5/28/17, “A Day with Nothing To Do”
Queen Charlotte, British Columbia
It feels weird having a day with nothing to do. Unlike yesterday, which was spent in transit,
and tomorrow, which will be the main activity of the trip, today is a
completely dead day. There are no sites
in town I want to see, and I will be going to sleep tonight in the same hotel
room where I woke up. There are a couple
of restaurants where I want to eat, but I would hardly call those activities,
nor would I call the walk I plan to take around town after this entry an
activity. Why, then, did I plan the trip
this way, in such contrast to my usual five-sites-a-day intense travel?
It’s just the way the timing worked out. Leaving JFK after work on Friday gets me to
Queen Charlotte late Saturday afternoon.
The boat tour is an all-day thing, and they don’t run tours on Sunday
under most circumstances. The organizer
told me, though, that I should leave Sunday open, anyway, in case they wanted
to push up the tour due to weather. The
weather looks fine for Monday, so Sunday is completely open.
Could I have done something else in British
Columbia? Well, no, since Ninstints will
allow me to say, “Western Canada Complete.”
I could have spent the day in Vancouver, but I don’t think that that
provides any value above spending the day here in Queen Charlotte. Besides, I was able to meet James yesterday,
and that put me at ease, seeing that everything was ready to go for
tomorrow.
I have spent days like this
before in Iqaluit and Yellowknife and various Caribbean capitals, but those are
all capitals, and capitals have built-in activities, including the legislative
assembly building and souvenir opportunities.
Sure, I will get souvenirs here, too, but I will easily find them on my
walk around town. Other than that, this
is literally a day with nothing to do, but, like Yellowknife, it sure is a
great place to do nothing at all, as this establishing shot proves.
After I closed last night, I published and
soon passed out, it still being daylight outside. By the time I woke up, the sun had long
risen. I didn’t get out of bed until
10:30 AM, at which point I went next door for breakfast. The menu was limited, so I chose the first
thing on the menu, which was everything I wanted, anyway. I needed coffee most of all, so that came
first, and the meal was bacon, sausage, ham, toast, eggs, and hash browns, so
that was a nice feast. After breakfast,
and three large cups of coffee, I went back to my room relaxed a bit, and then
went out to the balcony, where I lit up a Diamond Crown and proceeded to write
this entry, which I will now close so that I can walk around a bit.
Just because today was a day with nothing to do doesn’t
mean that nothing happened today. Well,
almost nothing happened. The biggest
something happened immediately after I closed. I went back inside to head out, or, rather, I tried to go back into the
room. The balcony door was somehow
locked. That shouldn’t have been
possible. The door only locks from the
inside, and there is no way to accidentally lock yourself out. It would be a serious design flaw if there
was. Somehow, the lock caught, and I
couldn’t get back in. Okay, no problem,
I’ll call downstairs (I had the number memorized, since I had earlier noticed
it was almost the same as their Wi-Fi code), and they’ll come through the room
and let me in. Simple enough, right?
Well, there was one hitch. I had locked the chain. That meant that they couldn’t unlock the door
from the outside. Here was my plan, I
would climb over to the next balcony, and they could let me out through that
room. I had faith in my ability to make
that climb, but, well, I still wouldn’t be able to get back into my room if
they I did that. They needed to somehow
either unlock the balcony door or unlock the chain, both of which are only
meant to be locked and unlocked from inside the room. This was a problem. I looked up online how to undo a chain lock
from the outside, and it is simple enough.
I had faith in my ability to pull it off, but I did not think I could properly
explain it to the staff, who did not seem to speak English as a first
language. They said to wait ten
minutes. They were going to take care of
it.
Next thing I knew, a screwdriver was
poking through the door. It seemed they
were trying to use the screwdriver to undo the chain. That would did not work. They had to use the screwdriver to either pry
off the part attached to the door frame or otherwise dismantle it. I was rescued. They apologized profusely and told me they
would not be able to replace the chain until tomorrow. I didn’t care. I was just happy to be rescued. I suppose blunt force applied to the door
would have accomplished the trick without the use of the screwdriver, but that
was their decision to make.
I then
headed out. When I said there was
nothing to do today, I meant it. All the
souvenir shops were closed, due to it being Sunday, even though this doesn’t
exactly strike me as a Christian town. I
haven’t seen a single church, not even a cross anywhere. All the restaurants were opened though, and I
knew I would have time enough for souvenirs on Tuesday before I left. I walked around, enjoying my cigar, loving
the scenic vistas and checked out the restaurants to plan my eating for the
rest of my time here. I found a
particularly scenic vista in front of the docks. I was then starting to get hungry, so I headed
back to my hotel to heat up my leftovers.
As I walked, I noted that I hadn’t seen a single police officer my whole
time here, and then I saw a new hospital that was under construction. It looked like a large hospital for such a
small town.
When I got back to my room, I
had my fried rice and another beer, which was plenty filling. I then went outside and lit up an Ardor with
the rest of the beer, taking great care to leave the door slightly ajar, just
in case. After my pipe, I went back inside
to relax and take a nap. After my nap,
it was time to head out to dinner. I
walked down the block to Ocean View Grill, also known as OV Pizza & Grill. On the way, I saw three armed police officers
conferring about something. That seemed
odd.
When I got to the restaurant, the
menu was simple enough, and I just needed to decide between the steak and a
burger. I asked the waitress which she
recommended, fearing the steak would not be good, since I didn’t think there
were any cows on the island. She said
that they were both good, and it just depended on the mood. That was such a bullshit answer. (Strike one.)
I went with the steak, as it came with mushrooms and onions and sounded
perfect. I also got a mushroom soup
appetizer. All I had to drink was water,
as it seems the entire village is sold out of club soda. Someone then commented on there being an
unusual amount of police activity this evening, and the host said that they had
to be up to something, as they had been out and about all day. My reader will recall that I had earlier
reflected on the fact that I hadn’t seen a single police officer. The mushroom soup was good, and it used up my
napkin.
When the waitress brought my
steak, she asked if I needed anything else, so I asked for another napkin. The steak was mediocre, and I much rather
would have had a mediocre burger than a mediocre steak. A few minutes later she came by and asked if
everything was all right. Before I had a
chance to answer, she realized she hadn’t brought my napkin. (Strike two.)
As I ate, I finished my water, and she never got around to refilling it,
even as I resorted to chewing on the ice cubes.
(Strike three.)
I got my check,
and I didn’t stiff her on the tip, but I didn’t leave much more than 10%. What was with the bad service I have been
getting the past few nights at dinner? Is this like becoming a thing? After dinner, I walked back to my hotel,
changed into my nightclothes, cracked open a beer, and sat down in my usual
spot on the balcony, where I lit up a Montecristo Open Eagle and proceeded to
write this entry, which I will now close so that I can publish and get to sleep
before my big day tomorrow.
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