Our hotel was in the English Bay area of Vancouver. One evening we walked down to the beach and
along the famous seawall. We passed by
the A-maze-ing Laughter, a 2009 bronze sculpture by Yue Minjun portraying the
artist's own image "in a state of hysterical laughter." As part of the installation, an inscription
carved into cement seating states "May this sculpture inspire laughter
playfulness and joy in all who experience it.”
On another walk, we passed by the Gabriola House on Davie Street—same as our hotel. Gabriola House is a classic haunted mansion. It’s the only survivor of many grand homes that once dominated Vancouver’s West End. It was built in 1900-1901 for industrialist Benjamin T. Rogers, founder of B.C. Sugar and its refinery. It’s considered by many as the most opulent of all private homes ever constructed in Vancouver. In its heyday, the property spanned an entire city block. Its outbuildings included horse stables, greenhouses, and work sheds. The mansion itself was built with sandstone blocks, quarried on Gabriola Island. It’s adorned with fabulous stained glass windows and a grand interior staircase.
It has been an apartment building, a restaurant, and a Romano’s Macaroni Grill. Following a fire in 1998, further repairs and restoration work was done. Today, Gabriola House sits empty. In October 2015, it was sold to a local developer who plans to convert it back into an apartment building. The 17,327 sq. ft. house was sold for almost $6 million.
When the house was occupied as a restaurant, some customers saw cutlery levitate in the air. And when the building housed Romano’s Macaroni Grill, the ghost of a young man was encountered several times. One evening a restaurant manager saw the man standing at the top of the grand staircase. The ghost looked down at him with a blank expression. When the manager started up the stairs, the man vanished. Other strange occurrences involved the sound of banging pots and pans with no one in the kitchen when a worker went to investigate. An older gentleman has also been seen standing by the banister of the grand staircase who disappeared when approached. I love stories like these of history and architecture and ghosts.
Popular restaurant on Davie Street:
Marijuana store:
Steam clock that whistles on the hour in Gastown:
House with beautiful gardens:
Condo building near our hotel that has a huge oak tree on top:
English Bay Beach is the most popular sunbathing, swimming, and sunset-watching beach in the downtown Vancouver area. The Vancouver Seawall runs all the way around English Bay from Stanley Park in the northeast around False Creek. This is a favorite destination for walkers, runners, bicyclists, and roller-bladers. Huge logs have been placed on the beach for people to sit upon and watch the sunrises and sunsets.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, English Bay Beach was home to Vancouver's first official lifeguard, the legendary Joe Fortes, who taught hundreds of the city's early residents how to swim, and patrolled the beach from his cabin on its shore.
We thoroughly enjoyed the incredible sunset here one evening. The sun was above the dark clouds then sank behind them. I thought it might peek out of the center crack in the clouds, but it didn’t—only beams of sunlight showed through. It sank lower and lower and finally it was like the sun closed its eyes. Then peeked out a bit. Then melted into lava. It was spellbinding.
Elevator card slot in our hotel that looks very concerned that we are leaving soon:
