Fun on a Rainy Day

Several years ago, we visited this area after disembarking from a Panama Canal cruise. Skip had a few relatives and acquaintances that we visited in various parts of Vancouver Island and we ended our trip visiting my cousin, Barry, and his wife, Lynda, at their home, where we are now house-sitting.

Just before we flew home we spent a night in Sidney near the airport that serves Victoria and the environs. That evening we poked around the main street a bit and noted that there were several book stores and coffee shops that looked rather interesting. We made a mental note that we would like to investigate further on some future trip.

Today started out quite rainy. We decided it would be a great day to poke around bookstores so we headed up to Sidney.

We were hungry so we first went for lunch at The Pier Bistro - that little building at the end of the pier to the right of the blue fish market.

I had delicious crab cakes on a bed of greens.

After lunch we walked around the waterfront. This 'Welcome Figure' is a landmark in Beacon Park and faces out to the harbour.

There is also a bandshell at the southern edge of the park with a few Muskoka chairs.

The sky looked very menacing but shortly after this it cleared up.

A few metres further down is this pirate sculpture.


Vegetation is very lush.

We were really trying to find this establishment - The Surly Mermaid. What a great name for an eatery/pub.

At the used book shop, Beacon Books, Skip bought a book about Hannibal (history nerd) and I found a 60 year-old Danish book of pulled thread techniques.

The sun came out for our 25 minute drive back to our lodgings.

We will definitely pay the area another visit before we return to Ontario.