Learning this upon my arrival, I quickly conceded to the fact that walking around the city limits aimlessly to find fun and usual things tucked away from public view, just wasn't going to happen and that I'd have to become a permanent resident on the open-top tour buses to see the "real Vancouver". Aimlessly walking up and down streets, I finally saw something that proved this city had, that something, depth.
It was a small red brick shack with yellow trim bounded by a red cage with a curtained white tent within it and decorated with plastic flowers and wooden guitars. What's the significance of this? Well, it's made clear upon entering this small donation-run museum and get an introduction from an enthusiastic volunteer.
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| Looks more like a coop for giant chickens than a place of any significance |
This small red shack used to be the storage cupboard to a much larger building (now demolished) that was a famous restaurant, famed for two reasons. The first being, this was respected black-owned business within the community and was so for three decades called Vie's Chicken and Steak House. The second being, The cook here was Nora Rose Moore Hendrix, the grandmother of Jimi Hendrix.
Jimi Hendrix spent summers growing up in Vancouver and lived nearby when he came to visit, he also spent some time here after he complete his military chore in and around 1964. His grandmother would look over him at the restaurant, and after hours He would use it as his own personal rehearsal/jam/party space.
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| Still smilin' after all these year |
The shack has the ambience of his music playing in the background and painted in loud psychedelic colours with posters, black and white framed photos hang from the wall with fake hand-written letters and lyric sheets taped up giving an authentic vibe of how this place could've been, except its been remodelled to look like the restaurant it once wasn't - with two mannequins sharing a plate of chicken in the middle of the room and this weird kitchen area hanging half way up the wall.
Outside, the small garden is home to benches, brightly coloured wooden guitars, and a tent made up to look like the Jimi Hendrix Grave Site in Seattle as well as white boxes with handwritten tribute to Jimi's family. It's not uncommon for people to hop the fence when the museum's closed and drink beers in the garden listening to his music, just to be close to him and his aura.
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| The garden... I've got nothing to say on the matter |
I was glad to have been there when it was busy and full of enthusiasts, standing in awe at the significance of this place and what it means to them personally and the music world. See the brightness and light it gave people coming to visit was infectious - they would instantly be cheered up and inspired after leaving. That really encompasses what Jimi Hendrix was, and even after death - he's still has that massive influence over people.
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