Stars and Sea Stars – A West Coast Experience Part Four: Wonderful Outer Shores Lodge Wrap Up

On By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Retirement, Bamfield, Goals & Dreams, Good Times, Roadtripping, The Great Outdoors

The previous posts can be found here: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.

Dear Reader, if you feel that is has taken an inordinate amount of time to to get all of my thoughts down regarding my visit to Outer Shores Lodge, I’m with you! I have been sifting through hundreds of photos and so many incredible memories and struggling to figure out how to transfer them to Ye Olde Blogge such that a reader who has never been to this extraordinary place will feel the magic and, well…I am not that talented, I fear. And that has kept me pondering instead of writing. However, it is past time to put this one to bed so here is the final post about my 2024 stay at Outer Shores Lodge, imperfect though it will invariably be. So here are the last few things I want to write about.

The Meals

Five star dining at every turn! Chef Jeanne Rankin, ably assisted by fellow staffers Sara and Abi stunned me at each meal – first with the beautifully set table, and then with the unbelievably delicious food and free-flowing wine. This is not what I had previously experienced from other lodges I have been to. Yes, I was expecting good, tasty food but not of this calibre! Out. Of. This. World.

At every meal we were treated to a beautifully set table.
The evening’s menu was up on the screen in late afternoon, to get the taste buds salivating. At each meal, I thought nothing could possibly top that night’s menu, and at each subsequent meal I was delightfully proved wrong.
I want to be able to add this trifle to my repertoire, and Chef Jeanne generously shared how she created it with me. I still have some rhubarb in the freezer too! I didn’t want to take pictures of every dish (for varying reasons) but I did take a shot of this dessert to send back to my daughter.
Another example of a nightly dinner. On the admitting paperwork, guests were asked if they were going to the lodge for any special reason, and this particular meal was to celebrate those reasons.
Celebration cake for my 65th and for a lovely couple of guests’ wedding anniversary! Photo kindly taken by Sara Ellison. The dining was always 5 star and we made sure to dress in our best flannel and fleece shirts for dinner 😉. The cake was astounding btw, and I don’t even like chocolate cake normally.

Our Last Evening and Wrap Up

The sun came out on our last afternoon and everyone naturally migrated to the front deck to bask there after the day’s activities.

Sara Ellison took this photo of us enjoying cocktail and appie hour on the deck on our last afternoon. She and Jon were staying in a cabin on the upper part of the property.
Sea urchins were harvested so Scott could prepare uni for us to try, on the last night. It doesn’t get fresher than this, folks!
Scott holding a sea urchin, while already prepped uni is awaiting the lodge guests. Photo by Sara Ellison.
The last evening’s meal. It absolutely blew my mind. I didn’t think anything could top rack of lamb for me, but this meal certainly did.
The wonderful staff of Outer Shores Lodge: our gracious host Scott, with Chef Jeanne, Sara, and Abi.
Watching the sun go down on our last evening at the lodge.
Cheers to an amazing stay, experiencing spectacular nature, and meeting so many vibrant and interesting people! I can’t wait for next year.

Scott, Jeanne, Sara and Abi – I can’t thank you enough for the magic that you do and I can only hope to experience it again next year.

To my fellow guests in this special moment in time – thank you for your open-heartedness, warm support, and all of the exhilarating, stimulating conversations I was privileged to be a part of. Extra special thanks to Sara and Jon, for being so giving of their vast knowledge and experience of the “Stars and Sea Stars”!

Rock on,

The WB

26 thoughts on “Stars and Sea Stars – A West Coast Experience Part Four: Wonderful Outer Shores Lodge Wrap Up”

  6. hilarymb

    Hi Deb – Rock on … certainly sounds the right summing up – congratulations on your special birthday and what a great place to find. I’m jealous!! Cheers – delightful memories for us from you – Hilary

    Reply

    1. Thank you, Suzanne 💕I find long blog posts hard to get through – not sure why as I enjoy really big meaty novels 🤷‍♀️ – but there it is! So I try to keep mine on the shorter side, for that reason.

      Reply
  11. caroldehaven

    What a beautiful experience this must have been! Happy Birthday! I have so enjoyed following along and this was a great wrap up! I will be adding it to my bucket list!

    Reply

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