British Columbia: Floating B&B on the Fraser

LADNER, British Columbia - A resident corrected me right away when I asked about the houseboat community that stretches along the Fraser River in this historic delta town.

"These are `float home' owners; houseboats have engines," she told me in a teacherly tone softened by Canadian politeness. "They're very particular about that."

As for the kind of people I'd find here, "very upscale," she said, leaving me to make my own assumptions.

So I primed myself for a place full of image-conscious, well-to-do urban escapees.

But the River Run Cottages, a collection of four float homes and cottages set on pilings in what used to be a busy fishing port about 30 minutes south of Vancouver, offers an amusing rather than aloof fussiness.

They fit right in with the nearby village of Ladner, a laid-back alternative to vertical, high-gloss Vancouver. In Ladner, the style is less Fifth Avenue and more family reunion - jeans, oxfords, sneakers, and lots of baby strollers.

The town itself is easy to miss.

Most visitors traveling on Highway 99 toward Vancouver breeze under the George Massey Tunnel without noticing the vast, marshy expanse of the Fraser River Delta above ground. The area has long been a haven for birds and bird watchers. Before reaching the tunnel, near the exit for the ferries to Victoria, B.C., look left. Ladner's over there.

"Even though in a way we're still a suburb of Vancouver, Vancouver people think we're at the ends of the Earth," said Jan Harkley, an accountant who has run the River Run Cottages since 1992 with her husband, Bill, an airline pilot.

The cottages are nestled between private houses on stilts along the river dike. Rather than a vacation getaway, this feels more like someone's back yard, the yard in this case being a clutter of ramshackle wooden sheds and flower-decorated decks built over the muddy river.

Remodeled fishermen's quarters from the turn of the last century, the cottages have been named Netloft, Waterlily, Keeper's Quarters and Northwest Room to evoke the spirit of what once was there.

Their bright interiors and pampering hosts betray that rough-around-the-edges past somewhat, but the effect is pleasing.

"Both Bill and I like making things better. It's a passion," Jan told me.

My partner, Gavin, and I, arrived just after 9 p.m. after a Friday night drive from Seattle. The office was closed. But someone had pinned a plastic bag to the doorway. In the bag was an envelope with our names on it and a letter directing us to our cottage, the Keeper's Quarters. There was a reminder to fill out our breakfast menu. The morning paper would be in the mailbox outside our door.

At the cottage, we found a tiny name plate that had our first names scribbled on it, summer-camp style. The door was unlocked and the lights were turned on. Inside, guitar music played on a portable stereo. There was a stash of chips, candy bars and a small refrigerator stocked with soft drinks.

The keys were left on a wooden bench, next to a plate of homemade cookies.

A snifter of sherry and glasses had been placed on a table inside. Next to the fireplace was a wicker basket filled with newspapers and two men's magazines - GQ and Details. They thought of everything.

Given the attention to detail, it seemed odd that our room didn't have a closet or a wardrobe. In the bathroom were two plush robes, a jacuzzi and two dripless candles.

The next morning, after lugging a huge wooden tray of tea, fresh fruit, strawberry muffins, toast and juice to our cottage, one of the housekeepers said something I've never heard at breakfast: "I'll be back shortly with the second course."

The second course was smoked salmon eggs Benedict in hollandaise sauce. The next day's main course was whole-grain pancakes.

We could have been tempted to stay under the cloudlike down comforters all day, but the surrounding countryside, with its fields of potatoes and berries and birds aloft, beckoned.

River Run provides kayaks, canoes and bikes for guests who want to explore, or visit the popular Reifel Bird Sanctuary about six miles outside of town.

Beyond the strip-mall that lines the main road leading into Ladner, River Road West almost becomes a country lane. Traffic on the way to the sanctuary, however, can sap the ambience a little for bicyclers.

Still, yellow road signs west of River Run warn drivers to watch out for tractors, not pedestrians. But for how much longer?

Back at River Run, sitting at a table strewn with old photos, Jan tried to remember the name of the Joni Mitchell song that talks about paving over paradise, "Big Yellow Taxi."

Is Vancouver's sprawl drying up the delta's charm? If so, very slowly.

But the Harkleys have literally found greener pastures for their next venture. They bought a more spacious hilltop estate on Salt Spring Island, in the Gulf Islands north of the San Juan archipelago.

They recently sold River Run, and the neighboring float home where they used to live, to another couple, Will and Barb Watkins.

The Watkins plan to continue running River Run as a B&B, and keep the name.

The Harkleys already have planted a two-acre vineyard on Salt Spring, and are converting their new house into a bed and breakfast.

"The air's fresher on the islands," Bill said, only half jokingly.

IF YOU GO

River Run Cottages and Ladner, B.C.

Getting there:

River Run Cottages are at 4551 River Road West, in Ladner, B.C., about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Seattle. From the U.S./Canada border crossing at Blaine, continue on Highway 99 to Highway 17, the exit for the Victoria and Gulf Island ferries in Tsawwassen and follow the signs for Ladner. Rates range from $93 to $140 per night (U.S.). Call: 604-946-7778. Web: www.riverruncottages.com.

Things to do:

The 850-acre George C. Reifel Bird Santuary, open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. daily is six miles west of Ladner on Westham Island. Among the 230 species spotted there, you are likely to see red-winged blackbirds, great blue herons, young bald eagles, Canada geese, wood ducks and pintails. As many as 20,000 snow geese from Russia arrive every November. Admission is $3.25 for adults, $1 for children and seniors. Pets and feeding the birds bread are not allowed. Call, 604-946-6980.

The Delta Museum and Archives, 4858 Delta Street in Ladner, is housed in a restored 1912 Tudor Style building, the former Municipal Hall, and contains interesting historical exhibits, photographs and oral histories.

Check out the closet-size prison downstairs, complete with fake cobwebs, a rusty bed and a gaunt, bearded manikin, frozen in a pose of desperation as if he were about to rise from the mattress and walk free when someone slammed the bars shut.

The museum is open from 10 a.m.- 3:30 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday, and 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Free admission. Call, 604-946-9322. Web: www.museumsassn.bc.ca/museums/dma.html.

The B.C. Ferries Tsawwassen Terminal is at the end of Highway 17. There are sailings to Victoria, Nanaimo and the Gulf Islands. Call, 250-386-3431. Web: www.bcferries.bc.ca.

The Sunday Market, with local crafts vendors and farmers, happens usually every two weeks along 48th Avenue in Ladner village.

Above the George Massey Tunnel along Highway 99 is Deas Island Regional Park, with meadows, marshes, sand dunes and three historic buildings: Burrvilla, a house built in 1906; Inverholme, a one-room schoolhouse from 1909.

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