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.
RSS Feed