3rd St. Cafe in Sidney

An opportunity came up yesterday to go out for breakfast and because it was during the week plus a little later in the morning just before the lunch crowd, the 3rd St. Cafe in Sidney came to mind.

Heavily rated and often recommended as one as the best places for breakfast in the Capital Regional District this is one place we had to try.

The small café located right on Beacon and 3rd street across from Starbucks can’t be mistaken by the large crowd that’s inside enjoying the great food. The sign in the doorway said it all. “Small Place Big Flavour” as well as “no camping allowed,” and “please be patient and we will eventually serve you.”

If you do arrive at peak times it can be crowed at times so please be prepared for a wait. The 3rd Street Cafe does have a wait list if you would like to browse the shops in Sidney. Breakfast runs at around $15 per person (which includes coffee and tip).

The facility sits around 30 people at max. The owners recognize this and really try and get you seated and served right away. If you are by yourself there is a bench area for quicker service rather than waiting for a table.

Breakfast is served all day as well as lunch after 11:00 am. The 3rd St. Cafe is located at 2466 Beacon Ave in Sidney. Telephone (250) 656-3035 for days and hours of operation.

Reviews: 3rd St. Cafe

Valentines Day Bike Ride

With the beautiful weather here in Victoria an opportunity came about during a break in the 2010 Olympic coverage to cycle the Galloping Goose Regional Trail on Sunday February 14, Valentines Day.

Taking off from near the Saanich Centre on the trail it soon came apparent we were not the only couples with the same idea. With the afternoon temperature at around 12 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit) and sunny who could blame them. The conditions were absolutely perfect for a bike ride or walk with your sweetheart.

The route taken was to go towards the new Uptown development (the old Town and Country Shopping Centre) and then travel west towards Langford. This part of the regional trail was ideal in trying a new Kona hybrid bike that was purchased earlier the day earlier from Russ Hay’s Bicycle Shop.

A real surprise on this section of the trail was found in View Royal at the Atkins Avenue parking lot (around the 10 km mark) where there was a section upgrade of the trail. Paid for through grants from Canada’s Economic Action Plan and the BC Economic Stimulus Plan 2.67 kilometres (1.7 miles) of the trail has been vastly improved.

Rather than going over compacted gravel the trail is now paved all the way past Thetis Lake to Wilfert Road and Wale Road near the Juan De Fuca Recreation Centre. By having this improvement now a cyclist can almost make the same time schedule as the Old Island Hwy but be completely away from traffic. What an improvement to an already jewel of the CRD.

For more information see Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

Coastal Renaissance

As we headed out to the BC Ferries Terminal this weekend on Friday the traffic was very busy around 3 pm, I figured there is no way we are going to make it, especially with the 2010 Olympics only 2 weeks away.

What appeared to be disappointment turned out to be an expected "Yes you made the extra 4 pm sailing" by the BC Ferries attendant collecting money. Not only did we make the 4 pm sailing, but we boarded the new vessel the Coastal Renaissance.

What a treat to go aboard the Coastal Renaissance with the new vessel better than expected. The seating area seemed to have more room, the chairs way more comfortable and as we sailed, the vessel was definitely more quiet than any other vessels in the BC Ferries fleet

Once we off-loaded at Tsawwassen the driving trip into Vancouver through Richmond and Delta was definitely at a different pace than experienced on Vancouver Island. Although there was a posted speed limit you would never know it by the cars whizzing by us.

All in all though we made it into North Vancouver safely and had a very good time even with the heavy rains.

Sooke Potholes Regional Park

Although to day was a bit rainy it proved to to be a good day for a walk along the Sooke River in the Sooke Potholes Regional Park.

The day started off by meeting the Club Mud gang in Langford at the Westshore Mall Serious Coffee location for a wake-up Americano coffee. From here it is about a 30 minute drive to the parking lot for the regional park located at the end of Sooke River Road.

The Sooke Potholes have been caved out of the Sandstone bedrock over the years by the cascading river creating some very unique geological rock formations. Although the area boasts some of the CRD's best swimmingholes during the summertime it was just as beautiful during one of Victoria's wet winter days.

Over the last few years since TLC has handed over stewardship of the area to the CRD many of the old trails have been upgraded with crushed gravel replacing some muddy sections. The trails meander next to the Sooke River intermixed with west coast rain forest offering fantastic views of this very special place.

More information can be found at OurBC.com and the CRD webpage.

Flooding on Colquitz Trail, Panama Flats

The hard rain in Victoria today finally let up around noon with the afternoon having some sunny periods around 1:30 pm. This provided an ample opportunity to get put on the bike for a ride along the Lochside Trail.

Going through Saanich towards Royal Oak Drive the regional trail was in good shape with very little water on the path. The views of Mount Douglas from the Blenkinsop Trestle were outstanding with the warm sunshine starting to dry out some of the ground cover and neighbouring farmers fields.

From Royal Oak Shopping Centre the trail down through Colquitz River proved to be OK but the water rushing down the waterway was very high and close to the top of the bank in certain areas.

Upon reaching Panama Flats by Roy Road there were signs up warning of flooding along the Colquitz Trail. Proceeding along the trail the water in some places came right up to the pedals making for very wet bike shoes.

Panama Flats an area that is dry in the summer now resembled a lake with one person noting it was the highest he has seen the water. Once past Panama Flats and onto the Galloping Goose Trail near Interurban Road the ride proved to be a very pleasant experience as we were back in the sun.

Long-Weekend in North Vancouver

We just got back from a quick trip over to North Vancouver on the New Years Day long-weekend. The trip proved to very fast on BC Ferries as they were offering extra sailings during various times of the days.

The wet weather experienced while in North Vancouver brought up a number of past memories especially when we were out walking in it. The sky was gloomy plus the rain never seemed to let up and unless you had a hat on it was incredibly wet.

Things that were going on: Lonsdale Avenue between 21st Street and 12th Street had a great selection of small ethnic restaurants especially an incredible amount of Sushi outlets. Businesses along this stretch that were busy included FatBurger, Yaas Bazaar and London Drugs.

A special thank you has to go out to Beans on Lonsdale at 18th and for having a small TV where a person could watch the Canucks win 3 to 1 over the Dallas Stars, have an Americano and dry out.

Merry Christmas From Victoria

Hello and Merry Christmas from Victoria. Today was a beautiful with the sun shining mainly all day with a high temperature of around 6 degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit).

Lots of people were found out walking along the seawall next to Dallas Road towards Ogden Point and in the Inner Harbour next to the Fairmont Empress especially along Wharf Street.

Because of the holiday very little businesses were operating with the only coffee shop found open being the Serious Coffee in Cook Street Village. The place was very busy with a lot of people looking to enjoy a sit down and the holiday spirit with one another.

The weather tomorrow on Boxing Day is expected to be about the same as today. Most businesses especially the service industry will be back to normal with a number of Boxing Day specials going on.