Located at the foot of 17th St.
Nina and I walked straight through John Lawson Park. We didn't stop. We didn't slow down. We didn't want to. John Lawson Park is creepy. Creepy in the sense that I was not aware that so many happy families existed. We're used to coming into a park and being almost or completely alone. Although we are trying to get more people visiting parks through this project, John Lawson was a huge culture shock. This also means that we couldn't take pictures without taking pictures of children. We didn't think the parents would appreciate that, so there will be no pictures in this post.
That being said, some of my most treasured memories are from John Lawson Park. For example, last Christmas, my Mom and I weren't invited to a Christmas day dinner, so we took our leftovers from the Christmas eve dinner we'd hosted to John Lawson's picnic shelter. We ate cold turkey with hot chocolate while looking out over the water. It was probably the best Christmas dinner I've ever been to, and it wouldn't have been possible without this park.
And then there's the flurries of memories from my childhood. John Lawson Park has, by far, the best playground equipment in all of West Vancouver. It's got a pirate ship, teeter-totters, a train, a jungle gym, a spider web, swing sets (a tall one, and a short one for toddlers), and more! There's even a wading pool that gets filled up and supervised from time to time over the summer months. It's a great place for toddlers to play in the water before they're old enough to handle the swimming area at Ambleside Park.
But when I was a kid, I spent most of my time at this park either by the creek or in the trees. John Lawson also has, by far, the best climbing trees in West Vancouver. They're all over the park. It's a challenge that will take your entire childhood to find them all. As for the creek, it's not nearly as fun any more. The game used to be to build a bridge over shallow water, but a real bridge has since been built. Now it's just another park of the seawall.
John Lawson Park has been for years and will continue to be the most important part of West Vancouver for families with young children. You don't need this blog to tell you that. All you need to do is be there when the warning signals on the tracks go on and see the entire population of the playground rush over to watch the train go by. If you have a child in your life, they will probably want to go to John Lawson Park every day.
PPR
Good: picnic shelter, great playground, climbing trees
Bad: very busy, the bridge wrecked my creek game, the trees aren't as tall as I remember them
8/10
Showing posts with label Hollyburn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hollyburn. Show all posts
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Monday, 28 May 2012
Memorial Park
At Marine Dr and 19th St.
Memorial Park is the one that everybody stands outside the library to look at on Remembrance Day. Who knew that you were actually allowed to go in there?
We entered through the back entrance on Esquimalt Avenue where we came across the playground. Who knew that Memorial Park has a playground? I, for one, thought that this place was all business. Here is a blurry photo Nina on the teeter-totter by herself while children play together in the background:
Such is the lonely life of an adult park-goer. It's actually quite a fun playground, though. It's even got a tall swing set!
Memorial Park has two other sections besides the playground: a natural section around a creek, and the actual memorial. This is the memorial through a bunch of plants:
You can sort of see it. There was someone sitting in there, so I didn't want to go in and take pictures. Actually, I didn't want to go in at all. I went to the edge of the stones, but couldn't bring myself to step on them. This is the place where people important enough to bring all of West Vancouver out into the rain for ages stand. It's hardly a place for exploring.
The natural area of the park isn't actually that natural. It's carefully landscaped and full of little structures like this birdbath:
It's a beautiful place with plenty of benches, trails, flowers, and stylized bridges over a creek. But it just doesn't feel like nature. It's too planned. Thankfully, there are a few cool corners like this one that gives you a choice of sitting on a bench or a brontosaurus tree:
However, the feeling of guilt for having never fought in a war while being in this park makes the whole thing hard to enjoy. That combined with the synthetic feel of the area made both Nina and I anxious to leave Memorial Park.
PPR
Good: fun playground, technically perfect landscaping, important place for veterans
Bad: it's not difficult to feel out of place here, but maybe that's just us
7/10
Memorial Park is the one that everybody stands outside the library to look at on Remembrance Day. Who knew that you were actually allowed to go in there?
We entered through the back entrance on Esquimalt Avenue where we came across the playground. Who knew that Memorial Park has a playground? I, for one, thought that this place was all business. Here is a blurry photo Nina on the teeter-totter by herself while children play together in the background:
Such is the lonely life of an adult park-goer. It's actually quite a fun playground, though. It's even got a tall swing set!
Memorial Park has two other sections besides the playground: a natural section around a creek, and the actual memorial. This is the memorial through a bunch of plants:
You can sort of see it. There was someone sitting in there, so I didn't want to go in and take pictures. Actually, I didn't want to go in at all. I went to the edge of the stones, but couldn't bring myself to step on them. This is the place where people important enough to bring all of West Vancouver out into the rain for ages stand. It's hardly a place for exploring.
The natural area of the park isn't actually that natural. It's carefully landscaped and full of little structures like this birdbath:
It's a beautiful place with plenty of benches, trails, flowers, and stylized bridges over a creek. But it just doesn't feel like nature. It's too planned. Thankfully, there are a few cool corners like this one that gives you a choice of sitting on a bench or a brontosaurus tree:
However, the feeling of guilt for having never fought in a war while being in this park makes the whole thing hard to enjoy. That combined with the synthetic feel of the area made both Nina and I anxious to leave Memorial Park.
PPR
Good: fun playground, technically perfect landscaping, important place for veterans
Bad: it's not difficult to feel out of place here, but maybe that's just us
7/10
Navvy Jack Park
What does one have to do to get themselves a name like Navvy Jack? Was the point that the park is named after named after a person? If I were a professional blogger, I'd research this. But I'm not, so I am content to imagine Navvy Jack, the rugged buccaneer of West Vancouver sailing out of Hollyburn Sailing Club being generally awesome.
You'd have to be pretty awesome to get a community garden named after you:
The rest of the park is on a pretty steep slope. There's even stairs just to get to this bench:
One of my favorite things about this project is posing awkwardly for touristy photos. Another one of my favorites is reading all the inscriptions on benches. Here's a closeup of the one of this bench:
Smart thinking, George Smart! This bench would be a good friend to the library that's just a few blocks up the hill from Navvy Jack Park. Getting a new book and coming down to start it by the ocean would be a great way to spend an afternoon. Even without a book, this park is a great place to experience the view from the seawall without being overwhelmed by the masses of people walking by.
PPR
Good: community garden, well-placed benches, alternative place to enjoy the seawall's view
Bad: also functions as a path from the seawall to the road (a lot of pedestrian traffic moving through), little to no flat land
6/10
You'd have to be pretty awesome to get a community garden named after you:
The rest of the park is on a pretty steep slope. There's even stairs just to get to this bench:
One of my favorite things about this project is posing awkwardly for touristy photos. Another one of my favorites is reading all the inscriptions on benches. Here's a closeup of the one of this bench:
Smart thinking, George Smart! This bench would be a good friend to the library that's just a few blocks up the hill from Navvy Jack Park. Getting a new book and coming down to start it by the ocean would be a great way to spend an afternoon. Even without a book, this park is a great place to experience the view from the seawall without being overwhelmed by the masses of people walking by.
PPR
Good: community garden, well-placed benches, alternative place to enjoy the seawall's view
Bad: also functions as a path from the seawall to the road (a lot of pedestrian traffic moving through), little to no flat land
6/10
Weston Park
Where is Weston Park? I think it might be that place I portaged a kayak through last summer, but I'm not sure. We couldn't find it this time, though. I'll try and find it some other time. This is a place holder.
UPDATE! I found Weston Park! It's at the foot of 21st street and it looks like this:
This is, in fact, the site of the legendary kayak portage of 2011. I remember the stairs through Weston Park down to the seawall being extremely annoying due to an excess of bendiness in the route. However, unless you happen to be carrying a 15 foot boat, these stairs are a great way to reach the seawall from the road.
As with the entire seawall and it's surrounding areas, Weston Park has a lot of benches and a lot of strange in it. If you're wondering what I mean by strange, take a look at this:
See that cute little gate that's so masterfully crafted? It leads from the main stairs to only what you see in this picture. Why do a couple benches and an oval of grass need a gate? Are the flowers going to run away?
While the seawall has a lot of benches, I never want to sit on them. Not many of them have interesting inscriptions ("From his loving family", "She loved this view", minor variations of those), and there's just too many choices. We decided against the benches in favor of settling on the grass. Not gated oval of grass, but the steep grassy hill beside the stairs.
The grass is full of weeds, but they are flowering an not that prickly. We sat there for a little while, watching a steady stream of people moving through the park from the road to the seawall. Many of those people had dogs with them. One of the dogs came over and sat down in between us, fully expecting to be pet. But she was so cute that her overconfidence didn't even matter.
We didn't want to let her go, but that was okay because apparently her owners did. They left her with us for 45 minutes while they went for a walk. And that's how we became spontaneous dog-sitters for strangers. About 5 minutes before the owners returned, just as we were wondering if they would ever come back, the dog takes off in the direction of the road. We didn't even know her name, so we couldn't call her back. Luckily, we were able to catch her, but that gate could have been a lot better placed. Flowers don't run away, but dogs do.
PPR
Good: DOGS!, a lot of benches, nice view, convenient path to the seawall
Bad: lame bench plaques, misplaced gate, high traffic (don't come here if you're looking for peace and quiet)
6/10
UPDATE! I found Weston Park! It's at the foot of 21st street and it looks like this:
This is, in fact, the site of the legendary kayak portage of 2011. I remember the stairs through Weston Park down to the seawall being extremely annoying due to an excess of bendiness in the route. However, unless you happen to be carrying a 15 foot boat, these stairs are a great way to reach the seawall from the road.
As with the entire seawall and it's surrounding areas, Weston Park has a lot of benches and a lot of strange in it. If you're wondering what I mean by strange, take a look at this:
See that cute little gate that's so masterfully crafted? It leads from the main stairs to only what you see in this picture. Why do a couple benches and an oval of grass need a gate? Are the flowers going to run away?
While the seawall has a lot of benches, I never want to sit on them. Not many of them have interesting inscriptions ("From his loving family", "She loved this view", minor variations of those), and there's just too many choices. We decided against the benches in favor of settling on the grass. Not gated oval of grass, but the steep grassy hill beside the stairs.
The grass is full of weeds, but they are flowering an not that prickly. We sat there for a little while, watching a steady stream of people moving through the park from the road to the seawall. Many of those people had dogs with them. One of the dogs came over and sat down in between us, fully expecting to be pet. But she was so cute that her overconfidence didn't even matter.
We didn't want to let her go, but that was okay because apparently her owners did. They left her with us for 45 minutes while they went for a walk. And that's how we became spontaneous dog-sitters for strangers. About 5 minutes before the owners returned, just as we were wondering if they would ever come back, the dog takes off in the direction of the road. We didn't even know her name, so we couldn't call her back. Luckily, we were able to catch her, but that gate could have been a lot better placed. Flowers don't run away, but dogs do.
PPR
Good: DOGS!, a lot of benches, nice view, convenient path to the seawall
Bad: lame bench plaques, misplaced gate, high traffic (don't come here if you're looking for peace and quiet)
6/10
John Richardson Park
Located at Marine Dr and Fulton Ave.
John Richardson Park, located right on Marine Drive, has many things to see. Hey look, a construction site!
They're building a senior's home. It's exciting. Hey, look over there!
A road and a dirty hippie wearing a shirt that doesn't even have sleeves. What a waste of space.
John Richardson is probably the most unpleasant park we've been to. It's just a triangle of grass and a few shadeless trees a few feet from one of the busiest roads in West Vancouver. There's a bench over by the construction site where you could sit and watch traffic go by in front of the apartment buildings across the street. I didn't go sit on it, though. I was going to give it a chance, but the grass was so prickly that I decided it wasn't worth it. Instead, we left the park immediately. If you're looking for a view of Marine Drive traffic, try the community center that's a block east. They take much better care of the grass there.
PPR
Good: um...
Bad: prickly grass, view of traffic, too busy of an area and not shielded from the road
1/10
John Richardson Park, located right on Marine Drive, has many things to see. Hey look, a construction site!
They're building a senior's home. It's exciting. Hey, look over there!
A road and a dirty hippie wearing a shirt that doesn't even have sleeves. What a waste of space.
John Richardson is probably the most unpleasant park we've been to. It's just a triangle of grass and a few shadeless trees a few feet from one of the busiest roads in West Vancouver. There's a bench over by the construction site where you could sit and watch traffic go by in front of the apartment buildings across the street. I didn't go sit on it, though. I was going to give it a chance, but the grass was so prickly that I decided it wasn't worth it. Instead, we left the park immediately. If you're looking for a view of Marine Drive traffic, try the community center that's a block east. They take much better care of the grass there.
PPR
Good: um...
Bad: prickly grass, view of traffic, too busy of an area and not shielded from the road
1/10
Hay Park
Near 20th St at Inglewood Ave.
Hay Park gave us a great first impression:
I'm not sure which creek that is flowing through there, but it's a beautiful one. Squint, and you can see a bench in the background. It looked like the perfect place to sit, but there was somebody reading on a bench across the creek. We didn't want to bother them, so since it is a big park, we decided to look for somewhere else to sit.
But alas, there are no other benches anywhere else in the park. There's two by the main entrance, and that's it. The bridge is no good for sitting on either:
But Hay Park makes up for it's lack of sitting places with trails. It's a great place for walking dogs. We saw at least 10 dogs while we were there. One of them stepped on my foot. It left a muddy print there:
That was such a nice dog. And these are such nice flowers:
They were growing at the bottom of almost every tree in the park. In other pretty nature news, there's a large fenced-off area in the middle of Hay Park that has been restored by students from West Van High. That was nice of them. Everything behind that fence is incredibly green. Too green for my camera to capture, so go and see it for yourself!
PPR
Good: dog walking hotspot, pretty nature (flowers, restored area, creek, ect)
Bad: not enough places to sit
6.5/10
Hay Park gave us a great first impression:
I'm not sure which creek that is flowing through there, but it's a beautiful one. Squint, and you can see a bench in the background. It looked like the perfect place to sit, but there was somebody reading on a bench across the creek. We didn't want to bother them, so since it is a big park, we decided to look for somewhere else to sit.
But alas, there are no other benches anywhere else in the park. There's two by the main entrance, and that's it. The bridge is no good for sitting on either:
But Hay Park makes up for it's lack of sitting places with trails. It's a great place for walking dogs. We saw at least 10 dogs while we were there. One of them stepped on my foot. It left a muddy print there:
That was such a nice dog. And these are such nice flowers:
They were growing at the bottom of almost every tree in the park. In other pretty nature news, there's a large fenced-off area in the middle of Hay Park that has been restored by students from West Van High. That was nice of them. Everything behind that fence is incredibly green. Too green for my camera to capture, so go and see it for yourself!
PPR
Good: dog walking hotspot, pretty nature (flowers, restored area, creek, ect)
Bad: not enough places to sit
6.5/10
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