If you’ve ever flown into Vancouver International Airport (YVR), you’ve already been to Richmond, BC, home ground and training haven to Paralympic curler Jim Armstrong. But the skip of Canada’s 2010 team says the island community at the mouth of the Fraser River has much more to offer visitors than a great airport—particularly if they’ve got mobility issues. “It’s flat!,” he says. “Most of the downtown core is new and modern, built with awareness of the need for access.”
That means it’s easy for anyone to indulge in Richmond’s indoor and outdoor pleasures, including the much-lauded Asian restaurant scene (more than half of Richmond’s population has Asian roots) and the so-called “Richmond Riviera”—a scenic 49-km (31-mi) dyke that rings the sea-level city and easily accommodates bikes, strollers and wheelchairs.
The once-sleepy historic fishing village of Steveston is a great place to launch a dyke-walk. It’s one of Armstrong’s favourite places to take guests: “It’s kind of like (Vancouver’s famed) Granville Island of the south—quaint and quirky.”
Follow the dyke path far enough, and you’ll eventually come to the new Richmond Olympic Oval, site of the 2010 long-track speed skating events. It’s just a short walk away from the Richmond Curling Club where Armstrong trains (and is director). It’s a friendly spot that welcomes new curlers—and visitors who might like to try their hand with a rock and a broom.
Jim Armstrong’s Top five Richmond travel surprises:

1. Best weather: “We get half the rain downtown Vancouver gets!”
2. Great Greek food: Kisamo’s Greek Taverna in Steveston
3. Fantastic fish ‘n chips: Dave’s in Steveston
4. Outstanding handicapped-accessible hotel: Holiday Inn on Cambie
5. Postcard river views: the Richmond Piers

 
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