Family Holiday in Sooke

Andrew and his sisters, Penny and Clare, and I headed out to Sooke for a mini family vacation this past weekend. Andrew and Penny have milestone birthdays this year so it was a good excuse to get away from our usual routine for a couple days. 

Our accommodation for the weekend was the Seascape Inn, a beautiful oceanside house that we booked through Air BnB. In addition to the main house, there are three other cottages on the property. 

The main house is the one at the top of the photo. The "Beach House" is the lower one. Andrew and I figure that would be a great place for us to stay if we come back here on our own. The views out to the water and from the private dock were fabulous. This is where we saw a family of bald eagles. (See my "Birds of Sooke blog post.) 

After getting settled in, we went for a short hike at the Ayum Creek Regional Park Reserve before supper at the Stickleback Oceanfront Cider and Taphouse. 

Cider flight from Sea Cider - Bramble Bubbly, Cherry Lane, Wolf in the Woods, and Sassamanash.

On Saturday, we went to Ed Macgregor Park which is right in Sooke. At street level, three big stone pillars (the only thing left from the Belvedere Hotel that burned to the ground in 1924) mark the entrance to the park. There's a big amphitheatre and is beautifully landscaped with flowers, trees and benches. A trail and boardwalk of switchbacks leads through the trees, down to the water and another very long boardwalk. It was fun watching the birds soar along right beside where we were walking. (See photos in above-mentioned blog post with the eagles.) 

Penny and I enjoying the sun and scenery - photo by Andrew

We had lunch at Shirley Delicious and then did another short hike at Muir Creek Beach before heading back to Sooke for coffee at Cafe Vosino. We had a delicious supper with a great view at the West Coast Grill. 

Humorous mural at Cafe Vosino.

On Sunday, we went for a walk at Whiffin Spit before having brunch at the Sooke Harbour House, a beautiful old hotel and restaurant with a sad but interesting history which is documented in this very long award-winning journalistic article about "The Man Who Stole a Hotel." 

Unique statues under the grand piano in the lobby of the restaurant at Sooke Harbour House

Birthday celebrations called for Sunday morning mimosas!

Our last stop of the weekend was another short hike at Aylard Farm / Creyke Point in East Sooke Park on the drive back to Victoria. A fun and relaxing weekend! 

Birds of Sooke

Saturday morning, Andrew and I went out onto the dock of the Air BNB we were staying at when Andrew spotted a bald eagle. Can you see it in this first photo? 

For quite a while, where was just one adult with the distinctive white head. As another adult and a juvenile appeared, we got lots of photo opportunities. As I looked these over afterwards, I couldn't help but imagine this scenario. 

One majestic adult eagle -- white head held high, clearly the responsible one. Let's call her Mom. 

Then the juvenile shows up, all wings and attitude. 

Followed closely by another adult -- clearly Dad, with that "What? We're just having fun!" vibe. 

But Mom's laying down the law. "How many times do I have to tell you -- NO dive bombing!" 

Juvenile: "But Dad said it was fine ...." 

Dad: "It looked safe from my angle ..."

Mom: "Don't 'looked safe' to me! You're supposed to model good behaviour!" 

Dad (mumbling): "Okay, okay, I'll be more responsible next time ..."

And then, silence.  

LOL! What does your imagination come up with? 

Later that morning, we went to Ed Macgregor Park which has a switchback trail down to the water and a beautiful long boardwalk where sea birds swoop back and forth. 

On Sunday, we saw these musical little guys at Whiffin Spit ... 

And when we stopped at Creyke Point on the drive back to Victoria. 

Belize 2024 - Museum of Belize

We don't visit many museums on our travels but we had a 1/2 day left in Belize City before catching our flight back to Canada. The Museum of Belize gets very good reviews and was short walking distance from our hotel. 

The building that houses the museum was built as a prison between 1854-1857 and housed prisoners until 1993. It was restored and renovated in 2002. They have retained much of the original building and you can see where the cells used to be by the bars above each of the openings. 

This is the one cell that has remained as is. You can get an idea of the width from the door at the back of the cell. At peak capacity, each cell would house up to three prisoners. 

In addition to the prison history, exhibits include Maya artifacts and history, insect and bird displays, and an art exhibit. Also on display was a Belize flag "recovered from the rubble of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and stands as a reminder of that tragic morning. It is one of the few that were discovered after the tragedy. The flag was salvaged by the New York City Fire Department who then gave it to the Embassy of Belize in New York. It was later donated to the Museum of Belize."

By far the most depressing part of the museum was the slavery exhibit. Some of the stories depicted are truly awful and it's hard to grasp human beings treating others so badly. Really, I don't have the words for it. It's mind boggling to think this went on for more than 400 years.