Mercury Monterey, Point Grey, 1985

Lest the recent post on my Point Grey days leaves the impression that all was, well, grey and dreary, this image should set the record straight.

I had lived in the neighbourhood for a year or so, when this scene — just outside my apartment on W. 10th Avenue — presented itself. It seemed to me to epitomize the “Happy Days” ethos popularized at restaurants and bars, like Earl’s Place right across the street, where I stopped in for a beer and burger … if I’d had a good month. More often, I opted for the $2.50 burger and fries or soup (see below) at the adjacent Varsity Grill Chinese restaurant.

Varsity Cycles is partially visible on the left margin. I bought many a brake and gear cable there for the bike that carried me on photographic explorations of the city.

Car enthusiasts will identify the Mercury Monterey as an early ’60s model (’63?), making it just 22-years-old at the time.

Summer put a different face on the street. Local merchants displayed their wares outdoors, as you can see in the contact sheet below, Pacific Spirit Park, just a few blocks south, provided trails to hike and cycle, and when my schedule allowed, I fled to nearby clothing optional Wreck Beach to work on an all-over tan.

Happy contact sheet

See the Point Grey postscript.