The Summer Issue: Rosemary Rowe shares her ideal Vancouver day

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      Rosemary Rowe

      Writer, playwright, performer, and founder of the Creampuff Revolution

      Dream Vancouver summer day: My perfect Vancouver summer day would start with taking my feisty shar-pei, Effie Trinket, for our usual 5K frolic round the off-leash trails at Everett Crowley Park. In the summer, some hero brings jugs of water to the park, and there are water bowls for the puppers all through the trails, so Effie can cool off after harassing her nemesis, Arthur the Bitchy Doodle.

      Après park, I’d take my wife, Kate, out for a brunch date at the Union on Prior Street. I’m still working my way through the Bao Bun Bennie menu (plus the curry-spiced hash browns are godlike), but the Crispy Fried Chicken French Toast is also… Well, let’s just say I’ll be in my bunk. Beveragewise, my go-to is the cucumber-y lapu lapu if I don’t feel like getting day-drunk… Ha ha, just kidding. I’ll have the Banga #3 (bourbon, fresh mint, kalamansi, mirin, orange peel, and ginger beer HELLO).

      I am always accidentally killing basil, so after brunch, we’d meander over to Figaro’s Garden to browse through its fresh herbs or whatever other greenery Kate wants to plant in our boulevard garden. And since we’re already so close, we’d probably hit up Half Baked Cookie Company on Nanaimo to get a couple of pieces of their legendary Island Time pie, plus some cheddar rosemary scones “for tomorrow”, which we will probably “eat in the car”.

      After a morning of good eats and an afternoon of intense gardening (a.k.a. sipping pink wine on our patio), it’s time for some lighter dinner fare, so we’d order poke bowls from Ogenki Sushi. (Don’t forget the mango and crispy fried onions.)

      Like any good lesbian in her 40s, I adore the folk music, so my perfect summer night would conclude by seeing a fantastic Canadian band like Madison Violet or Le Vent du Nord at the Rogue Folk Club in Kits. It’s always such a fun atmosphere and I’m always super sure I’m going to win the door prize. I never do, but hope springs eternal.

      Best summery Vancouver thing I’ve never done: It’s a little embarrassing to admit this as a playwright and theatre nerd, but in the 12 years I’ve lived here, I have never been to Bard on the Beach. But this year I know a couple of the folks in the cast and I am going to make it happen.

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