March 02, 2009 | Tips from Travellers >
Nanaimo, Arts, Culture & History Tours
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May - September the Nanaimo museum fires the cannon everyday at noon in the waterfront plaza. We try to go on Fridays so we can hit the farmers' market as well. If you haven't seen this before, they have bag pipes playing, the museum staff are in costume and the
Nanaimo Bastion is open for touring. I kept waiting for them to load the cannon ball but no such luck. It makes a loud bang and smoke show but they don't actually fire something from it - I guess that's a good thing since the farmers' market tents are straight ahead. I am told that if they were to fire a cannon ball, it could go as far as protection island! Apparently for special occasions you can contact the museum and see if you can organize someone from your group to actually fire it. Check it out when you have a chance.
March 02, 2009 | Tips from Travellers >
Nanaimo, Dining
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The Dinghy Dock Pub hosted a murder mystery night - my sister and I attended – it was so much fun! The cast that performed were hilarious and had us laughing the entire night. We had to dress up as if we were on a Caribbean cruise. The captain drank too much, the nurse handed out "medication” like candy and the activity coordinator personally invited some of the male participants to her quarters for private "dance lessons". We'll definitely keep our eyes peeled on their events calendar and do something like this again. The 3 course meal was great, ribs were juicy and the blended fruit drinks kept flowing all night. Well worth the trip to Protection Island. I didn't realize they are open all year. I can't wait to visit during the day when we can see the view of Nanaimo harbour. I also saw a piece about the pub on Chek's Island 30 that aired Feb 27, 2009 - it shows the view and talks about the history of the floating pub.