Anyone who knows me, knows I love to write. I also love passing onto others what I learn when I travel. For some reason, I never blogged about the time we spent in Victoria (February, 2014). I guess life got in the way of writing. To make amends, I'm blogging what I remember of our holiday.It was a whirlwind visit. After arriving on the bus from Vancouver, we had a few days in the condo before my sister, Lynda arrived. She made plans to meet up with friends so we arranged to meet ours. Tony and Diane suggested we try Blue's Bayou Café in Brentwood Bay (near the Butchart Gardens). The restaurant sits on the water and festooned with hundreds of souvenirs from New Orleans. The appetizer menu included fried green tomatoes (in season), oysters, mussels, and alligator. I had Street Car Oysters and Glen had The Big Easy Shrimp Melt. Po'Boy sandwiches are different each day depending on the chef's inclination. The Cajun music playing in the background is toe-tapping (check out the website to hear an example) and the view incredible despite the gloomy weather.
Saturday we got up early to catch the ferry to Salt Spring Island. Lynda had never visited it so it was fun taking her on a tour. It was snowing which gave us great photos opts as we did a quick walk around Ganges harbour. Glen and I love lamb sausages so drove up the island to Sunset Farms to buy several packets of tasty treats and to meet their spoiled sheep. I had a nosey encounter with a black pony (see photo).
At lunch, we dined at Hastings House Restaurant which offered a wonderful view of the snowy harbour from the cozy dining room. After a delicious meal, we drove down to the Salt Spring Island Cheese store. It was too chilly/rainy to do the outside tour but we did a tasting and left with a bag of different cheeses including Glen's favourite, Montaña (sheep cheese) and mine, Juilette (goat camembert).
Sunday, we braved the snow/rain to do a tour of Victoria's harbour. Glen stood at one point on the wharf and told Lynda that the seals usually come there because tourists feed them. To our surprise, two Harbour seals surfaced and posed for pictures. Our fishmonger, Finest at Sea, was our next stop where we got some oysters and fish for dinner. Then we drove along Dallas/Beach Drive stopping to take photos and do letterboxing (Lynda has become a fan). We ended up at Willows Beach. The rain had stopped so we enjoyed a stroll along its sands.
Monday, Lynda was off with her friend and we met Iain and Janet for lunch at Pennyfarthing Pub. It was two-for-the-price-of-one fish and chips and they being Scots thought this a great bargain. I have to be careful with fish in batter so opted for pizza instead. They have retired but Iain keeps himself active with golf and his biotech company. Janet has joined several walking groups in Victoria.
Tuesday, Glen had a teleconference, so Lynda and I went to the Government House Gardens to see what was blooming in February. More than we could photograph, that's for sure. Early rhododendrons, daffodils, crocuses, and irises to name a few. Some of my photos are here.
Wednesday, we walked down to Ross Bay Cemetery so Lynda could find the letterbox I planted there. We also saw Emily Carr's grave before having coffee at Starbuck's in the tiny Fairfield Shopping centre. Later, I taught Lynda how to carve a letterbox stamp and she did a great job of her first attempt.
Lynda left early Thursday morning and we did some chores and shopping to prepare the condo for our departure. Saturday morning, we golfed The Ridge with Iain. Janet was to join us but her arthritis doesn't like cool weather. She laments being a "fair-weather golfer" but what can you do when your body lets you down? Iain is a great golfer so we really cat compete with his scores but we didn't do too badly (we each got two pars). We then met Janet downtown for lunch at The Guild. This is a new English Pub on Wharf Street. A seafood restaurant called Chandlers, used to occupy the space but when we ate there, it was less than stellar. The Guild made a good impression. Their fries were excellent and one appetizer was a glass stacked with bacon. What could be wrong with that? The chef uses English cheeses in many of his dishes but only Welsh Rarebit was an unique English pub fare.
That evening both of us had dinner dates so we didn't eat too heavily. We met Tony and Diane for dinner at the University of Victoria's faculty club, called the University Club. It turns out because we belong to the Faculty Club at the University of Alberta, we could charge our meal to that account. I had dumplings for an appetizer and they were made with lots of wasabi (it cleared my sinuses, that's for sure). Glen had crab cakes which he said were very good. The entrée menu is divided into three--The Sea (seafood), The Farm, and The Earth (vegetarian). I had salmon and it was cooked perfectly. The Saturday special was roast beef with yorkshire pudding which the others enjoyed.
Monday saw us playing golf again at the Ridge. This time we both did much better. Glen got 3 pars and I had a par and a birdie. The latter score was on the final hole which is challenging because it is over water and in front of the club house.
It was back to reality the next day as we left for Calgary (March 4th). We had our traditional supper at the airport White Spot before catching our flight. Glen swears they serve the tastiest burger and their beer is good, too!
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