Hyper-Specific City Guide: How to Entertain Your Whiskey-Loving, Secret-Softie Boomer Dad

A checklist for entertaining your whisky-swilling, motorcycle-driving father who listens to Olivia Rodrigo on repeat the next time you're hanging out in Vancouver.

This is part of our Ultimate, Hyper-Specific Vancouver City Guide, featured in the May 2024 issue of Vancouver magazine. We’ve created 25 unique personas and 25 unique itineraries to match. If this to-do list for ‘your secret-softie dad’ isn’t helpful, perhaps one of the other 24 bespoke schedules will be. Explore them all here. 

Stick him behind the wheel of the Lamborghini Huracán EVO Spyder you rented from Scenic Rush ($895 for three hours) for a whip up the Sea-to-Sky Highway. Sorry if this is the first time you’ve ever seen him cry. Starting location varies, scenicrush.com

cars driving on the highway

Spin your wheels at the Deeley Exhibition, Canada’s largest private motorcycle collection, curated by the family who ran Granville Street’s “Fred Deeley, The Cycle Man” shop back in 1914. 1875 Boundary Rd., deeleyexhibition.ca

motorcycles on display

Raise a glass with yer dear ol’ paw at the Irish Heather Shebeen. It’s an Irish whiskey bar in Chinatown with a killer corned beef sandwich—what’s not to love? Slàinte! 248 E Georgia St., irishheather.com

Leave the man alone. He’s a secret softie. Of course he loves a bath. Send him for a soak at the indulgent Chi the Spa at Shangri-La, where a Lola Apothecary Rose Milk bath is at the heart of the Queen of Hearts treatment ($440). 1128 W Georgia St., shangri-la.com

a serene spa
Photographer: Corey Stovin

Let him discover his new favourite chanteuse from a seat at one of the candlelit cabaret tables at Guilt and Company ($6 cover charge per musical set); it remains one of the most intimate places to see live music in the city. 1 Alexander St., guiltandcompany.com

a crowded cabaret bar

Play a round underground. You could take him to the driving range… but downtown’s “urban golf club” One Under has pizza. And a game where you can smash the windows of an abandoned apartment building with your golf ball. Looks like the simulated golf experience ($55 per hour) wins this round. 476 Granville St., oneunder.ca

More from the Ultimate, Hyper-Specific Vancouver City Guide here.