All I Ever Wanted (Summer 2010): Part 6 (Salt Spring Island)

• I was once again awoken by deer, but this worked out well. I got out of bed and ran the same route we had the day before, which enabled me to go at a little quicker pace - remember, I was still getting ready for CO Cup, having not done any real exercise in quite some time - and it allowed me to come back and relax into a silly long bath. Beck woke up and went for a run herself; I packed while she cleaned up, and we both headed downstairs for another five star breakfast of Grand Marnier drizzled French toast with sausage and fruit. I neglected to snap a pic, but trust that it was both beautiful and good.
• We had covered the bulk of the southern tip of the island (save the vineyards, which we would take care of later) on Wednesday, so we started Thursday by heading northward and seeking out some galleries.
• First one we hit was Twin-Key Castings, a gallery with starfish castings and, um, lawn ornaments. The former were meh (the live ones we saw the day before were far more brilliant), the latter, well, more interesting than you might have expected:

• After a quick conversation with a very enthusiastic man about a poisonous plant, we cut across to the center of the island to visit probably Beck's favorite gallery of the lot, Julie MacKinnon's Ceramics studio that is run out of her home. Beautiful, elegant pottery, some in quasi-traditional Asian and some in modern suburban design. Nice lady taboot. We bought a sugar-pot that is now adorning our shelves at home; great stuff, and highly recommended if you find yourself in the need for pottery:

• Julie recommended the Blue Horse Gallery, a hilltop establishment on the north side of the island that also features a B&B. We trekked up there and relaxed in yet another idyllic island setting - I'm telling you, SSI is ridiculous!

• Hit up another glass / ceramics shop on the way to lunch:

• And then made our way to the recommended Seaside Restaurant on the west side of the island for grilled halibut and chips, diet cokes, and, yes, mussels (and note - a relatively normal CW for the only time of the trip!):

• Our hosts at the B&B recommended and hooked us up with a 10% discount at Salt Spring Vineyards, so after lunch we headed down that way for a tasting and a look around the grounds. We ended up getting bottles of their pinot gris, a light cripsy new favorite, and their blackberry port which was excellent.

• Went back to Ganges for a delicious mocha coffee at Salt Spring Coffee Co. and looked around the town for a dinner venue. Eventually wound our way back to the B&B where our hosts recommended Raven Street Cafe, a place off the water on the northeast side of the island that we had more or less passed earlier in the day. Headed out there and by our luck drew yet another WCW, this one more just completely inexperienced and unknowledgeable about the restaurant (I'm guessing the island population of 10K puts certain caps on the talent pool). But the food was FANTASTIC - we both got a cheesy artichoke dip, Beck got a fish bowl, seafood bisque sort of thing, and I got a jambalaya pizza that topped the day. Great end to the week, and yt another spot we can recommend sans hesitation. Beck and I took a walk down the dock after dinner and self-snapped a pic:

• That pretty much wrapped it up - we went back to the B&B for oatmeal cookies and pinot gris, got our stuff ready for the early AM wakeup, and chatted with our hosts about their move to Canada. Great time, and again, they came through with breakfast sandwiches, which means: 5.5 stars. You know the rest - a trip to Seattle to Denver to Boulder back to Denver and finally back to Phoenix, refreshed and ready to... no, not really. But it was an excellent trip.