Day 265 – It rained some today and was cool and cloudy with fog. Not a day for the Botanical Gardens. We hung out at the RV until after lunch when we went to Tofino to dump the tanks. The campground had no hook-ups and no dump station. Our next campground is the same, so we found a place that had a dump station before we left and found a different place to fill the fresh water tank to 100% full.
It’s always confusing for the girls when we pack up and drive somewhere that’s not a long drive, then return to the same campground we were at before. They wonder if we’d lost our marbles.
It wasn’t as busy in town and the campground was rapidly emptying. The weekend holiday party was over; time to go home.
We returned to Schooner Restaurant for dinner. It was as good, if not better, than the last time we were here. Incredible, at least they are consistent. They were busy with the restaurant full by 5:30 p.m. All around us people were raving about the food – at a table near us with a couple and two kids, in the middle of his meal, the man threw up his hands in amazement and said, “We came here looking for a meal and we got a 5-star feast.” I couldn’t agree more.
Mark and Carol – ENJOY! We almost repeated the exact same meal as our anniversary meal. On Friday, we had drinks: Rob had two beers from the local Tofino Brewery, one a Stout and one a Pale Ale. I had the “Not So Old Fashioned”. Then we split the Spicy Prawns appetizer – 5 very large Prawns sauteed in a spicy sauce with chopped garlic, tomato, shallots, hot red pepper, lime, butter, and white wine, served with sourdough bread for dipping. For dinner Rob had the “Blackened Fresh locally-caught Cod is patted down with the subtle heat of the south and blackened in a smoking hot cast iron fry pan, topped with a fresh fruit salsa and honeyed yogurt to help beat the heat, served with spiced russet potatoes and a vegetable mix of pureed squash topped with shaved beets and asparagus spears.” I had the Halibut Bawden Bay: “Our signature dish for over 35 years. Hand-picked crab, baby shrimp, creamy brie cheese and scallions are tucked inside fresh locally-caught Halibut, oven-baked and finished with an apple brandy green peppercorn cream sauce, served with herb-scented basmati rice and a vegetable mix of pureed squash topped with shaved beets and asparagus spears.” These two dishes were unbelievably good. For dessert, we split a slice of warmed Chocolate Pecan Pie topped with a splash of Whiskey and served with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream. Awesome.
Okay, so that was Friday. Tonight was exactly the same order except we split 3 margaritas (1 ½ each) and Rob replaced his Blackened Cod with the following: Catface Seafood Pasta, “Everything was locally-caught here in Clayoquot Sound. A full ounce of hand-picked crab, local side-stripe shrimp, halibut, and seared scallops are lightly tossed in a gentle white wine cream sauce and finished with hand shaved parmesan cheese and a French baguette.” What made all of this even better was that we shared our meals, so we each got some of everything. And unlike many gourmet places, these portion sizes were just right and not just a couple of bites. It was worth the trip to Tofino just for this. And a Bear Watching Trip.
On the way back to the car, we got a picture of this great building, a First Nation’s Art Gallery.
For more detailed information about Long Beach Golf Course and Campground, click here.