Yesterday was quite the whirlwind, so I essentially completely reworked our plans for Victoria. This morning, we decided we’d let Faith, Walker, and Mom sleep as long as they could, while Dad and I still arose fairly early to get coffee and talk through getting us back on track after yesterday’s delay.
Saint Cecilia Coffee & Brands
Dad and I woke up around 08:00, and decided we’d walk to get some much-needed caffeine. Victoria, like its neighbours Seattle and Vancouver, is one of the world’s best coffee cities, so I was excited to see what we could find. Interestingly enough, a lot of coffee shops don’t open until 09:00 or even later, which I find very strange. We did manage to find one that was open before 09:00, Saint Cecilia Coffee & Brands down near the Victoria Harbour, about a 5 minute walk from our hotel.
Saint Cecilia doesn’t roast their own beans; they actually source from the top handful of roasters in the world, particularly Sey in Brooklyn and April and La Cabra in Copenhagen. We tried pourovers from El Salvador and Colombia, both roasted by Swerl in Falkenberg, Sweden. Both were fantastic. The cafe had an exceptionally nice (and modern) sitting area, and we enjoyed our time there.
Saint Cecilia Coffee & Brands
Victoria, BC
Nice cafe with excellent bean sourcing, and attention to detail. Worth a visit!
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
We drank our coffee as we walked back to the hotel to pick up Mom and Faith. After grabbing some fruit out of the hotel lobby for a quick snack, we loaded up the van and headed out for the day around 09:30.
Parsonage Cafe
We drove over to the Fernwood neighborhood, a cozy residential section just east of downtown. Fernwood Coffee Company had converted the old parsonage of a Ukrainian Catholic Church (yes, not Roman Catholic) into a cafe – our breakfast stop for the morning. Dad and I each got a cup of their Mexican drip coffee; Faith got a flat white; and Mom got a mocha latte. Their coffee was excellent, though not as exceptional as what we’d had earlier.
For food, we ordered a variety of things. Their signature item is a bagel sandwich, served on a Mount Royal Bagel (from just down the street). The sandwich had Slater’s bacon, creamed spinach, tomato, egg, and sharp cheddar – Faith ordered one, and Dad and I split one. We also got one of their signature sausage rolls (croissant dough wrapped around piping hot sausage), and a warm buttered blueberry muffin. Mom’s bad food luck continued – I ordered her a ham and cheese filled croissant, but they gave her a lunch menu croissant sandwich with ham and cheese instead; we didn’t discover the mistake until we’d driven off. Everything was very good, particularly the bagel sandwiches.
Fernwood Coffee Company // Parsonage Cafe
Victoria, BC
A cozy neighborhood cafe with a great mix of tasty food and solid coffee.
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
Leaving Fernwood, we began to drive north up the Saanich peninsula.
The Butchart Gardens
While we missed seeing a lot of the Vancouver Island attractions due to yesterday’s tire incident, we thankfully didn’t miss the one attraction we’d prepaid for: The Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay, BC. These botanical gardens have been around over 120 years, and have an interesting history. In 1904, Robert and Jennie Butchart moved to the area to operate a cement plant, but the limestone quarry was exhausted 8 years later. They converted the quarry to a garden, and their family continued to improve the area over the years. Their grandson Ian Ross transformed the land into the attraction we see today.
In a lot of ways, the area reminds me of the Biltmore Estate, minus the billionaire tycoon influence. I bought tickets in advance, so entering was very smooth. We drove though the gates, parked the car, and headed towards the entrance, passing under the colorful shade of flowering archways. Unless plants are edible, I don’t know much about them, so I won’t bore you with overly long descriptions. Instead, I’ll mostly show pictures of what we saw.
Sunken Garden
The primary attraction of the Gardens, the Sunken Garden, was our first stop. The area has beautiful layers of all types of plants, creating a tapestry of living color. The Sunken Garden spans 5 acres, had 151 flower beds, and plants 65,000 bulbs every spring.
While beautiful, the Sunken Garden is also a little hectic to navigate, and I managed to lose everyone else for quite a while. After wandering in what seemed like endless circles, I finally found Mom and Dad resting on a bench in a small shaded alcove I’d probably walked past five times already. I guess it’s hard to see with all the foliage blocking the view. We spotted Faith, caught up with her and Walker, and decided we’d stick together better going forward.
Fountains
Next, we walked down the hill towards the famous Ross Fountain, which shoots off a decorative water show.
Leaving the old quarry area, we walked by three more water features: the Single Jet, Dragon, and Sturgeon Fountains.
Rose Garden
Circling back towards the main house and gift shop, we walked through the Rose Garden. The aroma from the area was almost overwhelming. The garden boasts a collection of “2,500 floribundas, ramblers, climbers and Hybrid Tea Roses”. There are 280 varieties making up those 2,500 individual plants, and 30 rose arches. My grandfather (Mom’s dad) once had a half-acre rose garden in Hickory, and he sold roses to florists, friends, and others; it was neat for us to see another garden like his, especially since I never saw it.
Japanese Garden
The 1 acre Japanese Garden has 500 rhododendrons and azaleas, 74 Japanese maples, and 200m of stream flowing through it.
Star Pond and Italian Garden
The Italian Garden, next to the main house, has 18 flower beds, 85 varieties of plants, and is planted with 22,000 spring bulbs and biennials.
Gelateria
It was another day with a near-record high, and we were all feeling the heat. To cool off, we stopped at the gelateria to get some refreshments. We ordered a variety of gelato flavors; Dad got coconut pineapple and Amarena cherry; Mom got Amarena cherry and sparkling peach; Faith got mango (yet another wrong order; she wanted sparkling peach); and I got mixed berry and stracciatella, which is a sweet cream cheese ice cream with shreds of chocolate in it. All were very good, and surprisingly high quality.
Rose Carousel
Near the top of the hill above the Sunken Garden sits the Rose Carousel. It has 30 hand carved wooden animals and 2 chariots, and was introduced in 2009 by the Butcharts’ great-granddaughter. This was Walker’s first time riding a carousel, and he was very excited about it. He rode it twice – the first time on a bear with a salmon in it’s mouth, and the second time on a cougar.
Michell's Farm
At this point, we were thoroughly hot and exhausted, so we decided to just view the Mediterranean Garden, which was adjacent to the parking lot and not one of the best attractions, from a distance. Despite its longstanding reputation, we decided not to partake in the afternoon tea at the gardens, since we were short on time, and knew there were better fish [for someone else] to fry. We started driving back south towards Victoria, but decided to stop for a snack to tide us over until we could get a full meal.
Michell’s Farm Market is just off the side of BC-17, and is the primary retail store of a 400+ acre sixth-generation-owned family farm that has been growing on the Saanish Peninsula for over 150 years. They grow over 50 varieties of fruits and vegetables, but right now, raspberries were in season. We bought a box to split between the five of us, and proceeded to eat then entire thing in the 25 minute drive back to Victoria.
These raspberries were unquestionably the best I’d ever had – they weren’t tart at all, and were incredibly juicy, soft, and bursting with sweet flavor. Walker (and the rest of us) managed to get them all over ourselves, staining his clothes and car seat with the crimson juice.
Michell's Farm Market
Saanichton, BC
A great place to find fresh produce, especially berries!
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
Red Fish Blue Fish
Back in the city, we drove straight to Red Fish Blue Fish, another repeat from our last trip. They serve fish-and-chips and other seafood dishes out of a shipping container on the docks of the Harbour, right next to the seaplanes landing at the Victoria Harbour Airport.
Mom ordered cod and chips; Faith got a cod roll with chips; and Dad and I split halibut and chips, salmon and chips, and a cod tacone (a grilled flour tortilla with crispy cod, coleslaw, pea shoots, Million Island dressing, sweet smoked chili adobo, and lemon-pickled onions). Their fish is tempura-battered and fried, with a light, crispy coating that isn’t greasy at all. Their tar-tar sauce has tons of fresh dill, and is probably the best I’ve ever had. RFBF is one of my all-time favorite seafood spots.
Red Fish Blue Fish
Victoria, BC
Our second experience was just as tasty as the first. This is truly some of the best seafood you can get anywhere. Don’t let the long lines and difficult parking situation deter you; it’s worth a stop.
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
beacon Hill
Since there wasn’t much seating available at the Inner Harbour, we took our food to-go and drove a short distance past the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia building to Beacon Hill Park on the south side of the city. We found a couple benches right outside the Beacon Hill Children’s Farm, an educational farm model that’s been operating since 1985. The farm has 3 pigs (Poppy, Petunia, and Punk), a handful of chickens, 2 roosters (Benjamin and Chick Jagger), 8 guinea pigs, a small flock of doves, 2 donkeys (Opal and Taffey), some Jacob sheep, 2 alpacas (Osmond and Lacy), a flock of ducks, 2 farm cats (Leo and Elsie), and a several varieties of other small birds.
Goat STampede
Every day at 10:10 and 17:10, the farm has “goat stampedes”, when the animals are transferred between their nighttime sleeping quarters and daytime feeding/petting areas. The goats are a hybrid between two miniature goat breeds: Nigerian Dwarf Goats and African Pygmy Goats. We watched the stampede, which was short, but very cute.
We ventured over to the center of the park, dodging an escaped peacock on our way, and let Walker play on the swings for a while. There was a lush green lawn, and he played in the grass for a while.
Victoria Waterfront
Leaving the park, we drove south to the Dallas Road, which borders the waterfront, Finlayson Point Beach, and Spiral Beach. We continued west along the shore, driving beside Holland Point Park, the cruise ship docks, and the breakwater. Turning north, we circled back towards downtown, passing Fisherman’s Wharf and the Inner Harbour.
Parachute
Crossing the Johnson Street Bridge and then the Point Ellice Bridge, we entered the Burnside neighborhood, and parked at Parachute Ice Cream. Dad, Faith, and I ordered some ice cream, while Mom decided to pass. All three of us got a scoop of lemon cream, plus one other flavor. Faith got cookies and cream, Dad got bourbon almond roca, and I got chocolate truffle. All were excellent; it was very dense, creamy ice cream.
Parachute Ice Cream
Victoria, BC
Quality ice cream with rotating seasonal flavors.
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
Hotel, Petrol, Bed
Dad and I dropped Mom, Faith, and Walker off at the hotel, and then drove back out to fill up with gas at a Shell station so we’d be prepared for a longer drive tomorrow. We got back to the hotel long before the sun set, made the most out of the blackout curtains in our rooms, and headed to bed early. I would’ve loved to have seen a sunset on the coast, but we were still too tired from the flat tire episode.
Video
Here’s a short video from today’s adventures.
The Best Things we Saw Today
Isaac
The best thing I saw today was… “the Rose Garden”.
The best thing I ate today was… “a tie between the raspberries, the bagel sandwich, and Red Fish Blue Fish”.
Faith
The best thing I saw today was… “the Rose Garden”.
The best thing I ate today was… “raspberries”.
Jerry
The best thing I saw today was… “the Rose Garden”.
The best thing I ate today was… “halibut from Red Fish Blue Fish”.
Amy
The best thing I saw today was… “the Sunken Garden”.
The best thing I ate today was… “cherry gelato”.
Conclusion
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Tomorrow, we’re taking another ferry (if we can make it without a flat tire!) back to the mainland, where we’ll visit Vancouver, and then drive north towards Whistler.
– Isaac, Faith, Jerry, Amy, and Walker
2 Responses
Butchart Gardens would have been impossible for me to manage because of my walking problems. I am very grateful to Jerry and Isaac for pushing me through the entire park!! Quite the adventure, but so worth it!❤️
What a beautiful place!
Sunken Garden, Rose Garden and waterfront were my favorites!
The ice cream looked delicious!
Fish made my mouth water! YUM!