Things to Do in North Vancouver

Since 1964, Town ‘N Country Bowl has provided the Vancouver area with classic 10-pin entertainment spiked with modern innovations such as automatic scoring and glow-in-the-dark balls. Lane-side tables can be stocked with offerings from Town ‘N Country Bowl's on-site kitchen, which serves a full menu of entrees and appetizers including barbecue beef burgers, chicken strips, and sweet potato fries to keep hungry bowlers from trying to crack balls open to get to their marshmallow filling. The comfortable facility boasts several synthetic lanes for both public and league bowling, and it also features a VIP lounge with a movie screen suspended above four private lanes. For celebrating bowlers, Town ‘N Country's party area surrounds guests with burgundy wall tones and overstuffed leather booths.

Family-friendly Bayshore Bike Rentals doles out mountain, tandem, and cruiser cycles for adults and kids, with optional bike trailers that cart little ones in the wakes of adult cyclists. Newly equipped riders pedal from the shop through lush Stanley Park or coast along the nearby Vancouver Seawall, a flat, paved path that hugs the waterfront as tightly as an overenthusiastic Big Bird. Cyclists return their steeds at whatever time they choose and pay at the time of drop-off. The shop also rents a collection of in-line skates made by Rollerblade.

Skipper Sergei Rovensky, the mariner at the heart of Bowen Sailing Charters, and other skippers saddle up the 55-foot Valhalla for smooth, recreational jaunts through the neighbouring waters of Bowen Island. The beloved luxury yacht is one of only 250 in the Vagabond series created by English shipbuilder Ernest Chamberlain, whose handiwork was recently updated in 2011 when Captain Sergei gave the vessel a makeover. The renovation preserved the yacht's timeless sailboat elements, such as polished-brass hardware, a classic silhouette, and a porthole eye patch. The Valhalla grants charter groups the thrill of a modern-day sea adventure, sailing to the Octopus Islands and other scenic locales as passengers enjoy the ship's many amenities, such as a flat-screen television, an elegant rosewood dining table, and WiFi. The same teak wood that trims the cabin's interior makes up Valhalla's 47-foot deck, where passengers can cast salmon-seeking fishing lines or leap off into the waves for snorkeling.

The goal of whisking merrymakers off of terra firma and onto the open water for unforgettable evenings drives FantaSea Entertainment’s team to constantly create new and thrilling party plans. Throughout the year, seasoned captains pilot revellers around Vancouver’s waterways as they celebrate big-ticket occasions such as New Year’s Eve and Canada Day or commemorate smaller happenings such as the advent of the weekend or the one-week anniversary of last Friday. While entertainment lineups vary from cruise to cruise, past acts have included fire shows, sets by local comedians, black-light body-paint dances, and DJ sets.

Nimble players send shuttlecocks flying in gravity-defying volleys across Ace Badminton Centre’s 12 courts, guided by a team of highly qualified instructors. The centre’s coaching staff overloads its collective mantle with a wealth of awards and trophies, such as Ximing Yao’s1986 US Open Doubles victory, or Shawn Zhang’s 2010 British Columbia men’s championship title. Trainees and players hone their skills on the courts’ floating-floor system, replete with a triple-layered PVC buffer and high-density foam cushioning for absorbing shock—much safer than floors cushioned by subterranean lava pits. After studying under a professional badminton coach or practicing against a worthy opponent, students can join the ranks of Ace’s trophy-bearing alumni, who sport medals from junior championships at both the provincial and national level.

Rolling strikes is in the Marino family’s blood. The family has presided over Grandview Lanes for three generations, ever since Louis Marino established the alley back in 1947. In those days, the pins had to be set by hand, a task Louis's son, George, remembers all too well. As he told Westender reporter Mary Frances Hill, "You'd have 40 women bowling during the day (in the 1950s), and only two pin setters […]. So we'd run around like crazy."

Today, machines act as the alley’s pin setters, but the Marinos are still around and running the show. George's daughter, Tammy, manages the modernized alley, where automatic scoring makes things easier for a younger generation that has never seen a real wooden pencil. Some things haven't changed though. Bowlers can still visit the lunch counter once run by George's mother, fuelling up between frames with burgers or pizzas laden with a dozen different toppings. And, of course, the game remains relatively unchanged. Downstairs, guests choose between 5-pin or 10-pin bowling, and upstairs, black lights and neon wall murals set the psychedelic stage for the sport's most modern update—glow bowling.

Aside from providing a hub for clean, family-friendly fun, Grandview Lanes actively supports the community by helping the fundraising efforts of organizations such as the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada and The Kensington Foundation for Animals in Crisis.