twelve hours.

When Baby B started to vomit in the living-room I recommended that my Sweetheart pick her up and get her to the kitchen (a few short steps away over the baby gate). The result of my “recommendation” was that not only was there baby vomit (a special kind of horror of its own merits) on the living-room carpet, there was also then baby vomit all along those few shorts steps to the baby gate and over and into the kitchen.

Fast-forward to midnight. Just as I was about to draw the winner for my soap giveaway (congrats to Marilyn W) we hear this blood-curdling scream from the nursery. Baby A is in full exorcist horror-show mode. Not learning from my earlier mistake, I lift her up as she spews more vomit onto my chest, over my shoulder and onto the newly carpeted room. Why we put new carpet in before the girls turned 21 I will never understand.

Call in the clean-up crew (my Sweetheart and me). Bathe Baby A and get her into a new sleeper. Then, thinking that it is probably safer to have her in bed with me, I go to sleep in the guest room with Baby A in the bed beside me.

Two hours later I wake to her kicking the cobwebs out of my head and howling in a very unnatural manner. Unfortunately not all the cobwebs were out of my head so when she began to spew vomit again I was not fast enough. Yep, all over my dry-clean only silk comforter, our best quality 180 thread count pillow cases, bed sheets, guest room carpeted floor, and hallway. And of course all over her sleeper and through her hair. Charming. A 2am wake-up call to a baby doing her best Linda Blair imitation.

Bath number three. Sleeper number three. An hour later Baby A and I are sleeping on the guest room bed with a raggedy old comforter under us and some beach towel as a blanket.

No word of a lie, an hour later we have our final curtain call of the night. This time I have learned to recognize the guttural-gurgling sounds of a brewing spew. I grab a hand knit afghan (Baby A’s favourite bedtime blankie) and try to limit  the spread of the vomit. Sort of like trying to catch porridge with your open hands as someone is spraying  it at you. Ineffective.

To top the night’s performance off, this morning after doing the 47 loads of laundry down in the laundry-room, I returned to the nursery with the freshly laundered laundry to find that my nemesis, the orange cat has puked up a massive hairball on the nursery floor.

So I will have the Navigator foodie tour details online shortly. Sorry for the delay…

Seven Seas Navigator

I was intrigued by the Regent Seven Seas Navigator after I read that in December 2009 she had been in a German dry-dock for 40 days where she received a $30 million refit. To put that into context, the typical cruise ship is in dry-dock for 7-10 days when being refit. So I was excited to see what the end result was like.

The result is what I would call a boutique-style, six-star cruise ship. Boutique in the sense that she carries some 490 passengers with a crew of approximately 360. The Navigator has some of the highest space and service ratios in the cruising world.

All of the suites, and this vessel is an all-suite, all oceanview vessel, are well appointed and spacious. The suites are extraordinarily large, some of them are over 1100 square feet. Each with beautiful natural lighting due to the fact that every suite has a balcony with an oceanview.

Penthouse Suite on the Navigator

Another benefit that comes with some of the suites is the individual attention of a butler. Yes, a butler. When I asked Florian Kibgilka, Food and Beverage Manager and my tour guide aboard the Navigator what a butler might add to your cruise experience he informed me that it is the personal touch that some people enjoy. The butler will see that your shoes are polished, your appointments and reservations are made, your breakfast arrives as you like it and when you like it. And perhaps most importantly to some, the butler keeps the mini-bar in tip-top shape.

In Suite Mini-Bar on the Navigator

The butler simply makes your cruise experience everything you want it to be.

Regent Seven Seas made the decision to go all-inclusive in their cruises in order to change their cruise culture. Each guest is provided a complimentary bottle of Champagne when they arrive in their suite. The ship’s management and crew found that many people were then staying in their rooms and enjoying the free drinks without coming out of their suites. This detracted from the cruise experience because there was not the energy of people meeting and mingling in the social settings. Now you can wander into a cocktail lounge and order a drink when you want. Interestingly, I was told that over time there has only been a slight increase in the volume of alcoholic beverages served.

Smoking aboard the Seven Seas Navigator is very closely controlled. There is not smoking in the suites or in the public spaces. However, there is a smoking room called the Connoisseur Club. As we entered the smoking room the pleasant aroma of cigars and pipes took me back in time to when I was a small child and I would visit with my great-Grandfather.

In the smoking room you can find a selection of fine single malt and blended Scotch whiskeys to be enjoy.

Scotch Cabinet in the Smoking Room

My eyes really light up when I saw in a glass showcase of its own a bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII. I asked if this was part of the all-inclusive beverage package and was advised that in fact it was not.

Remy Martin Louis XIII

As you can see in the above photo, at some point, someone has enjoyed this fine Cognac. Understandably, I was not offered a sample during my brief visit aboard.

And then there is the food…Prime 7, Compass Rose, La Verandah, the Pool Side Grill, and little coffee shops nestled everywhere. If you don’t feel like leaving the comfort of your room there is 24 hour room service. Of course if you are in one of the suites that has butler service, your wish is his command.

Myself, I enjoyed a beautiful lunch in the Navigator’s largest dining room, the Compass Rose. My lunch companion was my on board tour guide, Florian Kibgilka. And remember, he is the Food and Beverage Manager so not only was the kitchen trying to impress me, they also had their boss sitting at the same table as me. For now I will say that our lunch server, Annika was perfectly attentive.

To hear about the details of our lunch, check back in tomorrow and I will provide a full account of my lunch as well I will talk about the many other dining options that are available on board the Navigator.

Disclosure; My tour of, and lunch aboard the Regent Seven Seas Navigator is being sponsored very generously by the kind and thoughtful people of Regent Seven Seas. I am not obligated nor expected to write about my experiences aboard the Navigator or any follow-up entries, but I certainly feel that my readers will benefit from my description of my tour of this ship. In any review I write or publish on my site, I retain editorial control at all times. Should you have any questions or concerns, contact me at editor@theleftcoast.ca

Seven Seas Navigator

The Seven Seas Navigator was refurbished in December 2009 and now offers guests a six-star cruise experience (did you even know there was such a thing as six-star experience?). The Navigator has all-suite, all-oceanview accommodations. While I was perusing the Regent Seven Seas website I saw that one of the suites, some 1100 square feet of it, comes with a butler!! I also noticed that all the bathrooms on the ship are done in marble. This ship sounds more luxurious than my great-Uncle’s yacht, which is for sale, by the way. (Email me if you are interested in a 72 foot wooden yacht, it really is a thing of beauty…I can get you the details).

The Navigator only carries 490 guests thereby offering some of the highest space and service ratios at sea. I do not recall the exact number but I believe there are something like 300-some staff on board the ship when it is in service. That seems like an amazing level of service for the guests.

This very special ship has been cruising from the Vancouver, BC port up to the Seward, Alaska port all summer. This week it be in Vancouver to do a turnaround and before returning to Seward, Alaska. While the crew is doing the turnaround, I will be touring the ship to see what an all-suite, all-oceanview ship actually looks like. The best part of a ship being an all-suite, all-oceanview is that eliminates any self-doubt before the cruise, “Should we save that couple of bucks or should we splurge and get an oceanview.” This way, the decison is made for you. I love that.

As well as seeing what the accomadations look like, I will be provided a tour of the food prep areas and kitchens. The Navigator has four gourmet restaurants including the new, by reservation only, steakhouse Prime 7. I am particularly keen to see what a kitchen looks like on a cruise of this service level. How can they serve so many meals at the same time while maintaining the quality that they are so well know for? I will endeavor to find out and let you, my valued reader know how it works.

Disclosure; My tour of, and lunch aboard the Regent Seven Seas Navigator is being sponsored very generously by the kind and thoughtful people of Regent Seven Seas. I am not obligated nor expected to write this preview entry or any follow-up entries, but I certainly feel that my readers will benefit from me touring this ship so that we have a better understanding of the positive influence that cruise-ships and their many passengers have on our city. In any review I write or publish on my site, I retain editorial control at all times. Should you have any questions or concerns, contact me at editor@theleftcoast.ca