Tamara's Block Party '09

Hmmm... what do you do, when you're bored at home and need to beat the summer, mid-week blues?? Head out to your local new-channel's block-party of course :P


On July 15th, my family attended the local news-station's bbq, picnic, block-party, shin-dig hosted by their weather woman. The party was held at Queen's Park and incidentally the weather was perfect, not too sunny and not too cool. Normally, I'm not one to stand in line for 1 1/2 hours to be one of the first 1,500 people to a party but this was a different story. You see, my family can never pass up the chance to get free food :P And if you were one of the first 1,500 people at the party you'd get a free dinner made by Mr. Mike's Steakhouse and Grill. Also, this party was the site of the release of the 3rd collectors pin for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics... and, having already collected pins 1 and 2, we couldn't just pass up the chance to get the next installment! That'd be crazy!

We had no idea how many people would actually be attending this bbq/picnic thing, but when we arrived (an hour and a half before the tents opened) the line up was already about 400people long. By the time the block-party opened it's doors, the line up had grown to triple it's size! The entire park was filled with a really squiggly, swervy line-up of probably more than 1,500 people! I sure hope that everyone who took time out of their day to line-up got at least a pin or a free-meal... I know I would be peeved if, after waiting 2+hours in the sun, I ended up getting nothing.

When I first stepped in-line, at around 3:00pm I wasn't hungry at all. But, by the time we actually got into the "free-food" line-up, it was 5:00pm and the smell of the freshly grilled burgers was tantalizing my taste buds and making my stomach grumble. I had never tried Mr. Mike's before, I often drive by their Langley location but have always brushed it off as being "just another steakhouse". Sadly, they did not serve up steak (I didn't think they would, because that'd mean grilling up 1,500 steaks for free... probably putting them in debt :P). But, they did serve up a mean burger with a side of caesar salad. The burger was "Mike's Classic", an angus steak burger placed on a bbq-toasted garlic frenchbread, topped with cheese, a pickle and an amazing burger sauce (I'd say even better than White Spot's Triple-O sauce! *gasp* I know!). The burger was huge, and I actually needed help finishing it off... the bread was so delicious, and has now made me a fan of serving burgers on garlic baguettes. Great idea Mr. Mikes!! Great idea :) When I move into my condo, I'll be closer to the local Mr. Mikes, so maybe I'll become a regular... I wonder if they'll serve just the french bread just by itself??

AAHHH!! This burger was AMAZING!

Anyways, the block-party itself was fantastic. The musical performers were called "Dr. Strangelove" and they played an amazing array of oldies, but with a contemporary twist. A couple MJ songs were played, some Aerosmith, some Janice Joplin and a couple folk-country-tunes. It was fun to see the little tykes running around the playground and the water-park section of Queen's Park. All-in-all, this was a fun outing for the family... sometimes it's tough to convince my sisters to get their butts out of their computer chairs and get some fresh air :P