And We're Off

Having learned from previous trips that the really early morning flight is only good in theory, we booked our flight to Victoria at a much more reasonable time. We were at the airport by 8:15 and our plane left on time at 9:40 - much more palatable than last year’s 6 am flight.

We arrived in Calgary and had a layover of 45 minutes. Not much time to spare before we were on our way to Victoria. In fact, as we arrived at the gate our zone was boarding.

After a 75 minute plane ride, we landed in cloudy and cool Victoria. We got our bags and then our rental vehicle. Evan was extremely impressed by our brand new Subaru Forrester! He thought it was the nicest vehicle he had been in.

Our first stop was Sea Cider, a lovely little orchard and tasting room. We tried their “long flight” of six ciders (Evan had sparkling apple juice) and shared a charcuterie plate. The farm and tasting room were really beautiful! We bought a bottle of cider and then drove to Category 12 Brewing, where we had been four years ago on our west coast trip. We had two flights and then had bao buns from their brand new kitchen. Not a bad way to start our trip!

We picked up a few grocery items before driving to our condo in Chinatown - it’s just a stone’s throw away from the condo we stayed in last time. It is down a small alley way (which has a gated entrance) and it is small, but big enough for the three of us.

Once we had settled in, we took a quick nap and then walked downtown to 10 Acres Bistro for dinner. We began with octopus and fennel in a romesco sauce. Then Evan had the half rotisserie chicken (he ate it all); Brad had a curried chicken grain bowl; and I had the Sooke rainbow trout with ratatouille. Everything they serve is either from their 10 acre farm in Sooke or sourced locally, so it was true farm to table eating - and it was delicious!

We called it an early night because at home it is two hours later and we have a busy day tomorrow.Read more