Mom-Day Adventure: Westsong Walkway in the S-Dress

Happy Thursday! Today, Mom and I had a rainy stroll along the Westsong Walkway, and this is what I wore. 

It's the debut of the S-dress! It felt fittingly spooky, and I'm also doing a snaky theme to go with the S shape. 

• Dress - Marimekko x Uniqlo, thrifted; purchased here for $39.99
• Boots - Groovy Husymans, Fluevog; last seen here in September with That Outrageous Eye dress
• Coat (below) - Jeno de Paris, vintage 70s, thrifted; last worn here in April

I layered a black full vintage slip under this for warmth. 

And did matching purple tights.

Sorry, the indoor colours are all whack - the stair picture is the most accurate. 

This was a lovely dress to wear - hooray! 

What a cool piece. 

I also have green tights for variety. 

Masked up - this mask always looks indigo blue but it's purple. 

I only wore it while we had lunch. 

Outerwear - I had an inspiration. 

I adore this deep emerald green leather trenchcoat. It's vintage and is incredibly good quality (made in Canada), and it's great in the rain.

But the original belt's biggest hole is uncomfortably super-tight - it's always fit that way, even though the rest of the coat is really roomy. 

So I swapped in my grommet belt. 

Oh. My. Gosh.

Why did I not do this years ago? 

So much more comfy! 

The weather is indeed rainy, no bones about it. We are in for rain rain rain pretty much solid for at least a week. I decided to carry my giant new golf umbrella (birthday present from L). I didn't carry a purse, just my regular black leather backpack. 

Accoutrements: 

Ruth, my former coworker from ~2008-2011 gave me this belt. Ruth, if you are still reading, I think of you every time I wear it! You inspired me to start this blog in 2008 and here I am, still going. 

• Belt - gift from Ruth
• Silk scarf - vintage 80s, Lanvin, vintage mall
• Leather gloves - Danier
• Mask - Lazy Susan's

The stuff:

Yes, I wear my Fluevogs in the rain. They're leather, exceptional quality and very comfy.

Snaky bling: 

Mom noticed immediately that the S of my dress was echoed in my Murano glass snake pendant, which she bought me for my birthday when we were in Venice in 2014 (you can read about it here). 

• Necklace - Murano glass, gift from Mom
• Silver earrings - Israel, consignment
• Lucite/crystal bangle - Alexis Bittar, consignment, Sidney
• Silver/gold cuff - JPL, vintage fair
• Silver snake ring - BC Museum Gift Shop, c. 1986
• Silver/onyx spider ring - gift from Mom & Dad, c. 1986

When Mom buzzed to pick me up, Vizzini ran to the door. 

"Let me out, Woman! That nice cat massage lady is here!"

Sorry, buddy, she's not coming up. 

I love Mom's outfit - great fall colours! 

A red faux leather jacket with a soft grey sweater. 

We drove over the Johnson Street Bridge (Mom's first time over the new bridge!) and parked near Spinnakers Pub. 

The last time I was here, it was much nicer weather - we walked along that section near the green grass here in July for the Day of Indolence. 

However, a little rain doesn't deter a couple of born-here Victorians. We headed past Spinnakers, away from town, towards Esquimalt proper. 

Westsong Walkway goes from Songhees Point to West Bay (hence Westsong) - it's an easy paved walkway all along the waterfront, with slight inclines. All links, including this one here, 'cause I love.

Most of the flora is indigenous to the southwest coast of Canada, like these massive arbutus trees. 

We encountered many folks using the walkway, from walkers to runners to a friendly gent in a wheelchair. I even saw one of my coworkers! 

It rained for about half of our walk. 

The big umbrella was awesome and covered both of us. 

"It's just a heavy mist," we both nodded. 

Looking back towards town. That's the new marina, with loads of fancy yachts. 

I like the tunnel-ish feel from these big hedges. 

We just strolled along as the rain came down. 

I can see a bit of town in the distance. 

We spotted some kayakers as we came within view of Coffin Point. 

That's Coffin Point Island on the left. We saw a heron take off from there on our way back.

There was still quite a bit of traffic on the water, although nothing like it would normally be. 

That's a Harbour Air float plane - I've been on tons of them. They usually have a flight every 20 minutes, but we only saw two take off and one land over more than two hours.

Looking south - the far piece of land past Coffin Island is Work Point. 

The kayakers are getting closer to that float plane...

And there it goes. 

The planes don't take off until they are fully out of the Inner Harbour. This section we are looking at is the Middle Harbour, and then...the Outer Harbour. It all makes sense! 

There it goes, off to Vancouver probably. 

It poured for about half an hour - we couldn't even see the USA to the south! 

Then it started to clear up a bit. 

I see a tiny bit of Washington State there in the far distance, that bluish strip on the horizon.

There are all kinds of little bays winding in and out. 

I love the Garry oak hanging over the path. The buildings there are condominiums. 

Mom admiring the view. 

At this point, it was just spitting, so I furled my brolly. 

The tide was low - you can see sand! 

Lots of kelp including big whips of bull kelp (classified as a brown seaweed, link here if you are into that sort of thing). 

I see more of the US there, on the far horizon. 

That little island was actually connected to the walkway land from the low tide, but I didn't want to risk walking on moss and rocks. 

I'll stick with a path. 

I see a crane in Esquimalt - tall buildings are springing up everywhere! 

That dark strip on the left is part of the Breakwater, and the little blip in the centre is a Coast Guard ship. You can click any of these pics to embiggen them. 

You can see definition appearing in the mountains in Washington now. 

We rounded a corner to this picturesque bay. 

This whole area is lined with condos and apartments, with more being built. 

More twisty arbutus trees. 

Their bark is peeling off, totally normal for this time of year. 

A lovely little gazebo on the water! 

I love the colourful leaves on the other side of this bay.  

The whole southern tip of Vancouver Island (which is a very small tip on a big island - here's a map of all of Vancouver Island, to give you an idea of the size of it) is a migratory bird sanctuary.

The red arrow on the left is where we walked. The two other red arrows are places I regularly walk: Clover Point and Ross Bay Cemetery.

I liked this sign. I appreciate knowing how far I've walked.

We started at Catherine St and walked to 8. Maitland Ave, a total of 638 meters, or 1.2 kilometers for the round trip. 

I love the rich salty smell of the seaweed at low tide. 

We headed to the gazebo. 

But first a look back. 

Condos and the Coast Guard base. See the red ship?

Looking south again. 

What a lovely view. 

This tree still has lots of apples. 

They look tasty - I hope someone picks them. 

I used the timer and took a pic of Mom and I in the gazebo. 

Yay! We hung out and chatted for a while, then headed back as we were both getting hungry. 

A zoom in on the Breakwater. 

A Helijet helicopter is just taking off, also probably going to Vancouver - I've taken Helijet once, back here in May 2010 when we flew over to Van for our friend Tony's 40th birthday. They're very loud, but it's only a 35 minute trip (same as float planes) instead of hours and hours by driving and ferry and more driving. 

And a plane coming in. 

The weather is definitely trying to clear up. I can see the steam coming from some sort of factory in Port Angeles. There's a ferry that goes from Victoria to Port Angeles, but I don't think I've ever been on it.

I leaned over the railing and spotted sea anemones in this tide pool. 

They are just to left of that whitish rock, under the water. If you stick your finger in one, they'll close around it. 

Look, it's practically sunny. 

I like that bench out on the point. 

We got closer to Spinnakers Brew Pub - our stomachs were growling! 

The condo on the right is in a "bag of shame" - most of the waterfront condos have to be remediated for dampness every couple of decades. Welcome to the west coast! 

Looking down the bank to the water. 

Well, hello, you lovely gnarled branch. 

Finally, we arrived at Spinnakers Brew Pub (about them here - they were Canada's first in-house brew-pub). 

This is our preferred after-vintage-fair spot to meet up, as well as a usual stop on the Day of Indolence. 

Mom and I had a table in the downstairs restaurant (the pub is upstairs). 

Mom pointed out the textured detail on the upper arms/shoulders of her sweater and admired her circle necklace. Oh, apparently I bought her that. I guess I should know these things... *cheeky grin*

I hoovered down my mushroom flatbread pizza, but caught a bit of Mom's salmon and chips and coleslaw. Mmm, chips in tartar sauce!

Showing Spinnakers' craft malt vinegar (so good!) and we both had their root beer (my fave). 

The obligatory mom-daughter selfie! Mom matches my umbrella.

Love you, Mom! Thank you so much! 

I hope you enjoyed our adventure, my friends, and now, I'm off to have a nap before L gets home - we have Nick and Casey coming over for Scary Movie Night and I don't want to fall asleep!