Vancouver Island
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Giveaway: Savvy Squirrel offers savings
One of my favorite ways to find cool, indie restaurants and stores with sustainable values is to pick up eco-coupon books. Every major city in Cascadia offers such a book – Portland’s Chinook Book, Seattle’s Chinook Book and Vancouver’s Green Zebra. But the one with the cutest name? Victoria, BC’s Savvy Squirrel. Each of these books offer great savings to local attractions, shops, restaurants services and restaurants. It’ll pay for itself in one weekend trip. Savvy Squirrel’s book is primarily focused on family-friendly shops and restaurants in Victoria. “We love a local bargain,†says Lale Minielly, who started the Savvy Squirrel with fellow mom Tabitha Rutherford. “As new moms we…
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Victoria Vittles: Family-friendly Victoria Restaurants
If you haven’t eaten in Victoria since your own childhood, you’re in for a treat. Skip the fake fish ‘n’ chips shops and touristy stops. Victoria’s thriving foodie scene means you’ll find plenty of locally grown, internationally influenced options at all price ranges. Victoria BC family-friendly restaurants: Rebar. Take a seat at an oilcloth-covered table and ask for a dinosaur along with the kids’ menu. Rebar loans out the plastic toys to fidgety kids. But it never takes too long for your stacked sandwiches and Asian-fusion fare to arrive. Rebar’s healthy without being ur-crunchy — carob’s on the menu, but so is a veg quesadilla, dripping with creme fraiche. Sally…
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9 Great Things to Do with Kids in Victoria, BC
My family and I visit Victoria twice a year for long trips – and these are the places we don’t get tired of, and the spots the kids ask to return to, again and again. Victoria Bug Zoo. It’s not necessarily the bugs that are the draw here – there are plenty of places to see a cockroach or an African millipede. But the tour guides make this attraction one of our favorites in Cascadia. The guides dispense education with entertainment and genuinely kid-friendly attitudes. Whether describing how a bug eats her mate or using a millipede as a moustache, the enthusiastic employees always provide weird facts and fun. Butchart…
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Tofino with Kids … er, a Baby
Vancouver-based mom Elaina Spring Eden, husband and adorable 9-month-old daughter Ava just traipsed off to Tofino, BC for almost a week. Tofino — located off the west shore of Vancouver Island — is well-known for opportunities to hike, whale-watch and unwind from the world. But that last part (unwinding) isn’t always so easy for new parents, as we all remember. “My husband I both realized that our days of laying in bed in terrycloth robes and staring out at the ocean for hours on end are on hiatus for a while,†Eden says. “The idea of rest and relaxation has taken on a whole new meaning in our lives at…
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Four Family-Friendly Markets in the NW & BC
We have markets by the bushelful here in Casadia and traveling families are always welcome. Bring the kids, $30 and a sense of adventure to these farmers’ markets. It’s a cheap vacation solution and a memorable excursion, all rolled into one afternoon. Here are my favorite four markets — indoor and outdoor, large and small. Don’t miss them when you’re visiting! Portland Farmers Market, Portland. This weekend, the Saturday Portland Farmers Market reopens for the growing (and grazing) season. The outdoor, downtown market features dozens of local-vendor booths, great food trucks (I like Pine State Biscuits) and musical performers. Chefs put on cooking demos, and children’s cooking classes take center…
