Life at a Tortoise Pace
I hope your 2025 is going well for all of you.
This year started off a bit chaotic for me. I’m hoping that at least my personal life has calmed down a bit. I can’t say the same about the current political situation.
I will be continuing with the signs of the Lekwungen, there are 7 of them in total (5 more to go), starting next week.
All the best.
Site 2 of the Sign of the Lekwungen is located near the entrance to the parking lot of Harbour Air.
This was the site of (as the name suggests) the South West bastion of a wooden fort named Fort Camosun and later known as Fort Victoria.
A large forested area was destroyed to bouillon the fort.
According to the plaque and pamphlet, the fort was built by the Lekwungen men and women in exchange for trade goods, which changed the the traditional ways and sustainable ways of the Lekwungen people.
The theme on this Spindle Whorl is “Walk in Two Worlds”. It recognizes colonization.
A while back I had mentioned that I would write about the giant spindle whorls that are dotted around the city of Victoria, marking the different culturally significant places for the Lekwungen (now known as the Esquimalt and Songhees) people.
The spindle whorl and small disc were traditionally used for spinning wool and is an icon of the Coast Salish people.
Each of the 7 discs, designed by Butch Dick, has a different image on them.
This week I will be looking at the Songhees Point location.
The first location of the Spindle whorl is just over the blue bridge (the blue bridge has been replaced with a newer grey coloured bridge, but the bridge joining Victoria to Esquimalt is still known as “the Blue Bridge”).
This whorl sits just on the point to the side of the Delta Hotel.
This point is called PAH-lu-tsuss meaning “Cradle-board”. According to the sign and the information brochure, this sacred headland was where traditionally cradles were places once the child learnt to walk. It was later the site of a settlement and then an Indian reserve which traded with the Hudson Bay Company Fort that was located at Bastion Square.
The carved theme on the whorl is “Four Seasons of the Salmon Family” – The 4 salmon are the Sockeye, Coho, Chum, and Spring.
Under the whorl is a map of the different locations and the name of the location this whorl is located.
This past week was the 40th anniversary of one of Victoria’s mainstay brunch spots: John’s Place.
In celebration of the 40 years it has been in business they revived their menu prices from 1989: $5 waffles, and $7 eggs Benedict. (Only for one week)
R., who recently came back from doing the Portuguese route of the Camino, and I went for brunch on Friday. We got to the back of the line (which was just past the side entrance to the Centre City Plaza) at 11:30am and were finally seated at 1:00pm.
R. Said that it has been busy all week. But Friday was especially busy (most likely because most Government workers who work a flex schedule take Fridays off).
The interior is decorated with wall to wall photos and posters of North American and British pop culture. (I say British as I did notice a poster for Arsenals FC)
John’s place is known for its waffles and eggs Benedict and even with the influx of customers they did not disappoint.
I ordered the eggs Florentine (the way they made it in 1989) with a side of bacon on an English muffin. R. Ordered the same.
By the time we left the lineup outside went all the way to Douglas Street
John’s Place is located at 723 Pandora Ave.
This week I went to Uni on Wharf and Yates with M.
The menu was a bit eclectic, with wonton soup as an option. I ordered the Hokkaido Ceviche, and M ordered the Scallop Explosion. We also ordered a Yuzu gin and tonic and uni.
I have to be honest and say I didn’t read the fine print. I thought “ceviche”, therefore, raw seafood with a citrus dressing… but no, all the seafood was cooked and in a citrus sauce. It was okay, but a bit too much sauce.
The scallop explosion was a bit of a surprise as it was deep fried. But the taste wasn’t bad. It tasted like an all dressed potato chip but without the crunchy texture.
We tried the uni with trepidation as we were still scarred from our experience at Yua Bistro. However, we needn’t have worried: the uni was fresh.
The decor was nice, the presentation of the food was beautiful, the restaurant was clean and the service was good.
KotsuKotsuLife is giving Uni a 3 out of 5
Day 2: Bainbridge to Seattle
The Quality Inn had breakfast included so we ate and checked out by 8:00am.
We lined up for the Bainbridge to Seattle ferry. If one’s car is under 14’ one gets to pay the cheapest fare for a car. The Honda Fit I was driving is under 14’.
The ferry was delayed because of the foggy conditions on the water, once on the Seattle side there wasn’t any fog.
Once off the ferry we headed to the Museum of Flight… I just have to say, driving on American highways is scary…they go much faster than we do on Vancouver Island.
We could have spent the whole day at the museum of flight. The docents were all very knowledgeable, and it seemed like they had all been part of the aviation industry before retiring and becoming docents.
We had lunch at the cafe at the museum, and then headed off to Seattle centre to check into our hotel: Four Points by Sheraton Downtown Seattle Center. We left our car in the hotel parking garage and walked to Chihuly Garden and Glass (about 15 minutes)
After the Gardens we took the monorail the one stop (it only has the two stations) to Pikes Place ( he fish market). The idea was to have dinner at the market… but I guess I didn’t research it enough to realize that the market closes at 5pm and so do all the restaurants in the market!
We ended up eating at a cute little French restaurant near the fish market: Cafe Campaign
After that we headed back to the hotel. End of day 2
Day 3: Seattle to Victoria
This day consists of a lot of driving and many ferries. I was exhausted and didn’t remember to take any photos.
Again we started out early leaving the hotel at 7:45am.
The first ferry we took was the Mukilteo to Clinton ferry. This ferry didn’t have a long line and we didn’t have long to wait.
We then drove from Clinton to Coupeville to catch the next ferry from Coupeville to Port Townsend. For this ferry I would recommend making a reservation. I did while planning this trip and I’m glad I did as there was a long queue for cars on standby.
We had lunch in Port Townsend at Doc’s Marina Grill. I didn’t realize that the Thursday we arrive was the beginning of the 3 day wooden boat festival and the area where I had planned our lunch was the location for all the kinks and food tents.
After lunch we headed back to Port Angeles to catch the Coho Black Ball ferry back to Victoria. This time I did have a reservation for the ferry… and again it was a good thing I did as it was the last ferry snd the queue for the cars on standby was long.
I think we could have done the whole trip on one tank of gas, but I get nervous when the tank only has a quarter of a tank left… so we did fill up once.
Also would recommend getting a toll road pass before going to Seattle (if one is driving) as it saves $1.75 for each toll road.
This past week, I travelled to Washington State with my parents for 3 days. I’m braking up the trip to two blogs.
Day 1: Victoria to Bainbridge.
The day started off really early for me. I was not able to book a reservation for the 10:30am Black Ball Ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles. I had to get to the ferry terminal just after the first ferry left at 6:10am and line up to be put on standby. I got there at 5:35am, but did not line up as I would have been told to turn around and come back, so I parked the car and waited until 6am when I noticed 2 cars were not told to turn around I joined the queue. (I was told that the first 5 cars on standby are guaranteed a place on the ferry-I was car number 3).
At 8:30am my parents joined me at the ferry terminal 9:00am we went through customs, and we set off at 10:30.
I drove my parents’ Honda Fit because 1) it has a GPS map, and 2) it is under 14’ (the cheaper fare for the Washington State Ferries)…my 2008 Nissan Versa does not have GPS, and it is 14.09’
Once in Port Angeles, we drove to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic Mountains. We were worried about the weather because when we started on our journey it was heavily overcast, but as we ascended the mountains it started to clear up and the views were spectacular. Note: I purchased a National Parks Pass before departing Victoria.
After having a picnic lunch, we headed down the mountain and drove to Bainbridge Island. It took longer than expected because of all the construction on the roads.
Our destination was the Japanese American Exclusion Memorial. The memorial is located where the first Japanese Americans were forcibly taken from the island to be brought to internment camps on the mainland during WWII.
We then headed into the town of Bainbridge and had dinner at the Harbour Public House . Dad and I had the Ribollita, which was good, and my mom had the salmon Pub Famous Chowder… she said it was only “okay”.
We ended the day at the hotel I booked on Expedia. (Quality Inn & Suites Bainbridge Island). It was clean and quiet… except for the snoring that came from my family 🙂
Please note: I do not get paid for mentioning any of these places in my blog.
At 20,000 square feet Bolen Books boasts that it is the largest single-location independent bookstore in Western Canada. It is located in Hillside Mall, which is north of the main part of Victoria.
Bolen Books is a general interest bookstore, and they won Bookseller of the Year twice by the Canadian Booksellers Association.
They often have readings and signing by authors in their beautiful art deco style store.
They also have more than 40 staff members working for them (not all at the same time I would assume)
They do not have any used books, nor do they have a points reward system, however, they will honour their gift certificates that are really old.
This weekend I was invited by S. to Phillips Brewing Backyard Weekend Concert Series.
As the name suggests, the music festival takes place in the “backyard” of Phillips Brewing. (Phillips is a local microbrewery).
We got free passes as S.’s husband is part of Astrocolor, who were preforming that day.
It was amazing to watch Astrocolor play, they looked like they were having a lot of fun playing music together and for the audience.
After their set we got to go backstage and enjoyed the rest of the concert from the side of the stage.
I was really impressed by a group called Cautious Clay. The lead singer not only sang, but played the sax, the flute, and the guitar. The drummer of the band was also amazing to watch.
Thank you S. and A. for the fun day out.
It is a long weekend here in British Columbia, and today was a nice 24 degrees Celsius.
I had mentioned to R. that I wanted to try Stand Up Paddle Boarding (SUP) and she graciously offered to lend me her inflatable paddle board.
R. and I headed to Willows Beach with R.’s inflatable stand up paddle board and inflatable raft.
I have fallen in love with SUP. I didn’t get to the point of standing up but did kneel and paddle. (I have discovered muscles I don’t use much in my everyday life.)
After paddling we headed to cafe and got some food… and that is when we noticed there was a sign cautioning people of the high levels of bacteria in the water. (Good thing we didn’t fall in).
We did wash our hands in the bathroom with soap, so hopefully we are okay. And I took a shower when I got home.. but there really should be more signs up.
Besides that, a great day on the beach and on the water.
Can’t wait to go out again.
KotsuKotsuLife 