Tag: British Columbia

The Heidout In Cranbrook – A Review

A plate featuring a Heidout burger topped with tomato and lettuce, accompanied by a side of golden fries and a small bowl of ketchup.
Heidout Burger – by John Phillips

On September 6, Lori and I decided it was time for a night out. We seldom dine out, especially during our summer stays. Still, when we do, the Heidout in downtown Cranbrook is a familiar favourite. Located at 821 Baker Street, it’s a bit of a drive from where we spend our summers. However, it is always worth the effort.

🏠 Atmosphere & First Impressions

The Heidout has a pub-style vibe with a subtle split between family dining and the main area. It’s open, lively, and buzzing with energy. On arrival, we were greeted promptly and seated quickly—something we’ve come to expect from their consistently attentive staff. That evening, Aimee introduced herself and took our drink order with a warm, professional touch.

🍷 Drinks & Menu Highlights

We started with a glass of their in-house Meritage, a smooth red blend that paired well with the hearty meal to come. The menu is familiar to us, and while it’s not Michelin-starred, the food is reliably excellent. This time, we both went for the Heidout Burger—mine with fries, Lori’s with salad. She always looks forward to their house dressing, and once again, it didn’t disappoint.

The burger itself was a standout: salami slices layered with aioli, crisp veggies, and what I suspect were Polski Ogorki pickles. It’s a bold combo, but it works. Rich, savory, and satisfying.

🛎️ Service & Cleanliness

Despite the full house and an event happening in their banquet area, service remained top-notch. Aimee was attentive without hovering, and everything—from the dining area to the restrooms—was clean and well-kept. It’s clear they take pride in maintaining the space.

đź’° Value & Final Thoughts

Our total came to $113.62, including wine, taxes, and tip. In today’s dining landscape, that’s more than fair for the quality and experience. Yes, it’s a bit noisy—it is a public house, after all—but we knew that going in and embraced the lively atmosphere.

If you find yourself in Cranbrook, I’d recommend The Heidout without hesitation. It’s a place we return to time and again, and we’re already looking forward to our next visit.

Heid Out Restaurant and Brewery

Moyie Lake: A Rewarding Summer Retreat

I thought I’d share a photo from a few days ago. We spend some time here while we are summering, and it can be quite rewarding.

Moyie Lake

Creating a Year-Round Haven: Our RV Lot Transformation Began in 2017

Our Trailer in 2017

We showed you a blank canvas when we last talked about our RV lot.  https://joebeans2002.com/2024/07/19/creating-our-year-round-haven-leasing-and-developing-in-bc/

We had this unit near Balfour, BC, on Kootenay Lake. The sight was perfect in every aspect except one. It wasn’t open all year. It also didn’t have running water, power, or sewage. The new location had more and more, including shower and laundry facilities and much larger lots.

What We Needed

This was the 2nd part of our quest. We were looking for a location that offered us affordability, convenience, and proximity to the necessities of life. These necessities we determined before our search and included:

Access to an airport, in this case Canadian Rockies International Airport, just north of Cranbrook, BC.

Access to a hospital, also in Cranbrook.

Access shopping and groceries, again this box was checked.

Access to a variety of restaurants, check.

And finally, a range of outdoor and indoor activities within a fairly large radius from our location. There is skiing, hiking, hot springs, national parks, kayaking, biking, cross country skiing, waterfalls, golf etc. etc., all within a 3hour driving range.

Now What

Now the hard part begins, making this lot a workable living space. We will be presenting our efforts from time to time, and we are still working on it.

To sum up with some helpful advice, we spent many suppers discussing how we were going to deal with retirement. We talked this over more than a few bottles of wine. Our goal was to handle retirement in a responsible and economical manner. We settled on this path based on cost. We wanted to live comfortably and still maximize our available funds to help in funding our travel bug.

Something To Pass On

If we had something to pass along, it would simply be, talk. Put your hopes on the table and figure out a way to get the most out of them. It also very important to not put this off to the “future”. The future is now! It has taken us 20 years to get to this point and we still have things to work out.

Under Sail, What A Feeling

The JohnLoriEh under sail on Sunshine Bay near Harrop and Procter, BC. On a bit of a memory bender, bear with me, I’ll move along soon. This shot was taken in 2017.

The JohnLoriEh

Thriving Dahlias and Friends in Mid 30c Temperatures

To keep the streak alive, 3 in a row.

One of the many pots kicking around the lot right now. Seems to be thriving in the plus mid 30c temperatures of late.

Creating Our Year-Round Haven: Leasing and Developing in BC

So far so, so good, 2 days in a row. Let us reach into the vault and see what we have.

Let’s go with this from 2017. A blank canvas, otherwise known as the lot we lease in BC. I’ll drop a new one chronologically from time to time. We has an extensive search throughout the Kootenays, trying to find a place that would serve us year round, with power, sewage and water. As you can see, power was not an issue. Conveniently neither was water or sewage. Resort is open year round as well. The vacant lot backed onto the Moyie River and we could see lots of potential. We settled on this location and have been working on it ever since.

Glimpse of Kootenay Lake: Captivating Sailing Moment in 2016

Trying something to spur my momentum. I have a gazillion photos , why not share. And if I try 1 a day for the next whatever days in my earthly existence, I’ll never run out of material. Sounds easy right, let’s see how it goes. Hopefully I’ll be inspired to get back into writing and interviewing.

First shot.

Sailing on Kootenay Lake, BC, Canada

Yes we’ve sailed. We have done some West Coast in Canada and a bit of the Caribbean as well. This shot was a beautiful day in 2016 (not a sailing day) on one of the prettiest spots on the planet, Kootenay Lake in beautiful British Columbia. We had a 25 foot boat, based in Kaslo, BC. I say had, but that is a story for a different time.

Scenes From A Hike – September 4, 2021

Went for a nice hike on a forestry road that led us to the shore of Monroe Lake in the East Kootenays of British Columbia. The trek was 3.21 miles or 5.2 km. A screenshot of the route is below, in and out via the same route.

The scene below is indicative of the scenery along the road.

Once we reached the lake, there was a footbridge and an old dam, now in various stages of deterioration.

It is also the mouth of a creek, pretty much dried up as we are at the end of the season. Most creeks and rivers out here are snow and rain-fed, meaning they tend to dry up, or they are spring-fed, which this one is not. We have seen this creek higher up in the mountain in the past, but it was late October and there was runoff.

We continued to the right on the map and discovered some well-worn elk trails that we will explore later. We turned back and took the left spur to some amazing scenery. We have done this path before this and knew what we were in for. We have also kayaked through the meadow, a post I will put up once I finish playing with the video.

We also know about how to relax. A conveniently placed bench to look at the landscape.

And of course, it is not all about the scenery, let’s not forget the foliage and critters. In this case an interesting mushroom and some pretty butterflies.

Just A Picture

Have to keep my streak alive, while being exceptionally busy. It’s that time of year isn’t it. Took this shot at a stop on the way up to Gardiner Dam, north of Lardeau, B.C.

See You Next Year

It’s that time of year. Off to our Calgary home for Christmas and then to Mazatlan for New Years. We will be in Mazatlan until April. I had to take some shots just before we left. It’s such a beautiful place.