In all honesty, I hope you all have a fantastic Canada Day and that may not include any of the things in this list below this sentence. However, if you'd like some ideas on how to make your July Long Weekend look exactly like a Molson Canadian commericla with a West Coast twist, I have some ideas...
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1. Play in the water. Because, hey, the rest of Canada thinks that's all we do. May as well soak up the stereotype, and quite literally so.
2. Shop in Washington. You know you want to...
3. Play road hockey. There's no reason to do this for Canada Day, in particular, but road hockey's awesome, so why not?
4. Drink a microbrew. Nothing says, "I'm not like you but I still the same things you do" more than being the "first" of your friends to discover some new, cheaper (but probably not) brewery that you think really is totally underrated. (Past favourites that are now kind of mainstream include Dude Beer, Dead Frog, and whatever Granville Island flavour was cutting edge at the time of its inception.)
5. Take in a Lions game, or enjoy it somewhere. The Canucks totally dampened that Tortorella hiring and made it all normal and stuff, and the Whitecaps are cool but, you know...
The Lions have been B.C.'s only real year-in-year-out championship contending professional club for the past decade. Enjoy it while you can.
(Just kidding. You have plenty of time to enjoy it, because the CFL only has eight teams and any of them can win any year.)
6. Make fun of Toronto. I'd suggest grilling them for how hot, sticky, and sweaty their summers are, and I'd use photos of this guy to drive your point home when you don't have anything else to use as a come back:
7. Go to the Okanagan. It's our Scottsdale. (That's a compliment, Kelowna.)
8. Watch baseball, or softball. Anywhere. It's all hot dogs and frozen lemonade. It's sweet summer perfection.
9. Walk barefoot on hot pavement. Again, not really a "British Columbian-ish" thing, but that feeling on your hooves is a sign summer's here. (And, it beats snow, right?)
10. Drive.
11. Take a trip, or don't.
If you don't have the time or can't get it off work, there's nothing wrong with the fall. Seriously. You'll enjoy working during the summer while your office is empty and your expectations are lowered – because you don't have any and nobody cares – and you'll have a way easier time moseying through Europe, Thailand, or Hawaii when nobody else is in October or November.
(Ignore the "Nike" promo bits of the video below. It's still cool.)
Either way, try being the guy (or girl) these folks are talking about:
12. Put on a pair of shorts, head to a field, and play a sport. We'd suggest something involving a rugby ball.
13. Watch a movie. Watch many movies.
It sounds boring, right? Who cares. It's your long weekend. I personally get caught up on ESPN's endless batch of documentaries.
