FRAMPTON IN VICTORIA!

So we had a great time in Victoria! We managed to book a B&B last minute at Scholefield House on Vancouver Street. The house was built in 1892 and has 10 foot ceilings, antique furniture, etc. Try this link http://scholefieldhouse.com to check it out if you want. We stayed in the King Suite which is the large bay window on the upper floor that you can see in this picture. The room has a wood-burning fireplace, a king size bed, lovely antique table and 2 chairs set in the bay of the window where Don & I relaxed with a drink and nibblies when we arrived. The host, at my request had recommended and booked a dinner reservation for us at Cafe Brio on Fort Street; a short, five minute walk from the B&B. The food was outstanding! They have a 3-course chef's menu for $28/person so we went with that: appy we chose was hearts of romaine with a lovely, light lemony dressing; for our entree Don had the steak, which was beautifully seasoned and cooked to perfection, and I had the pasta special which was Rigatoni with mussels and veggies in a beautiful, light sauce; dessert was creme brulee for me (yummy) and Don's was zapaplotsky or something like that which is some kind of custard, over fruit with 2 small biscotti-like sticks. We shared a bottle of Lindeman's Bin 65 Chardonnay (excellent white wine, reasonably priced) and a peppertini. If you like pepper, or anything spicy you've got to try this one! The waitress told us they infuse the vodka right on premise with black peppercorns. It's finished with a spicy green bean (she gave us 2 because we were sharing ;-) Fabulous! We bought a bottle of Vodka and are going to try making our own! It would make a fabulous caesar, too! I can't wait!

After dinner we walked (2 blocks) to the Royal Theatre for the concert. We had fabulous seats - on the aisle, 4 rows from the stage! When we arrived the opening act had already started: Shaun Verreault. He's one of the dudes from Wide Mouth Mason who's venturing out on his own with a one-man acoustic presentation. Don bought an autographed CD - the daggerlip sketches.

THEN the main event! Peter Frampton. Frampton Comes Alive! "Baby, I Love Your Way" and "Do You Feel Like We Do?" to name only two of the late great 70's hits I remember. When it came out in the later 70's the ALIVE album was the biggest selling album of all time. The guy is an icon. The guy is a phenomenol guitarist! I was glad we had the seats we did, so close to the stage because as we watched him play we could see the myriad expressions flow across his face and see how he feels the music. He is the music. His fingers fly!

I remember him from the 70's era as a really cute guy with long, blond, curly hair..... I was a little disconcerted when he came out on stage. Smallish, balding, gray - haired fellow that looks like he could be MY dad. But, he has a real twinkle in his eye, a good sense of humour and the guy can still totally rock out on that guitar! We were just a bit disappointed in that most of the concert was instrumental. Apparently they are promoting a new instrumental album slated to come out in a few weeks. He only sang 4-5 songs. But as I said - the music is still incredible. I just prefer music combined with lyrics, myself. I think I might go out and by the ALIVE CD. It really was and is incredible - check it out!