B and I have learned to stop planning too much and going with the flow so while there is some mild disappointment when we don’t achieve our dining dreams, we’re ok with it, too. 
It’s been a long time between dispatches…here goes. I write this from Ucluelet (Ukee), a favorite place of ours. This is our 3rd time staying here.
Thursday 20 July
We checked out of our place in Vancouver and headed to Canada Place for our seaplane to Nanaimo, where we grabbed a quick lunch at the Lighthouse Pub right at the terminal (we should have gone to an old favorite, Gabriel’s, but we might do that on the way back). It was fine - BIG bowl of chowder for me, a salmon sandwich for B. What the heck did SO eat? I can’t recall. Something, I guess. 
LOONG drive to Tofino. Highway 4 is undergoing a lot of work so there are timed closures (which we were warned about by our Airbnb host) but even still, we sat for 1.5 hours. Luckily, we had Uno so we happily played while waiting. We checked in wicked late and cobbled something together for dinner. This was our first time staying in Tofino (we usually stay in Ukee). It was fun being at a place where we could walk into town.
Friday 21 July
The weather was glorious and B wants to go to an old favorite, Long Beach Resort’s casual seaside Sand Bar, which is open to the public. I got the tofu quinoa bowl topped with hummus (tasty, light, and lemony), fish cake banh mi for B (he swooned over it), big surprise…the burger for SO. SO did not approve of the fries, which are the hand-cut, slightly cooked over style that he turns his nose up to. Superflux beer which summed up our feelings.
Random dinner at home.
Saturday 22 July
Another sunny day, another late lunch at the Sand Bar. Several rounds of Uno Flip. Tuna tostadas for me (just ok, salty, felt very 90’s), yet another burger for SO, pulled pork sandwich for B. Thank goodness we’re relatively fit and trim - but still, we need to maintain our bikini bods and all the fried products are not helping. Weird photos because we were under a red umbrella.
Something for dinner at home.
Sunday 23 July
An unanticipated busy day of eating. We had lunch at Tofino Brewing from the permanently-parked food truck, Toki Doki. B had the seafood okonomiyaki (I’m not a fan, so I didn’t try it but he was happy with it) and folks, I had the pork katsu rice bowl (some Onions know that I don’t usually eat meat so I was going out on a limb; the last time I had pork was in the Canary Islands in April). It was delicious - crispy, not at-all greasy, perfectly-cooked white rice. SO didn’t want anything from there so we got him a smash burger from nearby Soul. Really nice beers, particularly the Spruce, which is made with Sitka Spruce tips.
We ambled a bit and decided to check out Shelter, fully expecting we would put our names in and wait for an hour or so. Well, we were told there was a table available right then. We internally groaned a little because we were still full from our late large lunch + beers but we decided to take the table, uncertain of the wait if we passed. Plus, we were checking out of Tofino into our final place in Ucluelet on Monday and we didn’t want to drive all the way back-and-forth (nearly 40 minutes each way). We were initially confused because the original Shelter was gone and opened in a new waterside location. Then we heard from the bartender that it had burned down in December 2022 and re-built in the new spot. Weirdly, our server shushed our bartender away while she was telling us about the fire, almost as if the server was afraid the bartender was going to go off-script. It was really awkward - we searched for news about the cause of the fire and couldn’t find any. Anyway, we started with brussels, which were fine, but way too oily, as if the pan or whatever they cooked them in wasn’t hot enough. I went with a bowl of chowder, which was good but not mind-blowing. The accompanying grilled bread was way too oily, just like the brussels (you can see the oil in the photo). B had the Tofino surf bowl with salmon, and SO had the kids salmon meal. Both guys loved their meals. None of us could finish our meals, so home they went with us.
Monday 24 July
Checked out of Tofino and into Ucluelet, which is a town near-and-dear to us. Much more our speed (not that Tofino is fast-speed, but a little more commercially-developed than we like). After some activity, we headed pronto to a new-to-us place, Ucluelet Brewing. We had gotten SO a hot dog + mac and cheese from Ukee Dogs. We had a fun bar snack of “nuts and bolts” (their take on Chex mix), some kind of grilled chicken sandwich for B, falafel wrap for me (good, but too sweet from an abundance of beets, which are one of my least favorite veggies to eat; dousing in hot sauce helped; couldn’t finish - took half home).
Dinner was something at home…tacos for B, some ramen for me with chickpeas, ramen and dumplings for SO. But I zhooshed up my meal with a delicious mushroom crumble that I bought in Tofino and hot sauce we bought in North Vancouver. I will be on a mission to find this at home in Boston.
Tuesday 25 July
Lunch at Jiggers, a place we first ate at in 2014, when it was still a food truck operation. Still some of the best fish and chips we’ve had (although B needed salt while I appreciate that the food is not oversalted). Huge double burger for SO. For us, fish and chips once on a trip is enough - whew! Lots of leftovers.
Dinner at home of leftovers.
Wednesday 26 July
Lunch at Ukee Dogs. Veggie chili for me (I liked it, but a tad too tomato-y than I like). Brisket burrito for B (he kinda grunted his approval, but I have a feeling it wasn’t great), plain dog for SO. Spruce from Tofino Brewing, which made us both happy. Plus, good eagle-watching.
Dinner of Jiggers leftovers at home, B wrapped his in tortillas.
Thursday 27 July
Picnic of cheese, crackers, croissants, wine, and beer at Florencia Bay beach. We decided to make a proper dinner at home so stopped at Fishfull Thinking seafood market. B got a big chunk of coho salmon to grill for him and SO, and I got some beautiful manila clams for a pasta dish. I love this little shop but I don’t love that everything is wrapped or vacuum-packed in plastic, which the lovely shopkeeper acknowledged when we declined a plastic bag to tote our goodies. Anyway, the clams made an incredible sauce - boatload of butter/garlic/lemon + hot sauce + white wine + jarred artichoke bruschetta + sprinkling cilantro/mint (I’ve been carting the latter 3 ingredients around since Vancouver so glad to finally use them up). B added salmon to his bowl. Good fridge cleanout meal. SO enjoyed the salmon with some mac and cheese (first time I’ve ever bought the blue box!).
Friday 28 July
Today. I’ve finally caught up! We’ve been having such a great time and I’m working when we’re not so it’s been tough finding time to report in real-time. Thank gawd for photos to jog one’s memory. We’re lazing at the house but it’s our last full day so we will do what we can to make the most of it, experience- and food-wise.
I stopped taking photos of his meals.
so it was particularly pleasant, hanging out by the ocean, emptying my mind. We had yet another late lunch at yet another pub chain, 
burger for SO.
I don’t recall memorable food there, but the scenery makes up for it.
