Victoria BC – 8/4/2016

August 4, 2016 (Thursday)

Woke up to beautiful blue and sunny skies.

Today we woke up to Larry chopping vegetables. What a treat to have a live-in chef. He was chopping up most of the leftover veggies, and using the last of the eggs to make killer omelets. So good but way too much. Renee and I only had half of ours and will save the rest for tomorrow’s breakfast.

Hard working guy and an excellent chef.
Hard working guy and an excellent chef.
An excellent omelet, hash browns, toast, sausage, orange juice, just over the top.
An excellent omelet, hash browns, toast, sausage, orange juice, just over the top.

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Today we went on a quest. The other night, when we had dinner at Il Covo, Larry absolutely fell in love with the wine he had with dinner, called Harvest Trail merlot. He had walked down to a local liquor store that was supposed to carry it but they were out. He called around and finally found a place that had three bottles. It was up near the university, where we lived for a month about four years ago.

We drove to the liquor store and, sure enough, they had the three bottles they said.

Found it after just a little bit of a drive.
Found it after just a little bit of a drive.
Fun and well stocked Liqueur store.
Fun and well stocked liquor store.

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Larry bought two of them and we bought one to take up to Jan and Caron. Hopefully it’s as good as Larry has been saying, and he knows his wines. We also went to a local mall and looked for some water shoes. No luck. We have until January but we’d like to get them and break them in way before we leave for Cancun.

We also drove around the University area and near where we lived. Even found the road we used to live on and went by our old place. Still a lovely area. While we were up on the hill, we HAD to stop by “Oh La La” and get a cupcake for each of us. All different and all delicious.

A school near where we stayed.
A school near where we stayed.
Edie can't drive past this place.
Edie can’t drive past this place.

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It was afternoon and we were on the last of the day's inventory.
It was afternoon and we were on the last of the day’s inventory.
The strong US dollar helped a little.
The strong US dollar helped a little.
We were all happy.
We were all happy.

They still have it. Too good. We also got a “sampler” pack to take to Jan and Caron’s – kinda my tradition as the first time we met them we brought some and they seemed to enjoy.

When we got back “home,” it was all about laundry and naps.

Around 5:30 PM, we left to go to dinner. Larry and Renee wanted to buy Michael a birthday dinner and Michael wanted Chinese. (His default go to food is always Chinese.) Each year when we are in Victoria we have gone to Don Mee Chinese Restaurant and it’s always been delicious. This year was no exception. We ordered a family style dinner and got a veggie spring type roll each, soup, chow mein, white rice, sweet and sour pork, delicious veggies, and almond chicken. Everything was excellent. We even liked their soy sauce, which seems much more powerful than most. The servers are on top of everything – refilling water, taking plates away, etc. Great place.

Don Mee.
Don Mee.

 

Won Ton Soup
Won Ton soup
Spring vegetable rolls with a nice chutney sauce.
Spring vegetable rolls with a nice chutney sauce.
Sweet and sour pork and an excellent vegetable chicken dish.
Sweet and sour pork and an excellent vegetable chicken dish, almond chicken on the right.
Really excellent.
Really excellent.

After dinner we went to the old observatory – Gonzales Bay Observatory, which is now the land trust offices. We walked to the top and enjoyed the beautiful views.

The old observatory.
The old observatory.
Grumpy parked the car and was catching up.
Grumpy parked the car and was catching up.
Nice views.
Nice views.

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The walk up can be tricky but if you go slow and watch your steps, it’s so worth it and so lovely. We stayed up and explored for awhile and then took the scenic route back home.

We are now “home” and watching PBS. That was our day. Hope yours was great!