Today was the long anticipated full weekend of sun. The weather called for no clouds and no rain, and we were planning to take full advantage.
We gathered our beach towels, blankets, some snacks, and drinks then off we went in our whip of the week.
This weekend, we were sporting the 2024 Ford Mustang Ecoboost Coupe, the ideal summer ride for two, minus the lack of sunroof and the possibility of going top down on this sporty two seater.
In truth, there is a second row of seats, but barely any leg room, so something has to give. If you want to be comfortable in the front you need the leg room to sprawl and the ability to move the seat back in a more relaxed low rider position. A chair incline to match the Mustang’s lowered stance.
I would have liked to see this Mustang as a true coup, to remove the back row and opt for a more sportier compact instead. Here, the profile was on par with a regular sedan and there was ample trunk space. Although the back seats could not fold down and you could not extend the your cargo allotment that way.
Once again, I would have like them to be consistent with the sport car feel and appeal. Especially given all the functionalities within.
The most unique feature is their heart beat, pulse to start. An audio that sounds when you start the car with a push of the ignition. It really set the tone and got your excitement going.
Sound is definitely a central feature of the 2024 Ford Mustang. You can hear and feel it vertebrate throughout the vehicle. The whirl and growl of the engine. One of the many specifications you can customize to make the cockpit your own.
The customization button is located on the minimalistic dash as their galloping mustang horse logo. It allows you to adjust your set up from ambient lighting to what is visible on the wrap-around screen, as well as that you hear from the “engine”.
On the instrument panel you can adjust the setting and odometer to look “sport” like with gauges, to all be displayed snaking across the screen like a “track“, and “calm” with a minimalist appeal and plenty of negative space. In actuality, the steering wheel gave you most of the buttons at your fingertips.
Our favourite customization was the ability to adjust the sound of the engine. All manufactured, but as fair weather drivers, we didn’t care so much, as it just sounded so good. “Normal” had a bit of a purr, “sport” turned that into a growl, and “track” elongated that roar. And without sound, felt out of place after all our testing.
Either way it was a great, sexy looking vehicle to be sporting around this weekend. To be seen in when everyone was out and about.
Our destination for the day was Barnett Park in Burnaby. However, we slept in, and thought leaving the house by 11am would still ensure we got a parking spot. We would be wrong.
Barnett is our go-to beach: near where we live in North Burnaby, without the distance and traffic of downtown busiest beach, and a quick walk from car to waterside. The latter is especially key if you are a carrying a day’s worth of supplies on your back. They have picnic area, splash pad, ocean side beach, and even a concession stand. However we would take an “L” on this as the two main parking lots were full and they were only serving the overflow, which required quite the trek; and with all that we had to carry, we weren’t feeling it.
Instead we turned out around and sought out plan B. Deer Lake nearby wasn’t a beach, and we wanted ocean and sand; so that was a negative.
On route to North Vancouver’s Ambleside, we changed course for New Brighton beach in East Vancouver instead. This was a much smaller scale, and there for more intimate park than Barnett. And more importantly, one that we found parking in.
This park is equipped with an outdoor pool, where families were set up around its tarmac. There, you can hear children’s laugher and the chatter of adult conversation. They also had public changing rooms and rest rooms for general use.
There is a little patch of beach, but the sand is more like gravel and not all that comfortable to lay a blanket on. The rest of the shore is a series of seaweed and barnacle covered boulders that require care scaling, in order to reach the water. There is also a pier nearby that offers fishermen and crabbers a vantage point.
We decided to settle ourselves with a view of the water, including Lion’s Gate Bridge and industrial factories in the distance. This was a quiet patch of green, where others who joined afterwards were able to claim their plot of land with minimal hinderance to our experience.
This was not my number one choice in beaches, but let’s be real, I would not be at the beach or even outdoors otherwise. Packing everything, forcing yourself into the car, finding a destination, finding a parking spot, then carrying everything to a spot within the spot, and setting up thereafter? This is a lot of work. Therefore, I am thankful that my partner is more than happy to take on the organization and task. Whereas, my job is just to make sure we have enough to eat and drink (alcoholic). He even has to take care of the water and ice packs.
After we set up and settled in we began to dig in. And here is what we had on the menu today. I made some breakfast bagel sandwiches with bacon, fried egg, cheese, cucumber, mayo, and cream cheese. Those went down quick with the aid of our canned tequila cocktails.
Ocasa tequila sodas at 5% ABV, there is no hiding the tequila in these. That is especially the case with the new coconut flavoured one and its whisper of fruit, and creamier mouth-feel. The mango flavour is also new, but more drinker friendly with the sweetness of this juicy tropical fruit.
We also had their popular spicy watermelon and lime flavoured canned cocktails, which I find both pairs well with food. Specifically with our pack of Two Rivers jerky in their new habanero pineapple flavour. This is my partner’s favourite jerky given how thick and chewy the pieces are. Although dry and dehydrated they still have a meaty mouthfeel, and in the light of the sun you can even see streams of fatty gristle indicating what you have in your hands is an extra chewy morsel.
And for dessert we had cookies from two local cookie purveyors. From Connie’s Cookies we had her caramel brownie. A cookie that tasted like a ginger-less ginger snap, mimicked from the popular Lotus biscuit. All surrounding a gooey chocolate brownie centre.
And from Bak’d their salted caramel macchiato cookie. Tender and chewy from the heat of the sun and true to its drink-sake, very well captured in cookie form.
We would spend the afternoon graze, sipping, chatting, and dozing under the sun. So much time that I came home red like a tomato. A successful day at the beach.
