FIREWORKS "For four days at the end of July and the first week of August, they have the Symphony of Fire. It's a fireworks competition set to music on the bay. Different countries compete against one another, Canada always being one of those countries. Each country choreographs a fireworks display to music that's broadcast by huge speakers all up and down the beach. I was lucky enough that my house was right on the water so I could watch it from my deck. You could tune in to a certain radio station so you could play the music in your own home and watch the fireworks. Or you could rent a boat and watch from the middle of the water, which is what a lot of people do."

ONE SPECIAL DAY

"We used to always brag that my dog, Blue, had never, ever gotten so tired that she couldn't go on. I always said, 'There's no way I could ever tire Blue out.' I had never done it in my life. But one weekend, my wife and I got on our bikes and went out to Pacific Spirit Regional Park, where the University of British Columbia has some forest lands, and Blue ran alongside us for like three or four miles. Then we went out to Jericho Beach. We played that smash ball game where you're just hitting the ball back and forth, and Blue was playing Monkey in the Middle, going back and forth, for about half an hour. Then, I hit balls into the ocean for her for about half an hour. It was one of those low-tide days where she could run a quarter of a mile out and not get wet past her neck. Finally, Blue ran back home with us in the afternoon. When we got home, Blue actually collapsed and went to sleep and couldn't go any farther. That story sticks in my mind when I think about Vancouver as a great outdoor city. There's so much to do outside that you can actually tire out a tireless dog."

David Duchovny's Vancouver Essentials

LODGING
Sooke Harbour House
$125-$365