TRAVEL

N. Shore rates
well through
tourist’s eyes

THE TOURIST season is
winding down, although
we'll still be seeing ships in
the harbor for «another
month.

Every year the downiown areas
of Vancouver are clogged with
visitors with more meney than
they can spend. Why can't we get
a few more of them over here?

I°ll give you an example of just
how niuch an average tourist can
buy, given one day on the town.

Our friends. Walt and Nancy,
live in the unlikely-sounding
village of Pearblossom, Califor-
nia. They come to visit us about
every two years. This year, Walt
came by himself — Nancy is a
school principal and couldn’t take
time off.

Walt is a true eccentric, and
works at proving it. Fo: example,
he orders most of his clothes from
a company that specializes in per-
sonally tailored re-creations of old
style military garb. His leisure
wear is authentic Second World
War British army and navy shorts
- and shirts.

His new winter coat is a copy of
General Robert E. Lee’s great-
coat, in Confederate grey, of
course.

His tuxedo is Rhett Butler, but
it isn’t going to get much wear as
he has replaced it from te Scotch
Shop in Vancouver — kilt, black
jacket, ruffled shirt, sporran and
all. The kilt and jacket had to be
specially made — off the rack
clothing isn't much good when
you’re six foot five and about 240
pounds.

What did alt this cost? Walt
was pretty vague bit admitted
that the kilt alone was $465. My
guess would be near to £2,000.

Not every tourist is in the mar-
ket for complete Scottish regalia,
but who cares what they buy? I’d
simply like to see more of them
given the opportunity to buy it on
the North Shore. Our restaurants
would especially appreciate the
business.

at *

1 quizzed Walt about things that
a tourist would notice before we
residents are aware of the asset (or
liability).

He swears that we have far bet-
ter food than Los Angeles (and all
but one of the restaurants we have
taken them to are on the North
Shore). He swears, too, that the
best Chinese food he’s ever eaten
was at Capilano Heights and he
nearly wept when he found the
Savoury closed.

However, our cocktiil prices
make the average American
tourist gag. Isn’t it about time
that the government gave restau-
rant owners a break and sold
them liquor at a reduced price?

It must be no fun for a waiter
trying to explain to an angry
American why he’s charged hirn
$5 for a drink he’d pay $2 for in
Seattle.

Walt went grocery shopping
with us and did a lot of price
comparisons. He found our beef
cheaper. Our fresh produce and
fresh fish were both cheaper and
better. All our packaged food was
higher and soft drinks much
higher. Milk is about the same but
milk products higher.

Over all, Walt concluded that
they could live cheaper and better
in North Van than in California.

In the liquor store he found the
California wines to be, ‘Most of
the worst ones, none of the best

Barbara
McCreadie

TRAVELWISE

ones.””

Brian and Walt had quite an
argument over which country has
the ‘‘nicest’’ people. Walt swears
by Canadians and Brian votes for
the Americans. Walt conceded
that Americans may be more out-
going but Canadians, he feels, are
more genuine and not pushy.

One afternoon, Walt and I went
for a walking tour through
Gastown and Chinatown. There is
no mistaking Walt for anything
but an American tourist —
temember those shorts? One
spoken word is the next dead
giveaway.

I assumed the role of a tourist
and was very proud of the treat-
ment he received in ail the shops
— and the North Shore bank
where he changed money.

The orderly lines of people
waiting for the SeaBus brought
raves — ‘‘In California, everyone
pushes and shoves!’’ However, the
cost of public transportation is
much higher than he’s used to.

eee
Back to tourism on the North
Shore, few Californians — even
frequent visitors — have ever

heard of us. Grouse Mountain is
about the extent of our real estate
that even gets a flicker of recogni-
tion. Walt is doing a one-man PR
job for us in California but it may
take him a while.

eee

Now, would you like to hear a
bit of genuine shabby treatment
we got cn the North Shore?

At 1:55 p.m. I drove into the
new parking lot adjacent to the
SeaBus, took a ticket from the
machine and parked the car, leav-
ing the ticket on the dashboard.

We returned to the car at 5
p.m. to find a blue ticket on the
windshield — for $8 and an
envelope to put the money into.

I was hopping mad — the de-
mand was because my _ ticket
wasn't ‘“‘face up.” I steamed
down to the kid at the wicket and
asked ‘‘what-in-the...?"’ He
replied that he was ‘‘closed!’’

If there is a sign announcing a 5
p.m. closing we surely didn’t see
it. And, what business has a park-
ing lot to close at that time of
day? With parking near the ter-
minal so scarce, this is an insult.

f asked the ‘‘closed’’ attendant
how much I should be paying for
parking and he calculated $5. 1
put that amount in the envelope
— over his protests — and drove
away.

To all the new (or used) mayors
of North Shore municipalities,
please put more effort into bring-
ing tourists over here. And, please
do something about SeaBus park-
ing!

4 North Vancouver

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NORTH VANCOUVER 986-0388
WEST VANCOUVER 926-5541

Sunday, Seplomber 25 23, 1990 ~ North Shore News - 39

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Tour Host
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