From Bacon and Eggs to Coronation Street - A Busy and Wonderful Day in The Life of Me!

June 14 - wow, that seems so long ago, but it was such a good day ... and night ... 

Steve and I started off the day with a brunch at Gordy's, a not so small hole-in-the-wall on Scott Road. Some people (like me) would call it a dive, but I was so glad I spotted it on one of my rides with Breehy last summer.

 We each ordered the $3 breakfast, and that was plenty for two not-so-hungry people. It's a cafe style diner - you order and pay at the counter, then grab your huge mugs of coffee and sit while someone who knows how to cook really really well prepares it.

This is a place of friendly folks, comfortable atmosphere, and lots of working guys grabbing their lunch.

We drank great coffee while we waited for our bacon and eggs ...

... and toast and the best hash browns I've ever had in my entire life. Kudoos to Gordy's - this was the first of three visits there in one week. One of the guys who worked there (he said he was the head janitor, but he took our order and gave me jam for my toast) asked me if I'd be their ambassador, like Angelina Jolie. How could I refuse. After all, we could easily be mistaken for each other, don't you think?

If I had the right wig, of course. It all comes down to the hair.

After brunch, we headed home, as I had PLANS. However, none of my plans included this ...

 ... but when a Cat brings in either a large mouse or a small rat, one hops wherever one can. 

Pauline and I were meeting at Steveston Crafts to pick up our checks, then buy some utterly delicious pizza from Steveston Pizza - the menu may look a bit boring, but when you read it you'll see that they sell no boring pizzas. We ordered the Green Earth and drove over the beach at Gary Point Park to eat it.

  

There was enough of a  breeze from the river to blow our napkins away, and the sun was shining. How great was that?

The pizza was so good it was a wonder we stopped eating it long enough to take a picture - 

 Pauline looking pensive ....

And were we finished yet? No way. Next stop was the Blenz coffee place at Garden City Plaza, for some strong coffee - after all, we had some serious staying-up-late to do.

And then to the River Rock Theatre - we had tickets to see Julie Hesmondhalgh and David Neilson, who play Hayley and Roy Cropper on our favourite show, Coronation Street. However, since we were way too early, we decided to check out the River Rock Casino - we had to walk through the whole length of that to get to the theatre anyway. Talk about temptation. And bells and whistles.

 That venture brought us up to $44, which we cashed out and shared. No wonder Pauline was so happy! I was too - but my picture was pretty awful, and I'm in charge of what goes in this post!

 Then it was time to mosey over to the theatre, for a couple of hours of great entertainment.

... with a side-trip to Coronation Street itself ...

The 1000 seat theatre was pretty well packed - you'd be surprised at the number of fans, from young to old and everywhere in between. I was, anyway. Surprised, I mean. These empty seats filled up quickly, let me tell ya!

 The set was  very simple - a sofa, chair, coffee table, and Hayley's famous red anorak (coat) hanging on a coat rack.

We were very surprised when Julie walked out on stage wearing her blond hair - and not Hayley's dark wig. What a difference! Talk about character acting, she and David are so talented!

They both slip into their roles as easily as they would slip on a pair of glasses. Different stance, different look on their faces ... and different tone to their voices. Amazing.

The first half of the show was filled with 'gossip' about the street and the characters - all of them described by Julie as 'luvely', by the way. Did you know that ..

• Peter Barlow is really short - they are all short, actually, but Peter's legs deserved honourable mention in the short department
• Roy and Hayley's wardrobes are the least expensive off the lot ....
• They both have one favourite scene - when Roy went to Amsterdam to get Hayley after her operation was complete
• There is a huge continuity team, who makes sure the clothes they are wearing in one scene match the ones in the next, because the scenes aren't always filmed in sequence. One thing they can't fix is the suntanning though - Hayley knocks on Tina's door when Tina is pale, and when she goes inside, Tina has a tan from a holiday. Did you notice that? I didn't.
• The bag that Roy has carried around since he started actually belonged to his real-life dad 
• Hayley's wig is the best selling wig in the wig shop where she gets her wig. Wow.
• Julie (Jules, actually) read for the part of Hayley, didn't think she got it. Since she had no cell phone, she was back in her apartment when they called and hired her for the part. Good thing, I say. Initially, her role was supposed to be very brief, but it lasted more than 14 years. I will be so sorry to see her go ... but she has at least two offers - back to acting on the stage. Meanwhile, click here for an interview with Julie regarding her last storyline. Sob sob. Sniff.

And now .. apologies. I did have two crappy but cool videos, but they refuse to play on this post. So I will just delete the black screen and Sorry this video is unavailable messages ..... if you want to see them, you will have to drop in and look on my cell phone. Sorry.

HOWEVER -  you can enjoy this You Tube video of Julie and David when they did their show in Calgary a few weeks previously - it's quite choppy (mine was much better, believe me.) Ahem. Or maybe it's just my poor overworked, worn-out computer .....

And then .... a long ride home! It took Pauline almost half an hour to get out of the parking lot, believe it or not, and then I just missed a 410 bus so had to wait at the Richmond Centre for almost another half hour for another to come along. I thought the bus and the sky train would be pretty empty at 11 o'clock at night - but neither was - still lots of people on the go. I did take a cab home from Surrey Central sky train station though - I'm not brave enough to walk up from the bus stop on King George Boulevard at 12:30 all by myself!

And so ends another adventure .....