A Supernatural Day

Our first full day in Vancouver was pretty foggy so we decided to leave the city and venture out to find some Supernatural locations. Thanks to a phenomenal website (supernaturallocations.com- all pictures not labeled as mine are from that website), we were able to decide what areas of outer Vancouver we wanted to visit and what we could see that would be recognizable. This made for an investigative, uncertain, exciting and rewarding day! Our first stop was to find the iconic Men of Letters bunker, first discovered during the 8th season. Turns out that we would not only find the bunker- which was recognizable but also covered in grafitti, which makes you realized how hard working and talented the set department is on Supernatural- but also the bridge where Sam and Dean had a moment with their grandfather Winchester. It was a fortuitous start to the day for sure.

episode 8x12

where Sam and Dean meet their grandpa Winchester

we found the bunker!

there was no Impala when we were there, sadly

Next on our list of spots to hit up was Fraser Park next to the river that featured a trestle bridge that features in many-an-episode. The trestle bridge just happened to be turned out after our initial picture taking so we got to see a different view of it as well as see a boat go underneath and through the bridge. Fraser Park was gorgeous and I easily could have walked or gone on a run there all day long. There were many places for families to picnic or play and I can only imagine what it must look like during the summer or when it wasn't so chilly or foggy.

walking up towards the trestle bridge

first views of the bridge

the trestle turning out

hanging off the bridge

episode 3x07

episode 3x04

Sam and Dean having a moment with the trestle out

Hook Man! episode 1.06

Cindi and the boat

this guy is sitting where I was standing to take the picture above

This bench was one of the benches that we passed while walking through the park

 Next we headed out to the Watchmen set. Supernatural doesn't have (well it does now...) a permanent set. Now they have the Men of Letters sets and for awhile they were filming on a temporary movie lot in Vancouver but when they need a large area to represent a town or have an outdoor showdown, they use the set of the movie Watchmen. This was in a big vacant lot in the middle of several industrial businesses, including a few mechanic places and some delivery places. We pulled in two different places but eventually found a place where I could stand up on the side of the car and take a picture or two. It's hard to tell but the tops of the buildings definitely were recognizable.

ep 5x04- you van see similar building tops

same episode, same buildings

Then it was off to our last stop of the day: New Westminster. Both the tourbook and the online things I was reading gave a very different impression of New Westminster than it actually was. The winery we were going to go do was in a business park in what seemed like a very shady part of town. We ended up crossing over the train tracks and finding the beautiful quayside which was much more what I had expected in my mind. After walking down the quayside next to the river, we found some Supernatural sites, including the parking garage from "Nightshifter", a few buildings used in "The French Mistake" and "Bloody Mary" as well as some outdoor "walk and talks" that the boys have.
 

we recognized these stairs...

turns out they were from ep 5x01

inside the upper parking garage

also seen here from ep 2x12

didn't take a picture inside but ep 5x15

my shot of the outside of the military store from above

We passed 15 bridal shops- clearly walking with S&D were

 Our walk back took us past two iconic Supernatural restaurants. First was Burger Heaven, where both Dean and Garth spent some time. We also passed a place called Boston Pizza, where I commented that I didn't know Boston was famous for its pizza. Later, come to find out that its interior was used for a scene between Cas and some demons. I might have popped in if I had known.

our view of Burger Heaver

episode 6x03

and just a different view from 6x03

inside the bizarrely named Boston Pizza

  Even though our first full day in Vancouver was specifically designated to see new places and track down Supernatural sites, it would certainly not be the only day we saw things from the show.