Going on vacation in September, especially the first week of school starting, is perfect. Hotels and resorts are lacking school age children and off-season is just beginning. Not that I don't like children, I do like off-season though. Six of us headed to Tofino this year to celebrate Karl and Stephanie Johanson's 30 years of happily wedded bliss at the Pacific Sands Beach Resort on Cox Bay. While Stephanie, Karl, Stephanie's sister Wendy and niece Emily, along with Isaac the dog, stayed in a beach house, John and I stayed in one of the Lighthouse suites. All of the suites and houses have full kitchenettes, with varying other amenities. Having a kitchenette meant we ate out less at the amazing dining options available in Tofino and spent more time on the beach. As a foodie this was at first a bit disappointing. My disappointmdnt soon changed to delight at spending hours on the beach boogie boarding in the surf. Being able to run back to the room and grab a bite was perfect.
On the drive up to Tofino and on the way back to Victoria we stopped at Trees Diner in Parksville for lunch on a recommendation from two people we know. The drive up we had burgers as we weren't sure what time we'd be eating dinner and boogie boarding was on the schedule when we arrived in Tofino. On the way back, John had a burger and I had the BLT. The dairy and gluten free bun wasn't dry as some are, it was soft inside with a nice crust. Our burgers were delicious. There is a bakery attached to the diner and if we weren't full we would have purchased some of the homemade baked goods.
John and I arrived on the Tuesday after the Labour Day Monday, finding everyone else in the surf boogie boarding. Dinner that night was individual pizzas made with Stephanie's homemade pizza crusts. John and I had brought up local meat and vegetables from The Root Cellar creating the best homemade pizza I've had. Wednesday we headed into Tofino for lunch at the Schooner Restaurant which has been around since 1949. I had the Tom Yum soup with chicken which was warming and filling. Being famous for seafood others ordered fish and chips or fish dishes, while others had a simple salad. We then roamed around Tofino. John and I purchased a loaf of dill sourdough from the Common Loaf for Wednesday night's dinner of Wendy's delicious spaghetti. We also went to Rhino Coffee House to get doughnuts, there is only one Vegan variety - jelly - which has never been my favourite, I was fine with passing on a treat. Wendy and Emily went for the Boston Cream and Coconut Cream which they enjoyed. Thursday we went to Long Beach for a long walk along the beach. The plan was to go to the bog trail and have lunch after the hike, except with six of us some of us ate early and some of us ate late. John and I were feeling rather hungry and decided to head back to our suite to have lunch catching up with the others later for the Thursday night BBQ. By 7:00 pm at night we went to find the others, still boogie boarding in the surf, and decided we needed to eat. We had a lovely BBQ of chicken with vegetables I'd packed in tin foil with some Earth Balance non-soy spread. We used the community BBQ area at the Pacific Sands Beach Resort, sharing our BBQ with a family from Britain. Another group had built up the fire pit making for a lovely warm area to sit and enjoy the evening. Sitting in the dark eating by fire pit was rather romantic.
Friday was our last full day for all of us except Wendy and Emily who were heading back to Victoria. We decided to go to Ucluelet to hike the Wild Pacific Trail a beautiful scenic trail along the coastline from the lighthouse to parking lot or vis versa. After the hike we went into Ucluelet for lunch at Ukee Dogs Cafe & Eatery. Ukee Dogs Cafe & Eatery serves ethical beef hot dogs and is run by a lovely couple. John and I have eaten here before when we stayed at the Black Rock Resort. John had the Mac&Cheese dog, Wendy, Emily and I had hotdogs. Stephanie and Karl had the beef tacos. I had the Imperial hotdog with teriyaki carmelized onions, wasbi mayo and nori on top which I find a taste experience worth every bite!!!
We also stopped into a bakery across the street from Ukee Dogs with yummy goodies that tempted us. Zoe's Bakery and Cafe. You can find both Ukee Dogs and Zoe's Bakery on Facebook.
While the rest of the women in our group went shopping at the gift shop, and the men along with Isaac found shade, I went into the tea shop. Thay Tea is at 250 Main Street in Ucluelet and offers tea for purchasing as well as making hot or cold cups of tea. I had a tiger tea made with black licorice tea, vanilla syrup and a bit of sweetner over ice. It was so good that I went back to purchase the tea. I haven't had black tea for a year since eating clean and cutting out all but herbal tea from my diet. I found this tea really nice, not too strong and didn't cause me any horrible symptoms from caffeine or taste.
John and I headed back into Tofino since I really wanted to go to the natural food store and he wanted to try a doughnut from Rhino Coffee House. Of course John had the bacon maple doughnut, one happy man pictured here.
I tried the tumeric mylk from the health food store. The mylk is homemade nut milk with tumeric, ginger and cinnamon. I've been wanting to try tumeric milk for sometime and have several recipes pinned. Definately something I'm going to learn to make. This was so comforting and was perfect after boogie boarding and hiking the last three days. I was a bit sore and bruised, along with muscles protesting that haven't been used in some time. This was so good that on Saturday morning before we left I bought myself another one in a larger size. Recommend this store for health food items as well as smoothies and hot drinks.
Of course we stopped at Chocolate Tofino where we purchased Hot Chocolate Elixir Orbs for family who watched over our house, plus two chocolates for my friend/co-worker, one wild blackberry cream with blackberries picked in Ucluelet and basil ganache with the basil from a local garden. Founded in 2003 Chocolate Tofino makes hand-crafted chocolates with the highest quality ingredients. Some of the local specialties are the Organic Lavender Truffle, the Wild Honey Ganache and the Wild Blackberry Cream. If you can't make it to Tofino, ordering online is available.
I wasn't able to partake of Wendy's amazing baking as she didn't make it dairy free. We did have the chocolate wacky cake I made iced with paleo icing with her spaghetti dinner. I stopped at Swell Juice Bar where I found dairy free cookies loaded with seeds and oats and a hemp seed ball with dark chocolate on top. The hemp seed ball with the dark chocolate made it back to Victoria where I had it with a large cup of herbal tea. Treat quota filled 100% with yummy healthy food.
We are so fortunate to live on the west coast and I am grateful to those people who participate in making local food amazing. Thank you to my loving partner for introducing me to Cox Bay and the Pacific Sands Beach Resort. I want to go back and make more memories with you. There are still places I want to eat at in Tofino that we missed this trip and I want to boogie board again.
No comments:
Post a Comment