In The Beginning

Now that you've seen the last days of the trip I'll share with you the first... Our first stop was Seattle, but heck, that was only for a few hours so I really didn't take any pictures that were worthy of publishing while we were there. I could kick myself though, for not getting pictures of the heavenly food we had at Cafe Campagne. You can get a taste of it here. (Hey Kristen- I figured it out!!!) I had no idea that this restaurant was so highly acclaimed. I had noticed it the last couple of times we'd been to Seattle as it is right across the street almost from Pike's Place Market. The menu looked good, so I wanted to go. It was wonderful. I plan on going again next month when we're there with our friends for Coffee Fest.

Our next stop was Victoria, BC. I gotta say, Victoria is not my favorite spot on Vancouver Island. That's probably akin to blasphemy to many people, but that's truly how I feel. It's a very large city and this time it seemed that the freak factor had gone up considerably since we were there only two years ago. However, there is Butchart Gardens, which is an experience in and of itself, as is having High Tea in The Dining Room Restaurant (the original family home). Over the years I have searched high and low for the perfect High Tea and overall have been disappointed. (I mean really, how hard is it to make the doggone food from scratch?! If you can't do that you have no stinkin' business in the business!) Ahem. As you can see from the above picture, chef Travis Hansen knows what he's doing. The picture shows only the desserts, there were also heavenly scones, sausage rolls, smoked salmon sandwiches and shrimp and gruyere quiche. You'll come away entranced. I guarantee it. You can enjoy it all vicariously here.