Historically, these holiday weekends were like the starting line, the “let’s-take-the-car-out-and-roam”. The weekends that Americans and Canadians (and people from around the world) start to converge on Vancouver to kickoff summer.
In Canada, families with younger children take this time to travel across the Provinces or into the states. It’s a time to see new things or continue traditions. Weekends at the cabin. Parks are finally open again for camping. For others, escaping to the city for the weekend for shopping followed by a family dinner at C|Prime Restaurant. A Mother / Daughter spa day @ Absolute Spa at the Century gets skin and toes ready for summer.
This year though, these things are less concrete and a little more fluid as we await news from Dr. Bonnie Henry and Prime Minister Trudeau. We all wait to hear what is opening next and consider how to safely dine in a restaurant or get a haircut. I am getting used to longer hair but will soon need to face the shears. Vancouver is opening some malls with limited numbers allowed. There is more life on the streets of the city, maybe even the occasional honk of a car horn.
As it stands now, the borders are closed. We might be able to stand at the Sumas or Peach Arch Boarder crossings and wave to our neighbours to the south (if we don’t get too close to them, or to each other for that matter).
We in Vancouver are relying on Canadians to travel again; to stay in our hotels to eat in our restaurants; and to bring the memories of your stay home with you. We are relying on our fellow Canadians to support our Canadian businesses. As our Prime Minister encouraged us to “buy Canadian”, in a similar vein, we can also travel-Canadian. We are hopeful that the next long weekend, Canada Day, will bring more of you into our beautiful city to take in all our wonderful sites.
For now, these long weekends in the time of Covid-19 are – stay home and stay safe, enjoy the beauty of your neighbourhood; don’t go too far too fast. We will live with this situation for as long as it takes to keep our communities safe. But keep in mind, we have done a very good job of flattening the curve. The regulations are being relaxed little by little, day by day. Light at the end of the tunnel. We are open.
We will see you, our American friends and world travelers once again. It will be good to have you back in our city, wandering our streets and asking for directions to the Vancouver Art Gallery or The Steam Clock or English Bay.
Until we meet again, stay safe friends.
Matthew Lynam
Director of Sales, Century Plaza Hotel & Spa.
