Aerial Photo Courtesy of Black Rock Resort
This past year, my husband and I have been through a whirlwind adventure of life. It’s no surprise, then, that we didn’t get to do much travelling together like we usually do. Between job changes, major knee surgery, an unexpected move and a handful of other plot twists, there wasn’t much time (or money) left over for jet setting around the world.
So as our 10 year dating anniversary was approaching, my husband (@mrfishermanjess) took to the staycation route and planned the most beautiful surprise weekend getaway for us at the Black Rock Resort in Ucluelet. For those of you that personally know Jess, you may know that he really doesn’t do much planning (or really, any at all), so the Black Rock Resort really helped him hit it out of the park.
We left the house early Friday morning, around 6:30am. I am not a morning gal by any means, so while I was sleepy eyed and groggy at that hour, I can tell you it was certainly worth it. We took the Horseshoe Bay to Duke Point crossing, and I spent just over an hour relaxing, reading my book (I Hope I Screw This Up by Kyle Cease) and playing my newest iPhone game addiction (wood puzzle – you should totally try it #sorrynotsorry).
Since Jess is a commercial fisherman, it was neat to see many of the port towns (Nanaimo, Port Alberni and Ucluelet) that he is used to passing or docking in as part of his job. By the time we reached Port Alberni, though, I had a pretty good idea of where we were heading. Up until then, our final destination had been a surprise for me!
Front Entry Image Courtesy of Black Rock Resort
We arrived at the hotel in the early afternoon, and I immediately fell in love with everything about this place. It’s tucked away just outside of downtown, and you really get a feel of how beautiful the coastline is as soon as you walk through the front door. The main lobby opens up to floor to ceiling windows overlooking the wild and rugged pacific coast that made me miss my Nova Scotia home something hard (and Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way too).
We stayed in the ocean view 1 bedroom suite room, and were treated to wrap around views from our dining room table, living room seating area, bedroom, bed and bathtub. Yes, even our bathtub had ocean + storm watching views. It was heaven and we never wanted to leave. Unfortunately (but still kind of fortunately), I was booked in for a surprise treatment at Drift Spa, so I had to trade in the mesmorizing storm view for a seaweed scrub, wrap and massage for a couple of hours. I know, what a shame. Haha
We spent the rest of our stay walking the shore, admiring the view and just overall relaxing. We didn’t leave the resort very often, since they truly had everything we needed right there. When I got back to our room after my spa treatment, Jess had ordered a selection of appetizers from the on-site restaurant, Fetch and had them all set out on the table with a glass of wine for each of us. Melt my heart already, won’t you.
We did also get the opportunity to dine in at Fetch during our stay as well, and while we dined after the sun went down, I know we would have had a killer view from our table if we had gotten there earlier! Seriously guys, the food was amazing. They feature a fresh menu with great ingredients local to BC, as well as Oceanwise seafood options. I opted for the green thai curry mussel and clam appetizer to start, and followed it with a classic Caesar salad topped with steak. Jess had the steak and prawns, and we were both blown away by the sheer size of the prawns. I wish I had taken my camera to dinner so we could have gotten a picture before digging in!
We also had the chance to hit up happy hour for drinks at Float Lounge (naturally, happy hour is #life). They even whipped me up a Hot Toddy while we were at the Float Lounge because my sore throat was getting worse but I was really enjoying our time sitting there by the fire. I was so thankful for the suggestion, and it was yummy. Since it was still shoulder season, the resort wasn’t overly busy, which is so great because we got the opportunity to chat with the servers and bartenders about the recent storms, and interesting stories from the area. Many people head up to the Ucluelet and Tofino areas during December + January just for the storm watching alone. In fact, the resort provides rain gear such as rain pants, rain coats and umbrella’s for anyone who would like to borrow them. Cool, hey?
When it was time to go, neither of us wanted to. We both have this connection to the ocean, and being this close to it just makes everything else seem so small and so far away. And peaceful. As we packed everything up and started the trek away from the coast and towards Victoria (our next stop), we chatted about how amazing it would be to live that close to the ocean, and in a beautiful and quiet place like Ucluelet or Tofino and wake up to the sound of waves crashing just outside our door. One can dream, right?
Have you ever been to the Pacific Rim area and watched the waves crash against the rocks? If you haven’t is it something you’d like to do?
Black Rock Resort’s Links
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This post is not a sponsored post, and everything we experienced during our stay was paid in full by us. We just loved it so much that we needed to share it with y’all.