With the holiday season rapidly approaching, Vancouverites begin dreaming of warmer spots.  There is, however, an easier way to get away from the hustle and bustle that takes merely a leisurely BC Ferries journey to arrive at.  It’s the perfect time to head to Victoria, where you can park the car at your hotel and walk to the downtown core.  Finish (or start) your Christmas shopping, choose from the many spectacular dining spots when hunger strikes and then return to your hotel for some excellent spa time.  Spend the night with a meal in the lobby restaurant, or snuggle up and call room service, and you’ll leave feeling stress-free.

Last fall, we spent my boyfriend’s late November birthday night at the Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort and Spa.

We checked into the hotel late afternoon and immediately went to the spa for a relaxing hour of pre-evening massage. It’s a hectic time of year, and we both needed a little downtime before transitioning into holiday mode. Refreshed and rejuvenated, we relaxed in our room before our dinner at the hotel’s Lure Restaurant.

Lure is run by Executive Chef Craig Stoneman, who developed his culinary skills in England, worked at the King Ed in Toronto and has been with the Delta Victoria since its opening in 1992.  As luck would have it, there was an early holiday party at Lure that night, and they had opted for a formal set menu that was, therefore, available. We jumped at the chance to experience the tasting.

        

The regular menu is filled with sumptuous dishes such as braised short rib papardelle, proscuitto wrapped trout, and five spice duck breast, and the tasting menu was even more impressive.  Chef Stoneman took us on a tour from the sea to the farm, with seared tuna, scallop, duck and prime rib. At every course the flavours were spectacular, each increasing in intensity from the last.

The kitchen threw in some extra treats for my boyfriend Casey’s birthday, which embarassed him, as he pretends to be shy.  Perfect.

After a night in our comfortable bed, we were ready to make the trip a bit further north to one of my favourite Vancouver Island destinations, Cowichan Bay.

This is one of the two Slow Food destinations in BC (Naramata is the other) and it has two specialty shops you should not miss – True Grain Breads and Hilary’s Cheese.

Often, you’ll catch some wildlife such as the sea lions that can be heard barking from miles away.  These incredible creatures sun themselves on the bay’s dock.

We fantasized extensively about living island-life aboard one of the harbour’s floating homes, lost track of time and then had to grab a quick lunch before heading back to the ferry homeward bound.

The Delta currently has a room rate of $99 until January, so escaping is more than reasonable.