Tag Archives: city

Dear Daughter got hitched: Deer Lake Park, Burnaby

Dear daughter and her fella needed a marriage license, so much of Monday, June 26, was devoted to paperwork, but we still took some time to check out Deer Lake Park in Burnaby. I had it in my head that I would see large topiary in the shape of animals, but we never did find the large bird I was expecting. For the record, that was my fault for not being ready with a map and not having wifi. We did get a glimpse of a topiary carousal horse and found this great insect.  The joy of the park was the stunning view of part of a city skyline over the lake and the lush greenery. While strolling around we also we enjoyed the very friendly Canada geese with their gawky teenagers (in geese years). And there was some delightful art and unusual plants.

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Lan Su Chinese Garden, Vancouver

IMG_3681The Lan Su Chinese Garden in the Chinatown neighborhood of Vancouver, BC. is a little piece of serenity in a very busy downtown. All of the garden’s materials were brought in from the city of Suzhou, Vancouver’s sister city and built by citizens of that city. I took the 45 minute tour lead by a wonderful docent while my other family members wondered off to find their own adventures. One of the interesting facts I learned is that the decorative windows in the walls are all different and they are called leaks because they lead in light and air. More information can be found here.

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Brisbane

9426496354_90b8fac879_hWe didn’t have much time to spend in Brisbane, really just lunch and some look around time. But what little I saw of Australia’s third largest city was very nice. There were plenty of flowers and a lovely man made beach, which was under construction. There were plenty of these birds walking around much like pigeons in the US, only much bigger!

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Mural on South 14th & South ‘G’

8348273446_30b03401aa_z(2)Coming home I made a quick stop to snap this photo of the mural at the corner of South 14th Street and South G. Street. I was going to take the mural along South G Street in the same area, but there was a car that made me nervous so I decided to wait until another day. Safety first. The mural says St. Ignatius Immersion 2012.

Former Gruv Nightclub has an interesting mural

The space at 3829 Sixth Avenue, which had previously been occupied by Gruv and before that Hell’s Kitche, is available for lease ($13/square foot) or sale ($660,000). Dear daughter has told me several times that I need to write it up as a new place because chances are that once it is leased or sold, the mural will be painted over. I like the mural which features a unicorn with 253 on its neck, the Tacoma Dome, a city skyline and a rainbow. The unicorn looks a little grumpy, but maybe that’s just macho.

The building was constructed in 1926 and has been Marshall & Kirkman Needle Work, Fowell’s Market, Snack-n-Tap, Purky’s Tavern, Spot Lite Tavern, Tuddi’s Restaurant (where it had a fatal fire because of a safecracker’s torch), Proctor Inn Restaurant, Kay’s Mexican-American Restaurant, Prosito Italian Restaurant. the Central Tavern, the
Sixth & Proctor Bar & Grill, Hell’s Kitchen Nightclub and Gruv.

4″ Shorter, 2 shades darker

Today’s new place is Salon Mosaic for a new do! This salon has been open since the fall and is a lovely space with talented, experienced stylists. I recommend it.

Salon Mosaic
(253) 564-5198
614 Regents Blvd, Fircrest, WA 98466

This is my first new place in the city of Fircrest. Per CityData.com Fircrest has a population of 6,278 as of July 2009 and the median household income is $68,002. The population density is 4022 people per square mile. 91.4% of the population over 25 have a high school degree or higher.

Using the same site, I compared that information to Tacoma which has a population of 193,566 and a median household income of $48,673. Tacoma’s population density is 3,986 people per square mile and 83.6% of the population have a high school degree or higher. These are interesting differences for side by side cities!

Here is a photo of Salon Mosaic’s lovely restroom!