Playland/PNE (Vancouver) Discussion Thread

"And then there was that Cricket Burger I had..."

The day had arrived. Sunday. My evening was to spent at The Fair, taking in some blues, and then enjoying Huey Lewis & The News for the concert that night. But before all that, there was The Burger to be had. A "Gourmet Burger," they were calling it. Apparently, "Gourmet" = Crickets. BBQed crickets.

Yum?

I ordered one up, and of course it was presented to me open-face, lol. People around me, who I guessed were ordering everything but this one, stared at my plate of protein, and actually went "Euuuuuu, is that what I think it is?" blah blah blah. And when I took my meal over to the Celebration Plaza to get me a cider before the blues show started, the woman in front of me in line, turned around, took one look at The Plate, and then couldn't stop verbally freaking out about it. I actually hid it behind her back so she didn't "have to look," LOL. But, she looked anyway.

And....surprise, surprise....it - was - GOOD! There was a chipolte mayo on it as well as a few veggies. It tasted great, and when when one or two of the little buggers felt out of it, I just picked them up and popped them into my mouth. Easy! The cider tasted great, too. And the blues show was very nice dinner music. My sight line was blocked of the stage, but the sound system worked beautifully, so the sounds of the blues were nice and awesome.

Would I order one again. Sure! (To be continued...)

Apparently, they now needed a BEACON with a light on top, to guide you to the Hockey Exhibit.

The full menu they had.

Here we go.

What I am to get. With fries, no crickets on them. (It's $7.50 US for now.)

What I ordered.

Ta-daaaah! I did check to see if anything was....still moving. There wasn't.

Cricket burger or not, I like my mustard on a burger!

Nom, nom, nom.

Till all gone. (o:

My "view" for the blues concert. Lousy, but the sound was awesome!

What they looked like on stage,

Side view.

My only close view of Dueling Pianos. The Beer Garden was packed all day.

In case you need another COASTER sign Larry.

Two trains running. The purple...

...and the red.

After getting my $1 popcorn refill, and playing some Ice Ball, it was time get over to the Concert Bowl for the show!

All these pics make me wanna get on a plane to Canada like right now. The food looks almost orgasmic, and Coaster looks amazing. Thanks for all the reports Bill!

Loving your reports Bill, keep them up.

I do consider myself adventurous with food, but I don't think that I would ever eat a cricket burger. You're braver than I.

I did find some cricket candy at Morey's Piers a few weeks ago, but I wasn't brave enough to try it.

Last time I was in Vancouver, a six pack of beer at the liquor store was close to $18. What does a hard cider like that cost at a fair or amusement park?

Kudos to you Nrthwnd for trying the cricket burg. There's a place I go to near me that has cricket soft tacos. Not the corn tortillas, but the soft flour ones. No other meat either, just crickets. I have not been brave enough to try them yet.

Thanks, guys. And for ^^, the cider (a can of) cost $8 Cdn at the fair this year. Buying two of them was worth a six-pack of the same thing, at our local liquor store. Yeah, it's a real up charge for something like that. Same goes for the beer and most other alcohol they were selling. Everything was roughly between $8 and $10 Cdn.

As for the burger, I didn't really have a problem with it. I knew what I was eating, but even looking at it didn't make me wince. And I remember somebody else saying about this insect in particular..."think of it as eating potato chips.....crunchy potato chips." And there was really no taste to them, so the burger itself and the toppings and condiments were the real taste standouts of this burger. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Original Newsies! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Now for the rest of this day, it was seeing and enjoying Huey Lewis & The News. Great energized show, everybody was on top of their game, including Mr.Lewis himself. All the hits sung, a few new ones introduced to the crowd that night (which everybody loved), and my favourite part, a few acapella numbers done by the entire band, which was really amazing, with all of them up at the front of the stage doing their do-wops, and harmonies. The crowd loved it, including myself.

So here's photos of the concert. I wish there was a soundtrack to go along with it, as well as a lot more, better focused, photos. Catching a music act in focus isn't one of my best traits. But there are a few good ones (IMhO) in the bunch. Enjoy...

My ticket.

Map of the seating and bleachers set up. I was in the second left section of the four on the floor, there.

Arriving with the rest of the crowd.

VIP boxes for those who can afford more than just a ticket.

My view of the stage set up, before it all starts.

One look back. And then...

It's on!

And they're here!

The awesome horn section of the band.

Trivia: Huey Lewis & The News have been together for nearly 40 years, now!

Last shot of Huey on his harmonica.

It's All About Fried Food, right?

Yesterday, Tuesday, I went to The Fair much later in the day. I wasn't seeing any show, although the Blues Show was playing again in the Festival Park, and I did catch some of that. But my focus was on the Fried Foods that was everywhere at The Fair. Got on the many, many corn dogs available, then hit the Side Car Bar for a couple of beers. Followed that with a GI-Normous Dill Pickle Corn Dog (with a hot dog inside the pickle!), and some poutine from The Fry Guys.

Took all that food up to the Festival Park, and enjoyed it while listening to good blues and a bit of pop music. After that, I was going to get myself some of that Fried Jello I'd read about. But they'd run out of it for the day, so I switched my dessert choice to another pick I had my eye on - Praguery Cones. A thick baked cake-like cone, which (for my choice) had lemon curd and vanilla soft serve in it. Great stuff! Messy and enjoyable.

And just before I left for the day, I headed over to Toytopia, and the gift shop,

to pick up something that caught my eye on an earlier visit.

And bought it.

Went through the Playland entrance of The Fair.

First fried food of the evdening. Right by Coaster.

Regular was fine, for me.

I was surprised how thin the coating was around the hot dog. Expected it to be a bit...thicker?

Lineups everywhere. Even for water.

My next destination.

My second beer.

Great view of the rides, the games, and the crowds in Playland, from the bar.

Purple train, followed by...

Red train.

What's this? What's this?

Hmmm.

Man, it must be something lugging that around on your shoulders.

Exit, stage right!

Everybody was heading to the General (free) Entry to the show bowl that night.

Tom Cochrane was playing - the "Life is A Highway" guy (also featured in the first "Cars" movie).

Up and over.

Side Moon! (To be continued...)

Continuing along....

After the bar visit, I headed to (what I call) the Main Food Walkway, with booths and food trucks on both sides of the pathway. Everything anybody could ever want in fair food was here and available.

I was always interested in the thing that was a dill pickle with a hot dog inside it, and then the whole thing was battered and deep fried. So I got that. Then, I picked up my poutine from The Fry Guys, heavy on the gravy.Up to Festival Park, enjoyed the blues show, and then dessert, which I had to change due to no fired jello being available. But the substitution was excellent. And messy.

Not Chickie's & Pete's - just Chicky's here.

Getting my BIG pickle dog, but passing on the fried chicken feet.

Then over to The Fry Guys.

The Fry Guys' menu.

My poutine. With gravy. A lot of gravy. (o:

At my table in Festival Park.

The pickle dog was HUGE! And I do loves my mustard, yum!

See? There's a HOT DOG in there! Totally a mess, but really good.

And I finished off the poutine real easy.

Better view of the stage for the blues show, this time round.

Elephants a glow.

Empty Agrodome. Eerily quiet, too.

Prize Home at night. Pretty.

Where I was supposed to get Fried Jello. But they were out, so I went somewhere else.

Stopped at the BCAA booth for a free spin - and got a free iced tea at Blenz Coffee.

The Praguery! This is where my dessert will be gotten.

I chose #3 ~ lemon.

How they make the cones.

And then 'bake' them right in front of you.

Yummy! Gooey! Messy! I loved it!

And right before leaving, I picked up another Groot at Toytopia. A smaller, 'dancing' Groot.

Mmmm...corn dogs and poutine.

We just got Guardians of the Galaxy 2 from our nearest Redbox, so I'll finally get to see this Groot sapling for myself tonight!

^ The actual number of poutine and corn dog stands around The Fair is really staggering. You could do an entire week (or more) at the Fair just eating that stuff and never repeating yourself, with all the varieties and specialties of what's being offered.

Oh, and did you enjoy the movie? One of the best parts for me was

during the credits, which I shall call "Groowth"... without giving it all away.

EDIT: And on the way home from the fair a couple of days ago, I saw this poor little plant,

all alone, outside the plant shop. So I bought it, brought it home, and named it...what else? (o;

Now how did this one slip by me, Bill? I always like your reports on the annual exhibition.

Cricket burger? Yeah, I would try that.

Hot dog stuffed in a pickle? Definitely would try that!

Poutine? OMG...they need more poutine in the states. I think that is one of the big reasons why Americans are so unhappy.

Looks like some decent bands too - I could see myself chilling out listening to some ZZ and Huey while downing a few beers...both fun feel-good bands from the 70's and 80's.

^ The actual number of poutine and corn dog stands around The Fair is really staggering. You could do an entire week (or more) at the Fair just eating that stuff and never repeating yourself, with all the varieties and specialties of what's being offered.

You keep giving me more reasons to go to Vancouver, and yet the city stays stubbornly far away from me and difficult to get to.

Oh, and did you enjoy the movie? One of the best parts for me was

during the credits, which I shall call "Groowth"... without giving it all away.

Yes! That was great. The movie was silly fun, just what I expected from it. I love a superhero movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. Reminds me of when I was younger and everything didn't have to be dark and gritty.

^ Here's one of the many, many corn dog stands throughout The Fair. It looked to me, like

there was one of these, every four or five stands in the larger groups of food stands on the fairgrounds.

And glad you enjoyed the movie.

Didn't try the Corn Dog King. Maybe next year's Fair, if they're back again.

Cider Fest, Country Time....and Chicken & Fries!

At the Fair yesterday, the first thing I did was get that (*#&%#^+ Deep Fried Jello! I missed out on it the visit before, so I wasn't going to find out later, etc. etc. Went directly to the stand, got my $7 worth of it (two pieces), found a nice shady spot to enjoy them.....and downed it all in about a minute flat! Wasn't too bad. They used cherry jello in them. But for that much for just two of them, I would have liked a third piece more. Would I have it again? Probably not. But it was okay for what it was.

Then, I headed to the Craft Beer Fest nearby, which kind of turned into a CIDER FEST for me, lol. I had a pale ale from a local brewery, which I enjoyed. But then I discovered there was not one but two stands serving cider. So I used the rest of my tickets (4 of 5) for cider tasting. Not bad, the three that I tried. And the first of them had an 8% alcohol level, so they had to charge two tickets per serving. I guess everything else was at 6 or 7% alcohol level. Whatever. Everything was good.

After my one visit to the Beer Fest, I was off to get "Country-fied"...

Atter entering the Fairgrounds, I headed straight to this.

Which made these.

The menu. I ordered the Deep Fried Jello.

While I waited for my order, I noticed these light standards all along the entry path into the Fair.

Which made me wonder if they actually turned on during the evening. Guess I'll have to stay longer

to find out, lol. But I didn't.

Found myself a nice quiet spot to enjoy my jello.

Here it is. Two pieces. Seven dollars.

Sweet and doughy, obviously. Nothing special, though.

Still standing, waiting to be won.

Here's where I head to the Craft Beer Fest.

Part of the Italian Gardens area.

Entryway.

Two important spots: drink tickets booth, and port-a-pottys.

What you see when you enter the area.

Hi there! I'd like a Pale Ale, please.

I tried the English Bay Pale Ale.

Was good. Just the way I like my ales.

Sea Cider, a Vancouver Island cider maker.

I wanted sweet...

...so I had the Bramble Bumbly. Two tickets' worth. A very sweet and strong cider.

At West Coast Cider, I tried both the dry Breeze...

...and their sweet Sunrise cider. Both excellent.

Looking the other way at the stands. Before I took off for the Country Barns.

And only two faces barfing out water today in the Italian Gardens. (To be continued...)

Craft beer!

That fried Jello though...

Totally going to try the deep fried Jell-O, overpriced or not.

I think the worst deep fried item was the deep fried Kool-Aid one year. It wasn't bad, but it was just slightly flavoured dough.

^ Okay, but fair warning: The good part was that it was still very warm when I cut into them, so they held heat good. The not-so good part, was immediately after I cut into one, there were some tiny pieces of the jello still in it, and then it dissolved into the dough! Not what i was expecting of it. But hey, I tried it once.

They also had a Poutine Funnel Cake available this year. Hmmm. Maybe, if they're back next August...

My pathetic looking plans for my last trip to The Fair, tomorrow. And it looks like

a very, VERY "sweet" Fair Food kind of day. (o; Other than the chicken skewer.

It's Still "A Little Bit Country", After All...

The PNE still has it's original "barns" from the 1950's. When Playland was literally relocated to where it is today,

and a new Coaster opened in 1958. Although they are either a hit or miss with everybody, the whole area still

has it's Country Fair charm. Kids can be "farmers" for a few minutes, ride ponies, and everybody can see pigs racing

each other, buy way overpriced "craft items" in a cute little shop .... and of course, all the animals there.

Horses, pigs, cows, rabbits, chickens and chicks, lamas.....lamas? Yep. The PNE brings even lamas to the Country

Fair...as they are bred in the Okanagan and on Vancouver Island, I believe. Truth!

Here's my tour through a PNE original, decades old, and it thankfully never really changes....

Old buildings, still holding up, despite the peeling paint.

Alright, here we go....

What you see, when you first enter The Barns.

For those into "horsey bondage"....

Our lovely Clydesdale models demo the body harnesses.

Moo. What? You want more? Moo you.

This is Daisy. She is a new born. Shhhhhh.

~ Horse Motel ~

Yep. Lamas. Told ya.

I tried to.... but did not meet.... an Egg Farmer.

The only pigeons, of all of them groups, who stayed in their indy perch. Smart birds! The rest? Meh.

Pony rides. "And a golden beam of light pierces through the scene....."

"....and continues on, through Richard's Racers." I was way too early for the races. So I Passed. But...

It appears the racers enjoy a good pre-racing meal, of Siamese Twins with Long Black Hair....yum!

Where kids can be farmers for a few minutes, and pick up real cow poop!

The Store.

Over priced everything. Even the ponytailed guy in front there, pointed that out to his grand-daughter.

Now, what could possibly bring a crowd like this, around one pen?

Awwwwww.

And the rest of the new pinkies, gave mom a rest...for a few minutes.

How about a salad?

So many greens here. And yes that's corn, up on the right, there. Nice!

Worker bees currently negotiating with The Queen for a better contract. Stay tuned.

And on the way out....Dads are great, aren't they? (To be continued...)

Um, the fried jello, meh. I think I'll stick to Jello shooters. Cheaper and much better for you. ( they're not fried) Like seeing the animals at a fair too as I used to show horses at the fairs. Looks like you're having fun. Must be nice to be so close.

^ Yeah, I decided to try the Fried Jello, just 'because.' No other reason, although I really didn't want to deal with a deep fried chocolate bar at the time. All that ooey gooey goodness all over me, lol. So I stuck with the jello. Apart from that, yes, Jello Shots are a must at any occasion!

Chick, chick, chick, chick (BBQ) CHICKEN!

My main meal of the day was going to be a past fave - Henry's BBQ 1/2 Chicken & Fries. The chicken, like last year, was perfectly bbq-ed and still juicy to the taste buds. And the fries, The fries were PILED separately into a boxed serving big enough for two, easy. I used a coupon to get $1.50 off their "combo", which adds a soft drink to it. But, after getting $1 refills all the time, I figured that next time, next year, I'll just go for the chicken and fries. Cheaper deal.

Here we are. A PNE regular for many many years.

The menu. Yep, skip the Cold Drink next year, and save a few more bucks.

Mmmmmmm. Lookin' good there.

Back to festival Park I went...

....with my chicken and GI-normous pile of fries!

Nom, nom, nom. I needed more napkins, too. So juicy and greasy!

Now. To decide. The rest of the chicken? Or the rest of the fries?

Well duh, the chicken won out! The small leftover fries, I donated to one of the PNE's compost bins.

The Chairs had been moved from Playland to here, for the PNE.

Not blues music this time, for my "dinner music"....but Flamenco!

Taking a solo turn.

Then they all joined in. They were a pretty together group of Flamenco dancers...

...Until this move. And I was wondering what the one on the right, was checking her....uh....chest, for?

There's a real tv camera inside there. Really!

AtmosFEAR.

Nope. Couldn't pay me enough to ride this.

AtmosFEAR's younger sibling Vertigo, beside Orbiter.

Meanwhile.

What's left of the Quarter Arcade prizes. Where I play Ice Ball. Taking all my accumulated tix in, later tonight.

For some reason, this reminds me of a LifeSavers roll!

Ah, yes! Another Molson Canadian beer to end my visit there. But...

...not till I got a shot of this guy with his "new best buddy"... Giant Rainbow Poop! G'night.

* Actually, It's MY Final day at The PNE

Today is the last day of The PNE. It always closes on Labor Day. But along with that, there was a two-day music festival going on in the same venue I saw Huey Lewis, ZZ Top, etc. And knowing that this all started at 2 pm....I didn't really want to fight the crowds through all that, and probably more. So I visited the Fair this past Saturday, and as it stands, that was enough for me, heh. I checked out a couple of things I wanted to repeat. Like the Toytopia exhibit, and the Marketplace to double check on whether my English Shop was there or not. Sadly, it was not.

And of course, got in some more fair food I wanted to try and/or repeat. AND I cashed in my Ice Ball tix for yet another Funko PO toy figure! C-3PO this time. With the red arm. Definitely this has been my year for collecting Funko POP, lol.

And a final stop at the Ride Side Bar, and got a few photos of people with their GI-normous wins from the Games Arcade. That was fun to do.

Here's what I got, Part 1...

Strolling through the ticket buyers' lines, to enter The Fair, one more time.

Bye bye Paper Dresses in Marketplace!

Wonder what's going to be here, next year?

The best shaded part of the entire Fair!

Yum! I chose strawberry. For .... $8.

Then over to here....

...To get one of these. For ... $12 (with a dollar off, cpn)

The Menu of everything else they serve.

My milkshake (very smooth and creamy) and my food ticket. I'M NUMBER 1!

Hmmm. Maybe next year, ok?

Mine took a bit longer than other stuff. But once I got my skewer....

...I headed back to my old haunt, Festival Park.

Now, here It is. But what I don't understand is, it doesn't look at all like that "photo".

It's ALL chicken, no veggies whatsoever. Rant over. Now to eating it!

I could taste the Teriyaki sauce on it, so that was good. And all in all, it was very tasty.

"Playing 60s, 70s, and 80s Tunes." That's what they said, and that's what they did/played/sang.

Hmmm. Not this time. Very tempting, though.

I discovered the second (of 3) Pineapple Whip stalls at The Fair.

I was going to just have the cup of it, but for $1 more I could have this....

....so I did. For $6. It was great. Great sundae idea!

The masses are still there.

And the Enterprise goes round and round.... (To be continued)

^ My thoughts and taste buds, too!

* My Closing Night was actually Last Saturday, at The PNE.

Well, tonight, The PNE is open only a couple more hours tonight. They've had a good run, including the most rain-free weather I've ever experienced for the annual Fair. Usually, it's a local joke "guarantee" that when The PNE is on, the rain will happen. But not this year.

After my drool-worth Lava Whip (Saturday evening), I got myself back up to the Ride Side Bar for one more beer before I head home. But not before getting a few shots of people who won their prizes, BIG and HUGE. Made me wonder where the heck these mammoth things were going to be actually kept. No matter. I got a few good shots.

Then I played my last Ice Ball games for the run. Cashed in my tickets and got another Funko POP figure (C-3PO), another popcorn refill and I was off, to home. Funny thing was, with only a couple of hours left in my evening there, the crowds lining up to go into Playland were still big. Very wierd. To me, anyway.

Red train.

People are winning some big stuffies, there.

Pirate Wheeeee!

Lights come on, for the evening.

Dad wins something good!

Group shot.

He was a happy winner.

Line up at the bar! I assumed these folks weren't seeing the concert.

Ooooooooo.....

A moon.

Like little flying saucers they spin.

All white lights on the carousel! I was surprised by this.

Coaster station still going strong.

Exiting the Fair through the Playland Gate.

I wondered what game he played to win that.

Good night PNE! Till next year, hmm?

"Souvenirs" of The PNE...

The word "souvenirs" is used very loosely for The PNE, now. The Fair used to have a small Gift Shop, located in Playland. But it kept getting downsized every year, and then....gone. Never came back again. They used to have some cool Coaster-related stuff, like t-shirts and bags.

Not any more.

So this is what I/we picked up at this year's PNE. Mostly FunkoPOP figures, but a cool couple of pillows with "reversible sequins" (ha) on them, and a root beer refill cup I reused only once. And of course my little Ice Ball Groot, and when I took it to the Fair with me, I got several people asking me "where did you get that?" Then I had to tell them where... and that they weren't available anymore.

Picked up at the Toytopia Gift Shop.

The plainest little sampler cup of the three (bottom right). They could of at least put the

PNE logo on it, like last year's.

The Pillows. David loves purple, I love red. I just wish my reverse colour was brighter, like gold.

The root beer cup, and my Groot.

What all those Ice Ball tickets got me: C-3PO with the red arm.