And we had one vacation, on Mayne Island. We had pounced on booking this cob house (which is clearly a hobbit house, right?) back in the spring when we saw that there happened to be a half a week during the summer when it wasn't reserved. So we went, and ate at the (really excellent) local restaurants, and hung out at the water, and napped, and visited the farmers' market, and took walks in the woods. We also found a book in the living room of our cottage about building cob houses; apparently drum circles are very important.
It's been a memorable summer - memorable for being the busiest and most intense period of time since... I'm not sure when. By about the end of July, when it looked as though the entire summer could pass without taking advantage of the season, we made up a Summer Fun List. It had such things on it as "eat corn and blueberry pie and other summery stuff"; "ride bikes"; "read a book"; "go on a hike by Mount Baker"; "have slushy drinks"; "spend time on the deck"... We didn't cross off all the items on our list, but we did remind ourselves of what we should be doing at this time of year. And we had one vacation, on Mayne Island. We had pounced on booking this cob house (which is clearly a hobbit house, right?) back in the spring when we saw that there happened to be a half a week during the summer when it wasn't reserved. So we went, and ate at the (really excellent) local restaurants, and hung out at the water, and napped, and visited the farmers' market, and took walks in the woods. We also found a book in the living room of our cottage about building cob houses; apparently drum circles are very important. Now it's time to contemplate the Fall Fun List. It's time to get back into knitting, to actually read a book (didn't cross that one off the summer list), to bake with apples and butternut squash, to take walks on crisp days, and be cozy inside on rainy days. Bring it on, fall!
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With no real vacation plans decided upon yet for the year, a stop-gap was in order. Truthfully, since I've been to Vancouver Island several times, I wasn't expecting a very exciting getaway, but we had lots to see and do over half a week. Perhaps Vancouver Island's slogan should "Better than you might think". The first stop was Cathedral Grove for a short woodsy walk, before continuing on to Courtenay. This is Goose Spit Park, in adjacent Comox. Well worth checking out. And just around the corner is the Filberg Heritage Lodge & Park. The grounds are open from dawn to dusk, so even though the house had closed for the day by the time we got there, we were able to stroll around and look at the various old-timey buildings, including this alleged root cellar. I could store a lot of potatoes in there. Despite a rainy drive down to Victoria, a couple of stops were in order. This bold sheep was at the Little Qualicum Cheeseworks, where we sampled cheese and bought a bottle of blueberry wine. For some time, I've been curious about the Crow and Gate pub outside of Nanaimo. A deluxe ploughman's lunch awaited; it was a rare meal that defeated me as I couldn't quite manage to finish it all. Then, while driving through the small town of Duncan, we passed by a small, temporary midway. What better activity after eating a large meal that to go on the tilt-a-whirl? It's always been my favourite ride but I hadn't been on one in years; it still lives up to my memories. Whee! After eating too much and then spinning around and around, clearly it was time for a tasting at the Merridale Ciderworks. Oof... In Victoria, we stayed down the street from Emily Carr House. A lot of eating ensued. There was dinner at Rebar, perogies at Hungry Rooster food truck, the best meal of the trip at Stage, pizza at Fol Epi, and doughnuts at Discovery Coffee. Aside from eating, we also took in the sights of the Royal BC Museum, wandered the grounds of the Lieutenant Governor's house, and had a self-guided tour of BC Parliament Buildings (next time we'll check out the restaurant there too). On our last day we managed to also see baby goats at the petting zoo in Beacon Hill Park, and stop for a wine tasting at Church and State. More than a successful stop-gap, it was a real vacation after all.
Spending half a week in Portland was great, but it wasn't enough time. Portland and I have unfinished business. Our doughnut business is finished (although I could easily go for another Blue Star classic buttermilk). Hill walks are another story, though. Out of the 24 walks in this fantastic book, I did 4. They included fancy suburbs, woodsy trails, and an aerial tram. It was unfortunate to leave the other 20 undone, but I'd go back to Portland just to do more. And to eat alpine cuisine. Dinner at Gruner was so amazing that we went back again the following evening and ordered pretty much the same meal. Not pictured are the crispy polenta-and-raclette balls. Or the homemade pretzel. (Note the pretzel croutons in the salad.) Ruby Jewel Scoops! Unfortunately, we also missed getting pie at Random Order and sandwiches at Grand Central Bakery and pizza at Apizza Scholls. Next time we'll try for an entire week, and in addition to hitting more restaurants and hill walks, it would be great to also make it to Sauvie Island, the Willamette Valley, Mount Hood, Timberline Lodge, Crater Lake... Oregon and I. Unfinished business.
I like to collection information on destinations, be they food, travel or otherwise. This satisfies my need for making lists, for subsequently crossing things off of lists, and for knowing where to find "the good stuff". For instance, I have a folder of bookmarks dedicated to Seattle, and this past weekend provided the perfect opportunity to check some of them out, along with discovering other gems.
After dropping our things off at the Chambered Nautilus (a great b&b near the university), we headed straight to... the Chittenden Locks! Truth be told, the locks themselves were not all that exciting. No, the real excitement was in watching the action at the fish ladder (I am not joking). Dinner afterwards consisted of multiple tapas from Essex; the cauliflower toasts and rhubarb toasts were particular hits. The pictures above were taken the next day at the Chihuly Garden and Glass, which was one of the biggest highlights of the trip. The Boat Street Cafe provided lovely lunch fare (there was a cornmeal custard thing drenched in maple syrup that was pretty fabulous), and then it was off to Bainbridge Island where we enjoyed a driving tour of the island and wine and cheese tastings (keep it up, Eleven winery!). On our last day, we quickly ran through Pike Place Market (thankfully avoiding the gum wall) before taking the underground tour. The best meal of the trip might just have been sandwiches at the Grand Central Bakery and then we left Seattle and headed for Woodinville. We were not expecting Woodinville to be a wine tasting hub, but that is what we found. And finally, we hit Trader Joe's in Bellingham for the cheese arbitrage. Next up... Portland in July! Today marks the two week anniversary of my return from a one week trip to California. It's cold and rainy here and I miss the warm and sun. And the eating. Thanks to a friend's suggestions, we had ample guidance to steer us in delicious directions: in San Francisco it was a perfect lunch of assorted appetizers at Green's (why is Vancouver only now getting vegetarian restaurants on par with this?); samosa salad at Burma Superstar; a fantastic morning bun from Tartine Bakery that was sadly sold out on the following day; pizza and salad done right at Pizzeria Delfina. Napa, I miss you too. Bubbles in the morning at Domaine Chandon and Mumm Napa; pommes frites and salad at Bouchon and Bistro Jeanty (I'm hitting my new year's resolution of eating at French restaurants more often); tacos at the Oxbow Market. The burrata at Bottega was enough to convince us to go back again for dinner the following night. And the surprising winner? A kale and farro salad at Tra Vigne that just might have been the best thing I ate in Napa. (Perhaps it is also that kale and farro are the perfect antidote after a week of copious food and wine consumption...)
I'm writing this from Ontario and will be brief, since I'd like to go out for a walk before the early effects of the Frankenstorm hit. There will be rain here for the next week; Vancouver is well into its wet season too, but last weekend the Okanagan was all perfect fall. There were apples, autumn colours, and a dusting of snow on the trees and mountains in Manning Park. Highlights of the trip included staying at one of the best bed and breakfasts I've ever been to, a fantastic dinner at a French bistro in Kelowna, and plenty of wine tastings (Desert Hills was a favourite). Coming back to regular life afterwards was tough, but I brought back more than memories - my "wine cellar" (i.e. the fridge door/ liqour cabinet/ kitchen counter) is currently stocked to the hilt, and I have the Mission Hills tour guide's suggestion for a gourmet snack to try out: popcorn with grated parmesan and a drop or two of truffle oil added to the butter , to be enjoyed with a glass of Chardonnay. Thanks tour guide lady!
Life bunches up sometimes, you know? While there has been a reasonable amount of couch and pajama time over the last couple of weeks, I've also been out a fair bit and have been mostly focusing on getting things done. There was one morning last week where I left the house to go to work and got about a half a block before I realized that I wasn't wearing a bra. So yeah, that's where my head has been at (or not) lately. Yesterday I got home from work feeling tired and dealing with an all-day headache, and had the energy for exactly the following: making vegetarian poutine, knitting less than a round on my sock-in-progress, googling some Okanagan bed and breakfasts, and getting under a quilt and watching Bette Davis' first film: "The Bad Sister" from 1931 (also starring Humphrey Bogart). Today life is back to normal, and this weekend I'll be puttering around: making Smitten Kitchen's pumpkin cinnamon rolls, cleaning out my kitchen cupboards, and taking stock of all the half-finished projects strewn around my living space. Maybe I'll go to the UBC apple festival; maybe I won't. It's going to be coolish and rainy here for the next week. Time to hunker down. On a fall note, I've discovered salted caramel mochas at Starbucks - a calorific cup of happy joy! And of course, Thanksgiving (aka the best holiday of the year) was lovely. The menu: roasted potatoes, baked cauliflower with cheese sauce, cornbread stuffing with cranberry and orange, lemon-y green beans, and pumpkin cheesecake. (All from Nigella's Feast.) These pictures were taken on my birthday, a few weeks ago. This is part of the Metlakatla nature trail (near Prince Rupert), and while I was only able to go 1 - 2 km down the 10km trail, I definitely want to go back and see all of it - forest-y bliss!
I went to Portland for a few days. It was my second time going to the city of crafting, hipsters, and food trucks. My favourite part of the trip started with a walk to, and a tour of, Pittock Mansion. This is a turn-of-the-century mansion high in the hills on the west edge of the city. It was built by an entrepreneur and civic leader, Henry Pittock. Construction started when he was 74 years old. Just a little retirement project. Another great reason to visit the mansion on foot is to get there via forest-y trails and a swanky residential neighbourhood with labyrinthine streets. This looks like a gilded portrait of our former cat, Harold. The Japanese gardens in Washington Park were also lovely. No cell phone use allowed! I stayed across the street from Kenny and Zuke's Delicatessen, and strolled over there for a veggie ruben with a side of potato salad. Delicious! There are 3 Salt and Straw's in Portland. Gourmet ice cream. This one is in the charming and lovely Nob Hill district. If you're in town, take a stroll down NW 23rd Avenue! And try the pear with blue cheese or the coffee with bourbon ice cream. Unfortunately, I didn't, because I ran out of room. An art and craft installation at PDX airport. Also of note, but not with photo evidence: I had one of the best veggie burgers I've ever had at Besaw's. There was another visit to Grand Central Bakery. It's worth a trip to Collage - a mixed-media art supply store with so much fun stuff to look at. And then you can go across the street to check out the amazing pie selection at Random Order. Still lots more to see and do - which means another trip is called for (maybe 2013...).
I took Victoria Day very literally. As you can tell, it was a slightly bleak day, but long weekends are meant for some kind of ferry travel. My americano was indeed fantastico. Go here if you like coffee. This was only my second time eating at Rebar. Shiitake-tofu potstickers over Asian greens and brown rice. Yum. The Fol Epi bakery will have to wait until next time (it's closed on Mondays). And what do people in Victoria do when the bakery is closed? Apparently they all descend upon the Royal BC Museum. However, I'm glad I wasn't put off by the hordes waiting in line. Once in, the museum didn't feel overly crowded, and I loved it - so worth visiting.
It was a successful Victoria outing despite the rain and do you know what made it even better? Getting home with enough time to make apricot-pistachio ice cream. I've just returned from a week in Arizona with my family. 6 adults, 1 child, 2 vans, and a rented house outside of Cornville (about 20 minutes from Sedona). Arizona has the best butter packaging. It also has the Grand Canyon. Copious amounts of wine and bread were consumed. As a Canadian in the States, I just can't get over how much cheaper things are, and booze is an excellent example. Can you see the price sticker? This bottle of wine retails for about $30 in Canada and we found it for $9.49 at a gas station. I am looking like a hobo more often than not these days. Near the end of the trip I finally started knitting again; because nothing beats 30+ degree heat like making wool socks. We also did a great hike - Boynton Canyon Trail - which is well worth doing if you're in the Sedona area (for us it was complete with a rattlesnake sighting and everything).
Despite being so near Sedona and hearing the word "vortex" again and again, I didn't google it until now and wish we had gone to check one out: "The vortexes in Sedona are swirling centers of subtle energy coming out from the surface of the earth. ... The energy resonates with and strengthens the Inner Being of each person that comes within about a quarter to a half mile of it." Indeed. Okay, so we missed a chance to experience vortexes. But on the plus side, the house that we were staying in had laundry, and it was very rare and exciting to come home from a trip with clean clothes. Edited to add: turns out, on further reading, that one of the Sedona vortexes was just a little ways off the the Boynton Canyon trail that we hiked. We were likely on the perimeter of where you're supposed to be able to feel the vortex's energy. However, instead of paying attention to energy manifestations, I was thinking things like "this is the exact opposite of a hike in the rainforests of BC" and "hey! there's a rattlesnake!". |