Victori-as Part 3: Castle Adventure

Before a trip somewhere I go into crazy research mode, trying to get as much information as I can about a place and all it has to offer, from the shopping, to the food, to the attractions. During one of my research sessions, Thatboy happened to look over my shoulder. "OOOHHH A CASTLE! I WANT TO GO THERE!" So I added Craigdarroch Castle to my list of "must dos" in Victoria.

Craigdarroch Castle was the home of the Dunsmuir family, built by Robert Dunsmuir between 1887 and 1890. Unfortunately, before the house was finished, Robert Dunsmuir died, leaving his widow to move in without him and run both the household and his business. Thatmom felt an instant kinship to Joan Dunsmuir. You see, Thatmom and Thatdad had just moved into their new home a couple of months before he died. Their pictures weren't even hung on the walls yet. And Thatdad called the home "his castle" due largely to the tower that made up the front entrance way - the primary reason they bought the house in the first place.

Robert Dunsmuir is a true rags to riches story. He began his life renting mines and eventually was granted the right to mine independently. When he struck the richest coal seam on the island, everyone in the Dunsmuir family prospered. Including his wife who saw this as an opportunity to launch her younger, unmarried daughters into society. Of course, they needed a place to do the launching from. And thus, Craigdarroch Castle was born.

And that's just the front of the castle, the back is equally as impressive:

Because of the age of the castle, there is a requirement to clean your shoes before walking through the home. Here UDubb demonstrates the proper form.

The castle is filled with wood - from the oak paneled interior, Spanish mahogany, western red cedar, cherry, Hawaiian koa, walnut, jarra, rosewood, maple, and holly.

And some of that wood is incredibly ornately carved.

Most of the rooms have been restored to how they would have looked when the Dunsmuir lived there, although the Castle has had several incarnations since then, including a veteran's hospital and a college.

We joked about secret passageways because of all the wood paneling, and when we got to the ballroom on the top floor, we learned there WERE passageways in the walls, but not secret. The passageways just made it easier to maneuver during the dances. The piano there is not original to the house, and visitors were told that they were welcome to play if they were musically inclined. So we goaded UDubb into plunking out a few notes.

I think everyone's favorite part of the castle were the stained glass windows. They were in almost every room, and every stairwell. So different than stained glass I've see in other places, with the most beautiful designs.

Up next: Remember how 2010 is the year of Thatgirl's flower pictures? Well you certainly won't want to miss these!

Victori-as Part 2: Day of the totem

I woke up on our first morning in Victoria and headed out for a run. I was originally planning on using the hotel fitness room because of the rain, but I woke up to clear skies, so I headed outside. I am kicking myself all up and down for not bringing my camera with me. It was one of the best runs I've ever been on. Aside from the near perfect weather, the run I took was so beautiful! I ran from the hotel down to the bay and over to Fisherman's Wharf, where I got to see houseboat after houseboat - bright colors, some homes, some restaurants, some shops. I followed the seawall around the coast through James Bay - the oldest residential neighborhood on the West Coast of North America, and along the water until I came to an open grassy area with a trail. Seriously, best.run.ever.

About a half mile from the hotel on my way back, it started raining again, so I was glad I was almost back. And when I got back, the delicious lobby water had limes and strawberries floating in it, the perfect way to end a run.

I got back in time to shower and head to breakfast at Mo:Le.

Mo:Le has a sweet deal with the coffee shop beside them, put your name in at Mo:Le and head to Habit to wait, read, and drink coffee. When your table is ready, they'll come get you! Which is exactly what we did. And Thatfamily thinks it might be the best coffee they've ever had.

Mo:Le is one of my favorite kind of restaurants - sourcing their food from local farms. Which in my humble opinion always means great tasting food. We were not disappointed. Thatboy thinks his meal was the best - The Mo:Le Benny had two poached eggs, avocado and thyme roasted tomato on a buttermilk biscuit with smokey paprika cream sauce. The eggs were perfectly cooked and Thatboy loved not having a traditional hollandaise sauce. But both of us think the biscuit was what really sealed the deal.

Thatmom had "The Basic" with eggwhites from free run eggs and fresh multigrain toast. Except the plate came with the sourdough toast. Our server was quick to rectify the situation. She described the toast as "exactly how multigrain toast should be." Half the table chose the option of a fruit side after seeing it on others' plates.

One of the reasons we knew that the biscuits were the scene stealer in Thatboy's benny was because they were equally as delicious in my Mo's Biscuit. This time the biscuit was topped with scrambled eggs, bacon, basil, roasted red pepper, havarti cheese, and aioli. SO FREAKING GOOD. The pesto hashbrowns were also fabulous and made their rounds around the table as they were bartered for pieces of fruit.

UDubb has the mushroom and back bacon scramble with egg whites. She also got the multigrain toast which came as sourdough also.

Thatbrother actually managed to get the multigrain toast with creamy sausage omelet. Stuffed with sausage, sauteed red onions, mushrooms, and greens.

After breakfast we headed on our tour of Victoria totem poles! One of the things I love about British Columbia is that they didn't tear down all traces of the Native Peoples. I mean, think about it - there were hundreds of thousands of tribes across North America, but finding historical traces is much harder in the United States.

These totem poles were in the Royal B.C. Museum - which is one of the best museums I've ever been in. I love museums and I don't care how nerdy that makes me. They're just so - full, whether full of art, facts, giant airplanes, I'm not picky. I love them all. The Royal B.C. Museum is full of history. Let's start WAAAAAAYYYY back in history.

Whoops - too far? The first floor of the Royal B.C. Museum is filled with dioramas of animals. Including this prehistoric guy. Pretty sure his name was Bubba. He looks like a Bubba right?

The dioramas are so well done, everything seems so real!

Moving a bit along in British Columbia history brings us to the Native People, the "First People" as they are called in British Columbia. This is the "man who fell from the sky" one of the legends of the First People.

And a recreation of one of the homes of the native tribes.

And of course, totem poles!

And just like the United States, the Europeans came, bringing disease which nearly extinguished the First Peoples. So the next area of the museum is dedicated to them! Well, all the colonists and turn of the century British Columbia. This area was Thatmom's favorite - lifesize dioramas we could actually walk through! It was like Disneyland, being right in the middle of a set.

This section also included other historical dioramas, like one about the fishing and whaling industry, and this one which showed that the Gold Rush wasn't exclusive to California.

Thatmom especially enjoyed the section on the explorers who first discovered the area, and a lifesize ship exhibit to walk through.

Outside, there are even more exhibits. Most dealing with the Hudson Bay Company, the commercial company that once serves as governing body of British Columbia. Like Wawadit'la/Mungo Martin House, modeled after houses at Fort Rupert, home of the Hudson Bay Company in 1849.

And Helmcken House, the oldest building in British Columbia to still stand on it's original site. The house was built by the Hudson Bay Company in 1852.

And St. Ann's Schoolhouse which was built in 1843 in the Hudson Bay Company style.

And of course - an entire park devoted to totem poles representing First Nations communities across British Columbia.

Next up: Thatmom finds a kinship in a castle.

Victori-as, Part 1: lines, lines, everywhere lines

So, if you remember back that far, last Memorial Day weekend we took Thatmom away to Vancouver. It was shortly after Thatdad died and even though she was deep in mourning, Thatmom still looks back on that trip as one of the high points of the last year. So much so that she wanted to return to Canada this year. And frankly, she's decided we should spend every Memorial Day weekend in Canada. Not very patriotic, but I'll be quick to agree because of the sheer beauty of the area. I know I have Canadian readers, so I'd love some suggestions for next year's trip!

Even though we were only there for a brief weekend, we did so much that I'm just going to have to break it up into installments. Even still, you'll have to bear with me because I have a lot to share. We'll start with the first day, our arrival day.

Last year it was just three of us. This year Thatbrother and UDubb joined us. I scheduled our flights so we could leave from our respective airports and meet up in Seattle for the final leg of our flight, into Victoria.

We have AMAZING luck with rental cars. Seriously lucky. 9 times out of 10 I book through Costco which gives us both a discount and a free upgrade, so it's always cheap. But there must be something about Thatboy and I that's especially cute, because the rental agents always go above and beyond for us. We were supposed to have a Ford Taurus, but the rental agent took a look at us, gave us a wink, and when we got to the spot, there was this behemoth waiting for us. Sure, it was no Ford Flex, but there was plenty of leg stretching room.

After spending the whole morning traveling, we were all starving. So we headed to our first location - lunch! Not realizing how cold it was going to be (Vancouver weather was perfect last year) we joined the line at Red Fish, Blue Fish.

And there's a reason for the line. Red Fish, Blue Fish prides itself on using 100% sustainable oceanwise seafood.

The restaurant is hidden away on the wharf, in a little tin stand that is all kitchen. The hidden location doesn't stop the line from forming. Even in such windy cold weather.

Even when the seating is all outdoor in the elements.



But you just can't beat the view.

Thatboy and I began with the tempura battered pickles. Because honestly? I love fried pickles. They're one of my all time favorite foods. And I don't get them that often because they're not the healthiest food choice. But I make sacrifices for a really good treat. And these were a really good treat. Crispy and soft, sour and perfectly spiced.

Thatbrother and UDubb started off with some of the seafood chowder, which seemed to have a sort of Thai base. It was a good choice for a cold day, and Thatmom was given a sample by the kind chefs - which she promptly used to scorch her tongue. Silly Thatmom, we don't shoot soup!



Whoops, sorry to disturb you Thatbrother. Go back to your lunch.



We all got Tacones for lunch - cone shaped tacos in fresh grilled tortillas. UDubb got the edamame tacone and Thatbrother got the albacore tuna tacone. They devoured them, which is unusual because normally they share one meal between the two of them.

Thatmom and Thatboy both got the BBQ Wild Salmon Tacone. Thatmom was a little thrown off by the fact it was so cold outside, but later that night on reflection thought it was a really excellent meal, delicious and the best fish she had on the trip.

I went with the chipotle shrimp tacone. And I knew I'd like it - shrimp? I like. Chipotle? I like. And tortillas? I like. This was excellently prepared and exactly what my empty stomach needed.

Sated, we headed over to the hotel. Located just past the downtown area on a relatively residential street, we had a two bedroom suite at the Oswego Hotel.

The hotel was beautiful, with fresh apples for the taking everywhere. And I especially appreciated the giant pitcher of ice water in the lobby with fresh fruit flavoring it - but more on that later.

We definitely enjoyed the view from our balcony. This is the daylight view, but we also enjoyed watching the sunset from here.

Thatbrother and UDubb needed a nap, so we left them at the hotel while Thatmom, Thatboy and I went exploring.

Victoria is an interesting mix of the "First Peoples" (The Native Canadians) and Colonial Great Britain.

There are two landmarks which Victoria is known for - the GORGEOUS Parliament building:

And the Empress Hotel - built when Victoria was really nothing more than the place where the sewage went. In fact, the entire area is built atop a "garbage foundation" much like Disneyworld being built atop swamplands.

We revved ourselves up on some local coffee and browsed the downtown shopping scene, making sure to hit up all of the knitting stores Thatmom researched before the trip. Eventually we made our way down to Victoria's Chinatown - the second oldest Chinatown on the western coast.

You know you're in Chinatown when even the phone booths looks like pagodas.

Victoria's Chinatown is home to Fan Tan Alley - the narrowest commercial street in North America. At one time it was the home of opium dens and gambling saloons, now it houses record stores and boutiques.

Thatmom felt that this must be what Diagon Alley probably looked like.

We were reminded that the United States is not the only country with an ugly history of racism when we came across the Chinese Public School. The school was created after children of Chinese origin were banned from attending English public schools.

With all the walking around, it's no wonder we were hungry for dinner! And we had made plans to meet up with Thatbrother and UDubb at the restaurant early, since they didn't take reservations.

We weren't the only people with this idea. The line for Brasserie L'Ecole begins lining up half an hour before the restaurant opens. Necessary since there are only about 14 tables in the restaurant. I have to apologize for the following pictures, since the restaurant is cozy and darkly lit, not the best atmosphere for pictures.

Thatmom had the sole meuniere - a tender buttery fish dressed with capers.

Both UDubb and I ordered the steak frites - a beautiful steak topped with a gorgonzola butter. Our "frites" came on the side since we both requested "fancy fries" - fries tossed with truffle oil. And somehow I managed to miss getting a picture of them. Maybe because we both devoured them so quickly? And then talked about those french fries for days afterward, as though they were another member of our little family.

Thatboy had the shortribs. I've been steering clear of shortribs since I've been so disappointed lately, but Thatboy's shortribs were absolutely delicious. Some of the best I've had.

Hey look, that's a finger! You know what that means? It's Thatboy's dinner! Thatboy had the lamb rib chops. Just like me he's quick to pick out the lamb or duck on a menu and make it his own.

We wanted to end with something sweet, so we ordered the flourless chocolate torte, which was Thatbrother thought tasted like a balance bar - very rich. We were each only able to take about a bite.

We walked back to the hotel from dinner, enjoying the fact that it stays lighter so much later north of Southern California. Then we sat on the balcony enjoying the sunset before we realized it was ridiculously late and we should all probably get to sleep!

Stay tuned for a trip back in time - duh duh duuuuuuuhhhhh!