Friday - 9/26/25
Tori and I returned to Canada again this year to visit my cousin, Nan Beals, who lives on tiny Thetis Island off the coast of the giant Vancouver Island. When Chad and Andreina accepted our invitation to come with us, we decided to make it a road trip instead of flying to the island by sea plane. On Friday, we flew Air Canada from San Diego to Vancouver and we had a beautiful view of Mount Rainier outside our window on the direct flight. Since we were meeting up with our friends in the morning to catch the car ferry, we took the SkyTrain from the airport to stay the night at The Met Hotel in New Westminster. After checking in, we headed to River Market and walked the Quay Boardwalk along the Fraser River. Of course, our first meal in Canada was poutine at The Spud Shack before walking back to the Howe Sound Taphouse next to our hotel for a salad and Howe Sound Lager. It was Karaoke night and the guy singing "Turbo Lover" by Judas Priest was pretty good!
Saturday - 9/27/25
We started our Saturday with a walk back to the River Market for breakfast at Angelina’s Dutch Corner overlooking the Fraser River on the New Westminster Quay. I went for the Uitsmijter, a traditional Dutch open-faced sandwich with eggs, ham, and melted Gouda, while Tori ordered the Pannenkoeken topped with lemon and brown sugar. To fuel up for the drive, we swung by Tim Horton’s for Brown Sugar Iced Lattes on the way back to the hotel.
At 9:30am, Chad and Andreina arrived in the rental car to start our road trip to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal. We got in line and walked around the shops before driving aboard the BC Ferry at noon and exploring the large ship. Despite the long line, we couldn’t resist the White Spot poutine served on board. There’s something special about eating fries and gravy while cruising through the narrow channels of the Gulf Islands. Blue skies were peaking through as we arrived on Vancouver Island.
Driving off the ferry, our first stop was Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, an example of late Victorian architecture, built between 1887 and 1890 for the wealthy coal baron, Robert Dunsmuir. He died before the 25,000-square-foot mansion was completed, but his sons finished the job and his wife, Joan, lived there until her death in 1908. The mansion contains 37 rooms, 17 fireplaces, and a tower accessible by 87 steps. After serving as a military hospital during WWI, it housed Victoria College for over twenty years and later a music conservatory before it was finally preserved as a museum in 1979. Walking through the four floors of restored rooms, you really get a sense of the immense wealth that was built during the industrial age.
Just a short drive away, we visited the Abkhazi Garden, known as “The Garden that Love Built.” This garden was built by Prince Nicholas and Princess Peggy Abkhazi after they were reunited following WWII. They met in 1920s Paris, survived separate POW camps, and reunited 13 years later in New York. Peggy used money she hid in a talcum powder jar during the war to buy this land. They spent over 40 years hand-carving the landscape out of solid rock and glaciated slopes. After the overcast morning, it was great to have blue skies and white clouds as we walked around the forested garden and koi pond that surrounds the Abkhazi Tea House.
To get a bird’s-eye view of the city, we drove up to Gonzales Hill Regional Park. At 66 meters, it’s the highest point on the south coast of Vancouver Island, offering a panoramic sweep of Victoria and the Olympic Mountains in Washington State across the Juan de Fuca Strait. We took a walk around the stark white Gonzales Observatory, which stood as a weather and radio station for 75 years but is now a historical landmark. It was the perfect vantage point to appreciate the scale of the capital before we headed into the heart of downtown.
Checking into the Island Travel Inn provided the first real drama of the trip when Chad and Andreina got stuck in the elevator! They were trapped for twenty minutes before a technician could free them. Heading to dinner, we walked past the Neo-Gothic Bank of Montreal building at Bastion Square on our way to Green Cuisine. The vegan buffet-style, priced by weight, was great. I ate a full plate of White Bean Chili with sides of Focaccia Bread, Salad, Falafel and Garlic Rice, but I was still hungry afterwards so Tori went with me to Fatburger where I had the Original Fatburger for the first time. It was quite the contrast to the vegan meal. I wanted to try Fatburger on our last trip to Vancouver, but I never got around to it.
Sunday - 9/28
After breakfast at John’s Place, we walked down Government Street to “Gate of Harmonious Interest” in Victoria’s Chinatown. Built in 1981, this gate marks the entrance to the oldest Chinatown in Canada, the second in North America after San Francisco. Chinese immigrants began settling here in the 1850s during the Fraser River Gold Rush. We visited the high brick walls of Fan Tan Alley. At its narrowest point, the alley is only about 3 feet wide, making it the narrowest commercial street in Canada. It was named after “Fan-Tan,” a popular gambling game played in the dens that lined the alleyway in the late 1800s. We headed down to the Inner Harbour to see the Empress Hotel and the Statue of Queen Victoria standing in front of Victoria’s Parliament Building, the capital of British Columbia. The city was named in her honor in 1843, back when it was just a small Hudson’s Bay Company trading post known as Fort Victoria.
From the Inner Harbour, we hopped on a free shuttle to the Malahat Skywalk, a 105 foot spiral tower that was built in 2021 overlooking the Fjord. At the entrance, we walked along the raised boardwalk to reach the structure, built primarily from Douglas-fir and galvanized steel, designed to blend into the surrounding arbutus forest without disrupting the floor's ecosystem. The walk up is a 600-meter circular ramp supported by massive wooden columns that make you feel like you're ascending through the canopy. We saw several intricate driftwood sculptures of local wildlife along the route, including a giant eagle at the top.
Once we circled the top of the Skywalk overlooking the the Saanich Inlet, we walked out onto the "Adventure Net," a heavy-duty mesh floor suspended over the center of the tower. It was fun lying down, looking through the net to the ground far below! To get back down, we took the spiral slide. It’s a 20-meter, 10-story high-speed corkscrew built right around the central staircase. Tori and I loved it so much we actually went back up just to ride it a second time! Afterward, we took the alternate path to the entrance along Luke's Lane, a quiet trail through the forest.
Back in Victoria, we grabbed some appetizers and cocktails at Bartholomew Pub before checking out the colorful Fisherman’s Wharf in the Inner Harbour. It started after World War II as docks for fish-packing ships, but as the commercial fleet decreased, it now serves independent fishers and a residential community of 30 float homes and restaurants. We spent some time wandering the docks before walking out to the Lower Breakwater at Ogden Point to catch the sunset by the cruise ships. We were beat, so we Ubered back to the hotel to rest for a bit before going for some ice cream at Better Acres. We stopped at Vintage Spirits on the walk back for a bottle of Unsworth Vineyards Pinot Noir. I couldn’t pass it up since we share the name!
Monday - 9/29
After another breakfast at John’s Place, our first stop was Beacon Hill Park to see the 128-foot Totem Pole before leaving Victoria. Carved from a single cedar tree in 1956, it held the title of the world's tallest for nearly two decades. From there, we hit the Trans-Canada Highway toward Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Park. In this protected old-growth forest, some of the Douglas-fir trees are over 800 years old and tower over the forest floor. My camera really struggled to capture the bright, mossy greens of the undergrowth, especially where the massive trees had been uprooted during the 1997 windstorm, leaving giant "root disks" exposed to the air.
Continuing our nature tour, we hiked the loop to see the Little Qualicum Falls. The upper falls are impressive, cascading through a series of three drops of 19ft, 26ft and 10ft into deep pools within a narrow twisting canyon. The lower falls drop 15 feet into a plunging punchbowl. The park was established in 1940 to protect the old growth forest along the Little Qualicum River. For lunch, we stopped at the Old Country Market in Coombs, famous for the "Goats on the Roof." The goats live full-time on the Norwegian-style sod roof during the spring and summer months, a practice that began in 1976 to keep the roof grass from growing too long. We loaded up on groceries for Thetis Island, including some of their Roasted Garlic & Herb Cheesebread, which smelled amazing.
We caught the 5:50pm ferry from Chemainus, arriving early enough to park in the ferry lineup and wander around before boarding. The sun broke through the clouds and we had a pretty sunset on the 40 minute trip over to Thetis Island. The tiny island (4 square miles) sitting off the east coast of Vancouver Island has a permanent year-round population of approximately 350 residents. The island was named in 1846 by Captain George Richards in honor of the HMS Thetis, a 36-gun British frigate that was then assigned to the Royal Navy’s Pacific Station.
Nan only lived a few minutes away from the ferry. It was great to finally meet my cousin after all our emails. She showed us to the cabin where her mother (my grandmother’s identical twin sister) lived for many years. (I had to watch my head with the cabin's low doors and beams during our two night stay.) We then drove to Cufra Cliffs B&B where Chad & Andreina checked in before driving back to finish the night at Nan’s with pizza, salad, and Nanaimo bars for a proper Canadian dessert.
Tuesday - 9/30
Tuesday began with a morning walk with Nan down to Telegraph Harbour and "The Cut" at low tide. This narrow channel separates Thetis from Penelakut Island, an Indian Reserve home to the Penelakut Tribe of the Coast Salish People whose traditional territory extended over the Southern Gulf Coast Islands. Back at the house, Nan pulled out her family tree book, tracing the family journey from Ireland to Nova Scotia, and eventually down to California. Seeing all the old photos of my Grandmother Marion and her identical sister, Maria, and other members of the family really brought the history to life.
Nan was a great host and showed as around her beautiful island, taking us to the Lawrence Trail in the center of the island. We spent the afternoon wandering through the wild blackberry patch and past a farm where a friendly horse came over to say hello. The trail took us through a sunny meadow where we had to cross wooden planks over a dry, winding streambed. It was very peaceful!
As the trail ducked back into the forest on the far side of the meadow, we walked along a cliff face while Nan told us about the area. Between the ferns and mossy rocks, we spotted a giant Banana Slug on the leaf-strewn path at our feet. We also saw a vulture perched on a low branch above us and we quickly realized why as we hurried past the strong odor of a decomposing animal hidden in the brush. The 2.5 kilometer loop we were walking actually follows an old wagon trail built by the Lawrence Brothers in the early 1900s. They used it to get supplies from the harbour up to their homestead, and we could still see the rusted axel and metal wheels of an old wagon on the side of the trail.
After the hike, we drove to Pilkey Point Beach with beautiful sandstone honeycomb rock formations at the northern tip of the island with views of the surrounding Gulf Islands that separate it from the Strait of Georgia. Back at Nan's, we made French Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwiches using the tasty Roasted Garlic & Herb Cheesebread we’d picked up in Coombs.
Later, Chad, Andreina, Tori and I walked and visited the Howling Wolf Farm Market and the Telegraph Harbour Cafe to see "The Cut" again, this time at high tide. Afterwards, Nan showed us her old coffee roasting room where she used to run a business with her husband. These days, she uses the space for her Goosey Gander Consignment Shop for the local island residents. We ended the day with a big round of tasty taco salads for dinner.
Wednesday - 10/1/25
We were up early to secure a spot in line for the 7:45am ferry back to the big island. Chad had an evening flight out of Vancouver, so we had to make this early ferry to get back in time. While we waited, a young deer, looking lost, wandered right past the line of cars. We were the 21st car in line, but we made it aboard the ferry that was full of students crossing to Chemainus for their school day. After the 40 minute drive up to Nanaimo, we caught the 10:55am ferry to Horseshoe Bay on the mainland. We ate more poutine and saw a giant rainbow as we crossed the Strait of Georgia. We made it back to Vancouver with time to spare, and Chad and Andreina dropped us off at our downtown hotel where we would stay for two more nights in the city.
We checked into the Days Inn by Wyndham, nothing fancy, but it was a great location. Our first stop was the nearby Marine Building, a 21-story Art Deco skyscraper completed in 1930. At the time of its opening, it was the tallest building in the British Empire. Stepping into the lobby felt like stepping onto a turn-of-the-century ocean liner with ornate brass elevator doors and a detailed zodiac sign inlay on the floor. The maritime navigational theme is everywhere, right down to the old-style phone booths that have been preserved. Afterward, we hit Robson Street for some shopping, where Tori picked up a new bag from Herschel Supply, a local Vancouver brand.
For an early dinner, we hopped a bus to the Yaletown neighborhood to visit Hundy. While the cheeseburger was excellent, the real star was the Cabbage Salad. It was so good we had to ask the guy behind the counter for the ingredients so we could try to recreate it back in San Diego. (We attempted it two times with the chili oil, fish oil, lime, chili flakes and the dashi peanuts he mentioned, but only one came out decent.) We followed that up with cocktails at the bar in Hawksworth Restaurant. The KFC (Korean Fried Cauliflower) on the Happy Hour menu was very good, perfectly seasoned!
Thursday - 10/2/25
After an early breakfast of Eggs Benedict at Yolks, we took the bus out to the University of British Columbia (UBC) to visit the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. The centerpiece of the lobby is a massive, 85-foot Blue Whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling. The adult female washed ashore on Prince Edward Island back in 1987 and had to be buried for 20 years to allow for natural decomposition before the skeleton could be recovered and moved here. The natural history museum holds over two million biological specimens ranging from tiny insects to prehistoric fossils.
The morning rain finally let up just as we stepped out of the museum, so we took the opportunity to walk through the campus toward the coast. We descended the steep stairs, a 230-foot drop down the cliffside, to reach Wreck Beach on the western edge of UBC. It’s famous for being Canada’s oldest and largest clothing-optional beach. We enjoyed a peaceful walk along the coastline around Noon Breakfast Point, taking in the rocky shore covered in driftwood.
Reaching Tower Beach, we climbed the exhausting stairs to visit the grounds of the Museum of Anthropology. While we didn’t head inside, we admired the Totem Poles and the Haida House Exhibit outside that recreated the traditional cedar houses of the Haida people that lived along this coastline. We took the bus back downtown and made a quick stop at Tim Horton’s for the Thanksgiving Stack sandwich. Since we were in town, I felt like it was only right to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving! I liked it a lot!
We returned to Hundy in Yaletown to visit The Stockroom, the hidden speakeasy bar in the back. We got nicely buzzed on margaritas and shared another delicious Cabbage Salad before walking over to the Vancouver Public Library. The elliptical colonnade that surrounds the library mimics the geometry of the Roman Colosseum and takes up an entire city block. We took the elevator up to the 9th floor to visit the rooftop garden, which only opened to the public in 2018 despite the library being finished in 1995. It’s a peaceful green space right in the middle of the city with great views of the downtown skyline at sunset. We could see the full moon rising over the BC Place Stadium.
For our final dinner, we headed to Cambie Village to eat at Vij’s, one of the most famous Indian restaurants in North America. The Mulligatawny Soup was delicious, and I loved the Better Butter Chicken, while Tori went for the Eggplant Pakora. The timing of our meal was perfect, the Michelin Guide selections for Vancouver were being announced that very night at the Commodore Ballroom. As we were eating, the restaurant staff returned from the ceremony and paraded their brand-new Bib Gourmand plaque through the dining room. The next morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast at Railtown Cafe before catching the SkyTrain to the airport for the flight home.
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