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| British Columbia Parliament Buildings |
For several years, I had thrown around the idea of going to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. I had visited twice before, once when I was five with my family and the second time when I was eleven during a 6th grade field trip. I had lots of great memories from the second trip, and distinctly remembered having fallen in love with the city, its beautiful architecture, and its serene setting next to the harbor. As Victoria was only about a three and a half hour trip from Seattle (one hour drive to Anacortes, a two hour ferry ride from Anacortes to Sidney, and finally a 30 minute drive from Sidney into Victoria) I thought it would be a great weekend destination. As I had an extra day off due to the Fourth of July holiday, I decided to go the first weekend of July to take advantage of the extra day off. Everyone thought I was quite strange for wanting to go up to Canada over an American holiday, but I figured there would be less crowds, and honestly, it didn't bother me in the least bit to be away for the Fourth.
Day 1 (Friday, July 3rd, 2009)
After waking up at the exhaustive hour of 5:00, I finally hit the road around 5:30. I eventually made it up to the ferry terminal in Anacortes around 7:00, which should have been plenty enough time (or so I thought) for my reserved ferry departure time of 8:15. Unfortunately, when I arrived, I was greeted with a several-mile long line that was moving at a snail’s pace. After spending nearly 30 minutes in line and barely moving a mile, I decided to phone
Washington State Ferries. Although I had already paid for a reserved spot on the ferry, I was concerned that I wasn't even going to make it to the point in the line where the reserved cars were waiting to board the ferry. The employee on the phone that I spoke to indicated that it was not a problem and not to worry; I would definitely make it on as there was several officials from Washington State Ferries that were making their way up the line of cars to pull out those that had reservations. With several miles of cars in line however, I didn’t quite see how that feat would be possible, but I held my breath.
I eventually approached the booth (at nearly 8:00) where a Washington State Ferry official motioned me to move my car (and a few others who had reservations) off into a separate line. Thankfully, I could finally breath a sign of relief as I knew I would make it! I was so nervous, but what had made the entire situation so incredibly nerve-wracking was the fact that the only other ferry departure that day to Sidney, British Columbia was much later that afternoon. Had I been unable to make it onto the 8:15 departure, I would have had to wait six to seven-plus hours; not my idea of fun nor a good use of my limited time!
Once on the ferry, I fell asleep in the car as I was quite exhausted from having received so little sleep the night before and knew that I had a long two hour ferry journey ahead of me. I eventually woke up and spent a few minutes on the upper decks taking photos of the gorgeous passing scenery of the San Juan Islands.
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| San Juan Islands |
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| San Juan Islands |
Upon arrival in Sidney, I was one of the last cars off since I was parked up on the second level. I was hoping that the customs procedure would go quickly, but as I pulled our car up behind dozens and dozens of others, I realized that that was not going to be the case. After spending nearly 30 minutes in line, I finally made my way to the front, where I was asked five million ridiculous questions; I actually laughed at a few, which was probably not the best idea, but some were so strange and absurd that I couldn’t help myself. I’ve traveled overseas several times, and had never been asked the extent of questions I was asked in Sidney!
Since I had spent so much time waiting in the customs line, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to make it on time for my 11:45 reservation at the
White Heather Tea House. I called the restaurant and informed them that I would probably be arriving about 15 minutes late, which they seemed to appreciate being informed of. I absolutely hate arriving late to reservations, especially at small restaurants, because I know that it can completely screw up their system, but I didn’t want to miss out on the popular and well recommended “high tea” experience. The White Heather Tea House is located outside of the normal tourist range of downtown Victoria in the Oak Bay neighborhood. Surprisingly enough, the small restaurant is located within a strip-mall. However, all of the reviews on the White Heather Team House explained not to allow its strange location detour guests from visiting as its lack of old-time atmosphere was more than made up by its quality of food and the friendly staff.
While planning my trip to Victoria, I decided that I wanted to experience some sort of “high tea” during my stay. There were a ton of options within the city, and although many tourists tend to chose the most well-known places (example: the Fairmont Empress Hotel) I wanted to go with a restaurant that had the best reviews for food, as that is always most important to me. In addition, I wanted to find a place that wouldn’t break the bank (ahem, the Empress) so after conferring with Trip Advisor, the White Heather Tea House seemed to be the place to go!
The interior of the small but cozy restaurant was decorated in a very feminine fashion that seemed to create the perfect environment for a high tea experience. After looking through the menu, I decided to go with the “Not So Wee Tea” for $17.95 CAD per person. The selection obviously came with tea, but since I don’t like it, I opted to stick with water. When the food came out about ten minutes later, I was blown away by the massive quantity. My tray included a selection of the following: a variety of tea sandwiches, freshly baked scones with fruit preserves and Devon cream, mini cheese scones with a chicken salad filling, mini quiches, shortbread, cake, and lemon tarts. It was a TON of food, and all of it was incredibly delicious. My personal favorite was the scones, which were warm, tender, and incredibly soft and served with a raspberry fruit preserve, lemon butter cream, and the yummy Devon cream. I also liked the mini cheese scones with a chicken salad filling and the lemon tarts. The excellent food, combined with the jovial atmosphere of the restaurant, made the "high tea" a very fun and enjoyable experience that I would repeat in a heartbeat! I left feeling very full, and even had leftovers to boot!
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| White Heather Tea House |
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| Accompaniments for the scones at the White Heather Tea House. |
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| My delicious trays of goodies from the White Heather Tea House. |
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| White Heather Tea House |
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| Mini quiche from the White Heather Tea House. |
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| Amazing scones from the White Heather Tea House. |
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| White Heather Tea House |
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| Mini cheese scone with chicken salad filling at the White Heather Tea House. |
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| White Heather Tea House |
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| Delicious treat from the White Heather Tea House. |
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