Here are some highlights and thoughts from our fifth day on the road. We drove from Victoria to Sooke.
Pristine timberland is less than an hour outside Victoria
After enjoying several days of urban delights in Vancouver and Victoria, we rented a car in downtown Victoria and adventured into the Canadian wilderness, driving 45 minutes to Sooke. For about 15 minutes we passed through urban fringe and soon we were driving through a forest of teetering greens pines. One thing I've noticed in Canada is that you can quickly access the wilderness from the city; the suburbs don't sprawl for miles upon miles.
Sooke is known as the gateway to the world of outdoor recreation on Vancouver Island. If you want to hike through the rain forest, fly through the trees on a zip line or spend a day on a deserted beach, this is the closest town from Victoria.
Our time in Sooke was short, one afternoon and one night, so our first stop was the Visitor Center (pictured below) just outside town. I didn't want to waste time in figuring out what to do. I asked: Where should we eat lunch? And I told the smiling 20-something that we wanted to go on one hike. She directed us to Mom's, an old-school diner, for hamburgers, and the China Beach Trail, 45 minutes south of town, for a hike (pictured above).
Mom's dishes up meals that you expect to eat in your own mom's kitchen
I'm certain we were the only non-locals in Mom's Cafe. This is a locals' spot and everyone turned to look at us when we walked in. Thankfully, they smiled, especially when Baby Julia started flapping her arms and squealing.
The decor is homely and probably hasn't changed at all in the past 20 years—and I imagine the locals like it that way. While the town around them expands and becomes more built up, they can count on Mom's staying the same. The restaurant is filled with comfy faded blue booths; black and white check flooring gives the place an old-fashioned diner feel.
The menu was more innovative than I expected and my kids decided on Caesar salad wraps with grilled chicken. I was thrilled that they had fresh fruit salad on the menu for baby Julia and I ordered salmon salad. Everything was delicious and my fish was fresh and cooked perfectly.
The Best Western Prestige Premier Oceanfront Resort provides luxury in the woods
When my kids and I walked into this luxurious resort in Sooke, all we could say was, "Wow." The hotel surprises you with its grandiosity. The lobby is grand and spacious, like what you'd expect to find at a resort in Waikiki or in a cosmopolitan city such as New York or London. And it extends onto a balcony that hangs over a stretch of bright green grass that spills into the Juan de Fuca Strait.
The decor is tasteful and stylish couches are piled high with colorful pillows. Elegant chandeliers hang from the ceilings and the walls are filled with the type of art you'd expect to purchase in galleries in Vancouver's Yaletown.
The rooms are well-appointed and clean. My kids were excited to find a television in the bathroom. The beds are comfortable and topped with fluffy comforters.
We had a balcony off our room overlooking the water.
The Oceanfront is a full-service resort with a restaurant, cafe, sushi bar, spa and an indoor swimming pool and hot tub. The pool is housed in a pretty window-filled room with water views. Outside you can relax in lounge chairs.
The China Beach hike is easy and rewarding
I walked along the China Beach trailhead with baby Julia in a front pack and she looked up the entire time. The trail meanders through a forest of towering trees and when we were walking in the evening, a gentle breeze was blowing and the trees swayed back and forth as if dancing. Julia was mesmerized.
You can easily walk down to the beach in 30 minutes and it passes through forest that's considered the first section of rainforest outside Victoria. Ferns carpet the ground and the foliage is lush and bright green.
The trail takes you down to a sandy beach piled high with drift wood and covered in shell pieces. I imagine if you arrived early in the morning you could probably find some complete shells. From the beach, you look out over the Juan de Fuca Strait over to the United States. The Olympic Mountains are tantalizingly close.
Shirley Delicious looks delicious—but it was closed
On Trip Advisor, this bakery, cafe and deli is ranked the number one spot to eat in the Sooke area. You pass it between Sooke and China Beach and we'd hoped to go for dinner but it was closed. In hindsight, we could have picked up sandwiches on our way to the beach and enjoyed a sunset picnic.
Stone Pipe Grill dishes up curry that will knock your socks off
We headed into town for dinner and I was drawn to the Stone Pipe Grill, which advertises steaks, seafood, hamburgers and curries in its window. Curries?! I was cold from our hike as the fog had rolled in and curry sounded like a meal that would warm my bones.
The Thai green curry with mussels, clams and shrimp was perfectly spiced.
My kids were thrilled with their BLTs served with Caesar salad.
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