Days 5 & 6

Days 5

We woke up in the dusty playground and wiped the sleep out of our eyes. Had a quick breakfast, then Alia had a work meeting to “attend” so I took the Kid over to the small playground at the back of the camp to mess around. She particularly liked the tire swing where the tire had been cut up and folded to look like a deer, and she especially liked it when I rode it and realized I couldn’t center my weight on it, so was hanging off it, twirling around at a mad angle and desperately trying not to fall off.

Eventually it was 10 AM, time for the pool to be open. We got into our stuff, and then Alia and I got a lesson in the Kid’s propensity for rule following. She got very worried that there was no one else in the pool, and took it as a sign that the pool wasn’t actually open, so refused to go in. We tried to convince her it was fine, but she refused to believe us, and was so troubled by the discussion that she got kinda upset. Finally I just got in the pool (which turned out to be glacially unheated) and splashed around. At last, when no one came to yell at me, the Kid decided it must be OK, so she got into the pool with me, and Alia followed. It was a short swim, as it didn’t take long for the Kid’s lips to start turning blue (that might sound shocking to some, but, truthfully, the Kid is such a waterbug we’ve just gotten used to that being the barometer for how long she should stay in the pool).

We got the RV broken down into driving mode (one of my nephews would make the point, why hasn’t there ever been a Transformer RV?) and headed into downtown Mitchell, SD. We made a quick stop to get some cowboy boots for myself and cowgirl boots for the Kid (I didn’t know cowgirl boots came with LEDs). Then it was time for the main event, the World’s Only Corn Palace.

The murals were the most impressive thing, entirely made out of ears of dried corn. As a history buff I appreciated the wall of posters describing the history of the place with pictures of the various structures that had existed on the building over the years. We walked around on the floor/gift shop a bit.

We had promised the Kid she could get one stuffed animal on this trip, so she picked one out, but then she wandered over to the “local craft” section of the gift shop and saw the “gem trees,” made with a geode crystal base, and wires twisted together to make the trunk, which then spread out into branches with glass gems at the end. She was obsessed, and convinced us to get her that in place of the stuffie. We picked up some other sundry items and gifts, then stopped by the snack stand to get lunch (corndogs, of course, with a souvenir soda cup). We got back on the road and headed west.

Alia and I realized with some shock that we had not yet tried any of the distilleries west of the Mississippi. We found Badlands Distillery, which happened to be in Kadoka (Kadoka) South Dakota, so we couldn’t resist stopping there in honor of Becky Stark and the Living Sister’s Christmas Album. Badlands was very good, with some nice bourbon and some tasty liquers. We also got a couple of gifts and a small bottle of maple syrup (Wisconsin maple syrup. Not as good as Connecticut, obviously, but we didn’t want to get trapped into a “breakfast syrup” situation.) We were also interested in the petrified forest, but were disappointed to find out it was closed, so I talked the crew into hitting Wall Drug.

I think if I were going to describe it, I would call Wall Drug the gift shop of the Great Plains. It’s bunch of small shops that are connected by open interior doorways. The Kid was totally entranced by the shear quantity of souvenirs and miscellany to be acquired. We entered through the modern drug store (shampoo, soap, toothbrushes) made our way to the souvenir shop (I actually found a keychain multi-tool with my name on it, a rarity), then to the toy shop, then to the craft shop, where we grabbed a couple of things, including a “Wall Drug” Christmas ornament (and the kid managed to find an Australian shepherd who tried to steal her stuffed toy).

The Kid spied a candy shop, so we also got some fudge, and she talked me into getting her some chocolate rocks (really just irregularly shaped, unlabeled M&Ms). (I might have kinda caved and gotten a stuffed jackelope

which I told the kid she and I were going to share, but which she instantly named Fluffy.) We navigated to the back of the campus, took a picture on the back of the giant jackelope,

and then got directions to the enormous animatronic dinosaur. The kid was spooked by the thing (I probably didn’t help matters much by crouching down, approaching tentatively with my arm and hand outstretched).

We got back into the RV and realized we somehow managed to get out of Wall Drug without getting free ice water. Alia ran back in with a Corn Palace Souvenir Cup and came back with it full of ice water (as well as a 6 oz Wall Drug souvenir cup for herself).
We made our final push to the RV park in Keystone, SD, with a (distant) view of Mount Rushmore.

It was a typical video night for us, so we decided to grab some food in Keystone.

It was also our typical pizza night, so the kid got a cheese pizza. I found a spot with bison burgers, so I got one and a “Native American Taco” to share with Alia, which turned out to be flat bread topped with ground beef, cheese, shredded lettuce and tomato.
We brought it back to the picnic bench by our RV spot and ate while we watched the Great Pottery Throwdown. We finished up just before the rain came in, so piled into the RV and did our bedtime routine, with the promise of visiting Mount Rushmore and the ranch tomorrow.

Day 6
We woke up and had our breakfast, then headed out on the last leg of the journey.
We hit Mount Rushmore. I realize there are those who find it underwhelming, but I thought it was cool. No, not a Disneyworld where you would spend a whole day, but sit down in front of it, pull up Wikipedia, and marvel at what humans can do with way too much time on their hands. It’s a heck of a statue.

We gave the kid a choice on our final attraction before getting to the ranch, and she chose the Reptile Garden. That was a pretty cool spot, too. We tried to keep it moving in the indoor areas due to COVID concerns, but still and all some very cool snakes,

including some that had recently molted which is always wild to see.

In the out door areas, we saw the prairie dog area,

the Bald Eagle, and some of the snake show. The highlight was definitely the giant tortoise area. The sign said you can pet the shells and scratch their necks, and it was definitely super cool.

I’ve never pet a tortoise before. Not many places you can go to do that. Good on ya, South Dakota.
We got back in the RV and settled in for the final push to the ranch. After a long trip, with some kinda stressful days pushing the clock, we came in to the home stretch. It was definitely a treat once we got off of I-90, onto the dirt road, and the kid started seeing cows and deer and horses. Her face lit up and we could see her getting more and more excited. We pulled into the ranch, met the owner, got our cabin assignment, and started to unpack into our new temporary home, the one without wheels.

 

Day 4

We woke up and started shaking out the cobwebs. We managed to alleviate the kid’s usual morning lethargy by letting her know that we had discovered a donut shop in town which looked promising. After giving her a few minutes to stop vibrating with excitement, we got dressed, emptied the tanks in the RV that needed to be emptied and topped off the ones that needed to be topped off. We got on the road, made a quick stop at a grocery store for some staples and then a liquor store for some ice (not for what you think. If you are really curious and not at all squeamish, ask us when you see us) and hit Icon Donuts in Waterloo. I have to say, from the perspective of pure sentimental pop-culture manipulation, Icon donuts was pressing all my buttons.

I considered the Ziggy Stardust and the raspberry beret, but ultimately got myself a John Candy, and split a The Dude with Alia, while she got herself a Liz Lemon. Once we had peeled the kid off of the front of the glass case, she went with her standard favorite, a Boston cream. The good news is that the donuts were on point, always a risk when the marketing tactics are that bold.

Honestly, I’m a little embarrassed to say it, but I don’t really remember too much from the road on this day. I feel like I should have more to say about the great state of Minnesota, but we pretty much flew through it. We decided to stop at Sioux Falls so we could actually see the falls of Sioux Falls. It was a pretty cool geology/topography. Bunch of little waterfalls that you could, carefully, walk in and around. The kid got a little spooked by the height, so Alia took her aside and played a game of chase with her. Unfortunately the kid’s evasion tactics took her into a bramble of cat tails, and when I next saw them the kid had three large burrs stuck in a tangerine sized thatch just above her forehead. We got back in the RV and Alia painstakingly untangled the mess four hairs at a time while I drove. It took a solid 90 minutes to get it out. Her shoulders were so sore from holding her arms up while she worked. We picked a trailer park in Mitchell, South Dakota. Alia left me in charge of choosing a restaurant for dinner. Most of the research I found on what’s good to eat in South Dakota all centered around beef products. (As an aside, slightly related to “what’s good in South Dakota,” SD seems to be the home of the nation’s sunflowers. Where driving through Iowa showed us miles and miles of corn, in SD we saw many huge fields of sunflowers. Late in the season so they weren’t quite as tall and proud as I’m sure they are earlier, but there is still something glorious about all that green topped with a canopy of yellow. Not my photo, but here is something like what we saw.) For dinner I chose a steakhouse about 10 minutes from the trailer park that also looked like it had a respectable seafood selection. I got myself a New York strip with sautéed mushrooms (another SD specific rec), and Alia chose the seafood pasta.

We made a quick stop for red wine (I chose a Benziger Merlot) and then checked in at the trailer park. This particular place was pretty small, and really reinforced to us that we were basically in the desert. Dusty with spare patches of grass. It did have a pool, which was a necessity, especially after the kid’s rotten experience getting stung in the pond at the other place. We had our dinner, put the kid to sleep with the promise of a morning swim the next day. Alia and I hung out at the picnic bench next to our site and finished off the bottle of wine while watching an episode of Ted Lasso, then turned in for the night.

 

Ranch trip continues (days 2 and 3)

On Sunday we had a bunch of miles planned, and some social stops along the way. We put the RV back together, and made some scrambled eggs for breakfast. We emptied the stuff that needed to be emptied, disconnected all the connections, and then hit the road. Our first call was Columbia city, Indiana to see Alia‘s cousin Laura. It was a journey of 5 hours on the road. Pretty uneventful drive, all told. Stopped at a rest stop for lunch and got Einstein Bros bagels and an EZ-Pass, which we had forgotten to grab from our car.

We met up with Laura, uncle Jim and aunt Esther, and Laura‘s two teenage kids at a cute little playground across from her house. Got to spend a mostly-masked hour chatting with them, and the kid tested out the swings in the playground and showed them her new Kiwi Crate bow and arrow.

We got back on the road and headed for Kat and Matt’s house, hoping to make it there before their little guy’s bedtime. At one point while driving, I looked back to see Alia almost falling out of her seat laughing at something the kid had said. When I asked her what happened she told me she and the kid had been working on these beeswax creations that sort of look like the cinnamon rolls. The kid had asked Alia “Can you get me a butter knife to cut the beeswax?”

Alia: Give me a second, let me finish my swirl.

(Alia finishes her swirl)

Kid: (picking up Alia’s swirl) while I’m admiring it, can you go get me a butter knife?

Alia falls over laughing.

With a brief stop in the Chatham neighborhood for gas (home of Chance The Rapper and Mahalia Jackson among others) we made it to Kat and Matt’s while their whelp was still awake. I must say, any and all greetings we receive for the rest of this trip will likely pale in enthusiasm to the one with which their 18-month-old greeted us.

They had set out quite the Chicago buffet for us, samplings off roast beef sandwiches, roast beef and sausage sandwiches, cheese and tomato casserole (#cantmakemecallitpizza #itsgoodfoodnotgoodpizza), thin crust pizza (which the bastions of high Chicago culture referred to as “tavern style“), and hotdogs “dragged through the garden.” Once the kid’s frankfurter had been de-gardened, we sat down at the back yard table and enjoyed the meal and excellent company. When we finally got back on the road, they gave us some peaches from the tree in their backyard. We bid them Farewell, with an invitation to avail themselves of our new house whenever they make it back to DC.

We drove the last little bit to Dee’s who had offered us the use her driveway to park in that night. The kid had a brief visit, making fast friends with her dog, and convincing Dee’s husband to plug in the disco ball in their garage (he didn’t need that much convincing). Then we started getting her settled. We put her down, Alia made black manhattans (did I mention that one way we took advantage of driving and not flying was to basically bring our own bar?), we hung out with Dee and Brad in the mouth of their garage to an irresponsible hour. After some great catching up we finally put ourselves to bed.

We woke up Monday morning hopeful that we would feel more leisurely on the road, and for the most part we did. We started off with some Eggos and bacon on the back porch chez Dee, and I spent an hour or so trying to make friends with their dog who was pretty suspicious of me, even if the Kid was totally cool by now.

She finally decided I was a friend after I shared my bacon. #baconfriends #baconfriendsarethebestfriends

We bid Dee adieu, and she sent us on the road with a box of Salerno ring cookies (a Chicago delicacy I hadn’t heard of) which I solemnly swore to share with the kid. (Thanks Dee!)

We decided to go a southerly route through Iowa, rather than bounce north to Wisconsin. We travelled to Rockford and got lunch from a housing store (seriously. It was a multi-floor house furnishings store, with a cafe on the first floor). The sandwiches looked good, and the Kid got herself a marbled iced cookie. Unfortunately the museum of the Rockford Peaches, the women’s baseball team from A League of Their Own, was closed, but we did drive by the site of their home stadium. (We had let the Kid watch 20 minutes of the movie during the drive, so she would have some context). We brought our food to the Klehm Aboretum in Rockford. Very pleasant place to chill out.

We walked around and checked out The children’s garden, then walked over to the dinosaur Garden, Which, frankly, has been the biggest disappointment of the trip so far. One lonely t-Rex statue, set on a 20 yard long triangle of grass next to a ginkgo tree. (You see, the ginkgo tree is what makes it prehistoric). The fountains in the children’s garden were nice, but there was much we didn’t get to see. I also bet it would be much more lovely in the spring time, when the summer heat hasn’t taken away many of the colors. Good place for a picnic one way or another, and some good pinecones. (Some of you who know me know my ASMR–like affinity for the sound of stepping on pinecones, so, yeah, definite plus.)

We got back on the road and drove into Iowa. I put Dar Williams on the stereo, and, I’m not going to lie, I got a little misty. Her song Iowa is such a lovely thing.

Speaking of getting misty, we also visited the site of the filming of the movie Field of Dreams. We missed the Yankees versus White Sox game by just a few days, but as we were pulling up I did notice they were loading golf carts onto the back of a truck, so we really didn’t miss them by that much. We did like James Earl Jones said and drove up, handed over our money and just walked around for a little while. We hadn’t brought a baseball with us, so we swung by the gift shop and got one so all three of us could play catch on the diamond. I taught the kid how to properly take a lead from second base and steal third,

and we all pretended to disappear into and emerge from the cornfield. We called my brother and my friend Corey, and Corey tried to get the kid to say “people will come“ just like a little girl in the movie, but she had a bout of shyness and wouldn’t perform. The kid was a little disappointed that the corn maze was closed for the day, but all in all, for a place that was just a small plot of land that you could walk around on, it was a surprisingly fun stop.

From there we headed to our resort camp in Waterloo, Iowa. We got the RV set up and I cooked dinner while Alia and the kid went for a swim in the pond. Unfortunately, the kid got stung by something in the water so she had a miserable few minutes until we’ve got some Benadryl in her. She was calmed down by dinnertime and we got a hold of some firewood and made s’more’s, which of course made everything better. We read some Harry Potter by the fire and then packed it in.

 

Ranch Trip 2021

So we woke up on time and immediately started getting the car all packed up.

We had done a lot the night before and had most of our stuff sitting in the living room. We got some food together, pulling a bunch of stuff out of the refrigerator, which basically represented the remainder of what we needed to pack. We got everything in the car, including the kid who was all buckled in. Alia and I were in the last 2% phase where you’re in and out of the house every minute. I came in at one point to find Alia very frustrated with someone on the phone. She hung up she told me that it turned out that the RV, which we had expected to pick up at 10 AM, offering us a leisurely drive to the Cleveland area with a stop in Pittsburgh for lunch, would actually not be available until 2 PM. After some deep breathing, I went and retrieved the kid from the car, and removed all the devices and food which would not be happy sitting out in the hot car for a few hours. We left the rest of the stuff so we wouldn’t have to pack the whole car twice. Alia called the campsite where we were supposed to stay to confirm that, “as long as you don’t arrive at 1:30 AM it should be fine.” We had a chill morning, watched Great Pottery Throwdown, Alia did some stretching and took a shower, and the kid and I played some of Harry Potter on the Wii. We got on the road at around 11 or so. We drove out to Manassas Virginia, ran a couple of errands, stopped at a taco truck for lunch, and got to the rental place at around 1:30 PM. We hung out for a bit, and then we met Curtainy, are special mobile friend. The guy at the rental place was very friendly and enthusiastic, and answered all our questions, including the kids many questions about the Golden retriever decal in the window of the side door. We unloaded all of our stuff and put it away as best we could into the RV. The kid helped out by rearranging the stuff we put away, and then only whining a little bit when we made her put it back, and by naming the dog decal Santy. With our now delayed start, we did our best to hightail it to Ohio.

Alia called the campsite to offer them a more specific ETA, Letting them know we would be there between 10 and 10:30 PM. She talk to someone who was much less enthusiastic this time. After some cajoling, though, he agreed that 10 PM would be OK. “Knock on my door and I will greet you with a flashlight and a gun. I am kidding about the gun.” (Haha! JOKES!)

We put the hammer down and headed north west. The driving was fine. The only complaint was the noise level, which really made reading aloud to the whole family practically impossible. The kiddo hung out at the table and did some arts and crafts which only slid off three times on left turns. We made a quick stop at the Food Lion in West Virginia for some dinner stuff, and stop at a rest area just across the Ohio border to fill the tank. Other than that we basically kept moving.

Stuff we listen to: The Secret Garden, Original Broadway Cast album. Crooked Still, Hop High. The New York Mets vs. Los Angeles Dodgers. Every Living Thing by James Herriot. How to Betray a Dragon’s Hero. HP and the Goblet of Fire (read by Alia to the kid).

We got to the campground at 9:58 PM. Alia knocked on the owner’s door, and got introduced to Bob (no gun). In the space of four minutes she found out a few things: he would show us to our campsite. He likes to have happy campers. He got a bee sting that afternoon and took two ibuprofen which knocked him right out.

He led us to our campsite and pointed out the power, water, and sewer hook ups. We bid thanks and good night to Bob and got to work setting up the beds.

We got the kid put down, and Alia and I sat at the picnic bench at our campsite for a little bit, looking up at the stars and enjoying some of Litchfield‘s finest. Then we climbed up into our bed and got some sleep.

 

France (part 2)

Where we stayed during the Bistro du Paradou, bouche du Rhone region portion of our trip was an agritourism spot called Ferme Auberge de Barbegal.  Its a working family farm that specializes in olive oil, but produces a whole bunch of stuff as well.  The olive oil itself is worth the trip.  Lovely, peppery stuff.  The hospitality is managed by daughter Julie.  We totally recommend it as a place to stay.  It is clean an comfortable, if not luxurious or train friendly.  We rented a car.

Above see the lamb preparation which stands in marked contrast to the preparation at Bistro du Paradou.  The thing was practically still bleating as it came out.  The whole garlic cloves were roasted in the lamb jus.  My wife and I still talk about those cloves.  The beans were doused liberally with the farm’s olive oil to great effect.

The generous cheese plate.  It was our first in France and I must say, we were tempted to eat all of it.  Don’t.  Its in bad form.

The one vineyard we went to was a place called Mas Baracan, with free tastings and some very pleasant Rose.  We were tickled by the hoses.  Bring your own container, set it on the scale, fill ‘er up.

The one tourist attraction I would recommend is a place that used to be called “Cathedral Des Images.”  It has a new name now:

http://www.carrieres-lumieres.com/en/home

I don’t know when you’re traveling, but it is worth a special trip to check it out.  There is no other experience I’ve had like it.

We spent a couple of nights in Nice, but the only dinner we had was this hotel room sushi feast.  (Note the Mas Baracan Rose in the background.)  I believe the locally caught fish was Dorado, but I could be wrong.  Can’t remember the restaurant we went to.  Sorry.

Our last meal in France was this place on the beach in Antibes.  The fish was good and the Mussels were excellent.

That’s me, with mussels.  Hello.

We were stuffed, but we had to make a stop for a crepe.  (I guess this guy agrees with me.)  Ah, found it.

There we go.  That’s the summary.  If you have more questions pass ’em on the Jeremy and he’ll pass ’em to me.

 

France Trip

This will be a bare bones one.  (Hi Jeremy!)

Our basic itinerary from Summer 2009 was here:

http://g.co/maps/cavab

First stop was Montpellier

Symphonie was a great little place with a charming chef who came out and bantered.

Alia had the chicken.

I had a shepherd’s dish which, when the chef came out he asked “Do you like it?  Fromage *et* fromage.”  Cheese, potatoes, ham.

The one semi-famous place we went to on our trip was here, Bistro du Paradou.  This has been mentioned in guide books and novels and such run by a husband (manager) and wife (chef).  One seating, fixed menu.

I think the wife picks the wait staff.  Whole swarm of out of work Abercrombie and Fitch models.  Every polo shirt was just a little too tight.

Our entree was the lamb.

More later on…

 

Vancouver Island (pt 6) (by Wifey)

Saturday (June 21) we planned our own mini wine tour of the Cowichan Valley. We picked up winery recommendations from bartenders and set out with a Google map of various destinations. Our first intended stop was Hilary’s Cheese, True Grain Bread and The Udder Guy’s Ice Cream Company in Cowichan Bay. We read about them on Orangette’s blog (sent to us by the Husby side sister-in-law) and couldn’t resist the call.

Being the lemmings that we are, we followed the Google map to Hilary’s which led us to a street market in Duncan, not Cowichan Bay where the shop actually stands. However, the cheese fairy was with us and it turned out to be a weekend when Hilary’s had a booth at the street market. We also met a local jewelry craftsman who gave us an ammonite fossil necklace in honor of our marriage. We set off with our cheese, bread and necklace ready for the fruit of vine. We got only slightly lost looking for Alderlea Vineyards but when we finally found our way, we were met with a “by appointment only” sign on the entrance. Learning our lesson, we found a small waterfront park to eat and then a pay phone to call the other vineyards on our list to ensure that they were open and serving. We did lose some ground, but we saw beautiful countryside and worked up an appetite.

From there out we had success after success… Vigneti Zanatta, Echo Valley (where we learned about the topographical and weather conditions that have led to the burgeoning wine industry in the area), Glenterra (their Pinot Noir was the winner of the day, but they were out of bottles for sale), Silverside Farm (delicious berry wines) and ending with a solstice celebration dinner at Merridale Cidery. Merridale has an enchanted orchard that played havoc with Husby’s allergies during a post cider tasting, pre-dinner stroll. We did find time in the day to swing by the actual Hilary’s shop and get ice cream from the Udder Guy… all told a lovely day in the Cowichan hills. It set us up perfectly for one last day of doing absolutely nothing before heading out from Victoria.

 

Vancouver Island (pt 5.1) (by Wifey)

Brasserie L’Ecole

We heard more than once that a place we had-to-check-out-while-in-Victoria was Brasserie L’Ecole. We called ahead, but Fri & Sat were booked, and they are closed Sun & Mon, and then we were out of there. So, we decided to stop by around opening time on Friday to see if we could get a seat. We slipped right into the last two bar seats available and right into the laid back atmosphere of the place – close, dark wooded, mirrored, French prints and Paris photos on the wall, desserts and cheese selections on chalkboards. We hit it off right away with the bartender – who reminded me of Hugh Laurie (not House… Hugh Laurie… although without the British accent, but not House… so there you have it) – we had the kind of banter going with him that I hope was fun for him and not an annoyance. Husby couldn’t resist ordering the Monkey Gland cocktail to begin with… for me it was the French 75 – sparkling wine, touch of gin, cointreau & lemon juice. yum.

For starters I snacked on the mixed olives and some blue cheese stuffed dates, Husby went with the Jambon appetizer – super fancy and down right tasty ham & cheese on bread. I endeavored, with some success, to keep my bites of his app to a minimum (thank you sweetie). For the main event he went with the house specialty – Steak Frites – and I had a lovely local fish (can’t quite remember what type) with onion rings, chard and prawns. We had a delightful time gabbing with the bartender and the hostess (she was heading to NY shortly and we gave her some tips) and sampling some red wines. Husby had pre-ordered a trio of cheeses for after… there was a blue that was particularly fabulous with the sliced apple.

Overall a great meal for flavors and a great time chatting with the staff.

 

Vancouver Island (pt 5)

So today was our day to go whale watching. We also wanted to get Wifey’s hair cut, and, if at all possible, I was going to go find myself a shave. (This is one of my favorite ways to treat myself. There is something so relaxing about letting someone else do the work, and there is also a special category of forced relaxation when someone is dragging a straight razor across your skin.) And third, we wanted to do lunch at ReBar, a semi-vegetarian place which had been recommended to us a few times over. (We definitely took a shotgun approach to restaurant selection this trip. We just asked everyone. Our B&B, our bartenders, random people in restaurants, and the names that came up more than once, those were the ones we went with.)
I must say, breakfast is served from 8:00 to 9:30 and I’m proud that we haven’t slept through breakfast even once this trip. I fully expected us to oversleep at least once. We’ve cut it close once or twice but we haven’t missed yet. The chef this morning had whipped up a breakfast of potato pancakes with sour cream and a poached egg, perhaps my favorite so far. We went down to our room and called Alchemy, but the only times they had were either in a half an hour, or after our whale watching boat left (sorry Jacqueline!). We called Fish and got an appointment for around 12:30 and headed out to Rebar.

Rebar
We were being a bit quick about our lunch, here, so we skipped appetizers and went straight for entrées. Wifey ordered a quesedilla which she thinks was a yam quesedilla (I’m having trouble with the interwebs where we are check their menu to confirm that), while I went with a vegetarian enchilada. To my mind there is something to doing vegetarian from time to time, especially with the quantity of food that we’ve been consuming. Besides the environmental benefits of eating vegetarian, there’s the detox aspect as well. To drink I went with the carrot and beet juice, while Wifey chose the “Floo Fighter” in the interest of being at least as healthy as she wasn’t when I proposed to her. Aside from Wifey making fun of me when I got carrot and beets bits in my teeth from my juice, the food there was solid vegetarian goodness.

We found Fish and waited to meet with Rachel, Wifey’s stylist. Wifey and I had downloaded a picture of the intended hair length which I had put on my phone. When Rachel showed up we showed her the pic (she seemed impressed) and I went off to find Jimmy’s Barber Shop. Jimmy’s couldn’t have been more archetypal. Six chairs, the magazines out were FHM, Sports Illustrated, and Playboy. One of the older barbers called me over when he was done with the guy in his chair. I explained that I wanted a simple shave, though he seemed surprised that I didn’t want a haircut. There was a brief scare when he took most of the whiskers off my cheek, but it turned out he was just dropping the beard line below the jaw-line. Overall, not the best shave I’ve ever had, but the guy had a good touch. No hot towels, though. Really, gotta have hot towels.
I went back to Fish and waited for Wifey. When she first emerged, her hair was a bit wet, so it looked a bit bedraggled, but as we walked out and it dried out, it filled out really nicely. Its a bit longer than jaw length, and when we left Fish Rachel had curled it. Wifey had told her that we were about to go whale watching, so she had curled her hair so that it might hold up through the trip. I totally dig it. Wifey was worried that it looked a bit cutesy but I reassured her that she had a long way to go before she got too cutesy.

We got down to the Whale watching place and got our tickets, listened to a busking fiddler for a few minutes, then went in to get try on the latest fashions in survival suits. They have these huge red suits which also serve as flotation devices if you should happen to decide you like the view from the boat a little too much. We all looked like sunburned Michelin men. The zodiac pilot did a quick safety/comedy routine and we were on our way. The trip was easy, about an hour. We saw a few very determined birds, including one who dove under water and stayed there for at least as long as it took us to get out of sight. There were a few porpoises which the zodiac pilot sped past in order to get to the pod of orcas which were heading out to sea. Wifey stayed warm by pulling the hood even tighter around her head. The pilot positioned us in the path of the oncoming pod, but I guess the pod had other ideas. They took a slight right turn, but we quickly repositioned and saw some good ones. A few breeches even. Wifey’s favorite was a little baby whale that got completely out of the water, tail flapping and all. Very very cute. The ride back turned out to be a thrill, as the pilot seemed to figure out he might have a boat full of thrill seekers. He managed to utilize the wakes of some of the bigger boats we were following in to take some pretty sweet jumps. We got back and shed our gear, then headed over to the restaurant to see if we could get an unreserved spot.

I promised Wifey she could blog about the restaurant, and she also might want to throw in a few words about her experience at Fish.

 

Vancouver Island (pt 4)

We decided to do more touristy things on Thursday. After a hearty breakfast of French toast and bacon, we repaired to our room to do a bit of strategizing for the day. We did a bit of poking around and found a restaurant for the evening called Niche, which seemed to focus on local ingredients. We made our reservation there and headed out. The forecast called for rain, so I pulled on my newly bought hiking boots (one of the Seattle area purchases) and we strolled down to the Victoria Art Gallery (excuse me, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria), which we had been informed was featuring an Andy Warhol exhibit. After a bit of searching around (bad maps, which have a moderately confusing effect on someone like me who doesn’t count on knowing exactly where they are at any given moment, have a savage effect on people like wifey, who has been known to assume that city planners have gotten street signs wrong when she believes she is going south when actually going north) (not making that up), we found the gallery. Its a quaint little place that from the outside looks like a small town library, which, in a way, I suppose it is. The Warhol exhibit was very nice. It was especially interesting to see some of his earliest work, including his hand drawings and his commercial work. They had a “make your own Warhol print” area and Wifey took a crack.  The mid-career stuff is the stuff that everyone knows, including the Campbell’s soup cans. I wonder how he would feel about the level of exposure that period of his work has achieved. Probably just fine. There was a quote of his on the wall in one of the rooms: “Once you ‘got’ Pop, you could never see a sign the same way again.” If he is encouraging people to see the artistic value in something as ubiquitous as a street sign, I doubt he would mind the exposure of the soup cans. It was also interesting to see his later stuff, including portraits of Wayne Gretsky (the more I find out about that guy, the more I like him).

A good portion of the in house collection at the gallery was mostly of Japanese origin. A few pretty bonzai trees, an outdoor garden, a room full of carved panels and traditional japanese clothing. There was some more Victorian stuff as well, and an interesting room featuring work done by local high-school kids. They had been given a free year’s membership to the gallery and then were charged with creating a work inspired by what they saw. Some really dramatic stuff. All in all the gallery was a pretty quick walk-through, but well worth it. (I’ll let wifey do some more describing of the art stuff if she wants, as that’s more her alley.)

For lunch we stopped by Bubby Rose’s Bakery, which had been recommended to us by a woman we had struck up a conversation with at Med grill (she works there, and had recommended the cinnamon buns). We’re getting better about splitting lunches, as the breakfasts at Prior House are very stick-to-your-ribs. Wifey fancied the vegetarian pizza despite the mushrooms, so we split that, as well as a cinnamon bun for dessert. Wifey thought the pizza dough was a bit too crunchy, but I liked it, and the cinnamon bun was definitely satisfactory.

We walked the rest of the way downtown to the harbor and walked around to the Parliament building. The next tour wasn’t until 2:40, with a 3:40 after that, so we decided to pop over to the Royal BC Museum. We were a little bit daunted by the entry price ($14 per), especially since there wasn’t a whole lot we were really geared up to see. The War Brides exhibit seemed like a maybe, but other than that it seemed like a lot of the stuff the Smithsonian already had covered. We sat outside on the museum benches and enjoyed the nice weather, then moseyed over to the gift shop to see if we couldn’t find any spoils to bring back to our family folks. We came up mostly blank, but did find a few ideas that we decided to see if we couldn’t find cheaper elsewhere (without the museum markup). We still had a bit of time, so we decided to go back to Paradiso so wifey could have some of the grapefruit gelato that she had sampled last time we were there. We walked along the harbor, checking out the local merchants. Wife bought a cute little ear cuff thing from a wire vendor. We had also decided we were going to do whale watching the following day, so we poked our heads into the various whale watching places we saw and decided to go with “The Prince of Whales” (get it?). We made a reservation for the 2:00pm the next day.

We got over to Paradiso (Is it me, or do gelato places intentionally overfill their freezer containers? It seems like those metal bins, when they first come out (or in the less popular flavors), are mounded at least six inches high with excess gelato. Just an observation) and wifey ordered her grapefruity goodness, while I took another crack at Canadian hot chocolate. We sat down and lazily enjoyed our treats. We were enjoying the gelato so much (although the hot chocolate was a bit milky there, as well), that we realized we would have to book it over to Parliament. Instead we decided to catch the 3:40 instead, and take our time. We were ambling back parliament way when wifey, almost embarassedly, said she wanted to get caricatures done. As we were sitting a group of young girls (maybe 10 years old) came over and watched the artist at work. They were amusing, asking all kinds of questions. I got a video of them looking over the artist’s shoulder, elaborately describing the picture. Very amusing.

We got over to Parliament and got a brief scare when the last three tickets for the tour were given to the three people in front of us in line. Luckily, though, two people came up who decided they wanted to walk the building without guides, so we snuck in in their place. The tour was cool and informative. Some very fun history in that building. The architect completely lied his way into the project, saying that he was a BC resident (he wasn’t) and that he had years of experience as an architect (he had designed one house that the owner hadn’t liked). The building is gorgeous, though. Lots of quarried stone. (Wifey and I were joking, wondering aloud what the vetting process could possibly have been that allowed him to get through, and also whether the house he had designed hadn’t been in the same mold, prompting the owner to gripe “I didn’t ask for all these columns in my house.”) They have obviously bought into the importance of tourism, hiring an actor to play Amor de Cosmos, one of the important players in the history of BC. Definitely an interesting tour. Getting to see a parliamentary government is interesting. It made me wistful for a parliamentary government for the states. The recent power grab of the American Executive Branch has made the benefits of a parliamentary system fairly clear.

When we left the Parliament building we were on the right side of the harbor for the restaurant, but fairly early, so we walked through the neighborhood, looking at the outside of some hotels we were glad we hadn’t stayed at and restaurants we were glad we hadn’t eaten at. We got down to the edge of the harbor and talked with a duck, encouraging him in his amourous overtures toward a female that had landed not too far from him. (he was thwarted when he couldn’t rouse himself over a dock to get to the pond she was floating in. We mocked him and his limited opportunities for offspring if he couldn’t bring himself to hop over a two foot barricade.) Then we made our way back to Niche for dinner.

Niche

Niche has turned out to be the culinary highlight of our trip so far.  When we got there, we took up a seat at the bar where our bartender Jacqueline, (featuring an Ontario accent so charming it would have turned certain friends of mine pale) helped us to a Lemon Meringue (sort of a lemon martini with an actual meringue for garnish) for Wifey and Pink Panties for me (in honor of our exhibitionist flower girl). She offered to hook us up with some scallops to start, but we opted to try some of their oysters instead. They were excellent, served over ice with a shaved vinegar ice. Wifey even had her first oyster ever. The vinegar ice really made it for her, is suspect, as the typical texture of oysters can be dangerously close to that of mushrooms. The ice, however, gave it a nice crunch.

We got over to the dinner table and eyed the menu. I went with the morel mushrooms, and wifey had the scallops. (we’ll put up pictures once we get a camera cable.) I can’t recall what wifey had to drink, but I went with the chef’s suggested pairings, asking him to stick with local selections where possible. [leaving space here for wifey to talk about her scallops.] The true wonderment of the evening: Wifey actually tried and enjoyed mushrooms! I was tempted to call her parents right then and there, fifty cents a minute talking rate be darned! The mushrooms were served over a cake of some kind, which I can’t remember now, but the whole thing was delectable.

For entrée I had the halibut with a crab and morel fritter on the side. Wifey went with apple marinated pork with some sort of potato and prawn mash. (If the chef of Niche ever reads this, I’m sorry if I’m woefully mangling your menu. You have only yourself and your wine pairings to blame) Once again, Wifey tried and enjoyed my side mushrooms (though, truthfully, when mixed with crab and deep fried, you could probably throw in gravel and get something pallatable, so the appetizer was the more impressive tasting moment). The hallibut was tender and juicy. It really makes a difference when it barely has to travel to reach your plate.

For dessert I went with the chocolate pot de creme. I’m not usually a chocolate fanatic, but I wanted something rich, and that fit the bill. It was served with strawberries and a chocolate powder. Wifey had the three chocolate and brandies pairings. The chocolates were (from left to right) (picture coming) a thick mousse-type creation with cherries mixed in, a pistachio encrusted truffle (Wifey’s least favorite), and a cold chocolate mousse (I can’t remember the brandies).

I’m writing this after we have left Victoria, and I can say for sure it was the best dinner we had while we were there.

Wifey had been talking about getting her hair cut since before the wedding, so I had charged her with looking at the hair of the women walking around, and selecting one who’s hair she liked and asking them where they got their hair cut. She hadn’t notice anyone all day that looked jumped out as particularly promising, (she kept reminding me that it wasn’t the hairstyle that was important, so much as the hair cut), so I recommended that she ask our waitress (Christine?) who had sort of a funky hairdo, on the grounds that she at least seemed to manage her hair to the point that she might have an opinion about the best place to go. She did indeed have an opinion. She mentioned Fish, but she also said that Jacqueline’s brother worked at a place and she’d ask her. Jacqueline recommended her brother’s place (Alchemy), but did say that if Alchemy didn’t have a spot that Fish would be a good second choice.

Given that we had both been hitting the bottle pretty hard, we hailed a cab back to the B&B. The Cabbie turned out to be a trip, full of information about the island. We talked with him about our trip to Parliament, and he said his brother in-law had bought a Mustang from the current royal representative to Parliament. I can’t remember how we got on this (discussion of totem poles, maybe?) but I told him about the mockery totem made to William McKinley for his ingratitude for the Potlatch (although now that I check back it looks like it was Sewell, not McKinley. oops). We had pulled up outside the B&B and he had turned off the meter, but he said “hang on a minute” and took us to see the oldest sequoia tree on the island, which was right around the corner from our B&B. We finally returned to our B&B, well fed and happy.