Beach House | Saanich | Cordova Bay Road
#1
Posted 18 November 2009 - 11:27 AM
#2
Posted 18 November 2009 - 01:49 PM
#3
Posted 18 November 2009 - 02:51 PM
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#4
Posted 18 November 2009 - 03:10 PM
#5
Posted 18 November 2009 - 03:53 PM
#6
Posted 18 November 2009 - 03:57 PM
#7
Posted 18 November 2009 - 03:58 PM
#8
Posted 18 November 2009 - 04:23 PM
When the CN Railway was still running to Pat Bay you could take the Galloping Goose car to Cordova Bay.
Photo below: Saanich employees' picnic on Cordova Bay beach ca 1917.
Photo ID 1981-026-003a courtesy of Saanich Archives.
Photo below: Regatta on Cordova Bay beach below the McMorran's Auto Motel, ca 1950. Photo ID 1989-008-226 courtesy of Saanich Archives
#9
Posted 18 November 2009 - 04:32 PM
#10 Guest_Marcat_*
Posted 18 November 2009 - 05:11 PM
#11
Posted 18 November 2009 - 05:20 PM
I couldn't agree with you more Spanky. McMorrans has gone downhill quite vastly in the last while. I was there about a year ago, and vowed never to go back after piss poor service and mediocre food.
I went there this summer and thought the food and service were fine
#12
Posted 18 November 2009 - 05:46 PM
Photo below: Regatta on Cordova Bay beach below the McMorran's Auto Motel, ca 1950. Photo ID 1989-008-226 courtesy of Saanich Archives
Great photo. Just think, I might be in it.
#13
Posted 18 November 2009 - 06:02 PM
Dancing to big band tunes and imbibing from discreetly hidden bottles while waves lap at the shoreline seems so genteel and wholesome compared to our current habit of flopping on the couch and staring at the TV all evening.
-City of Victoria website, 2009
#14
Posted 18 November 2009 - 07:19 PM
I went there this summer and thought the food and service were fine
That is the inconsistent part. I have had good meals there and very poor meals there.
I think what would do well in that area is an upscale pub with decent food.
#15
Posted 18 November 2009 - 07:53 PM
Before the 50's and 60's, Eric's dad used to run the show. In my time Saturday was something to behold, to see the neighborhood gear up for the city dwellers that would drive out for the big band dance. Cones would be placed to reserve parking for dignitaries, windows would have the sea spray washed off, the dance floor would be wiped by hand for the last time, and glasses would be hand polished.
Bingo was spot on about the tables, they had a built in shelf just the right depth for a stubby beer bottle or a mickey. Very similar tables to speak easys like the "Golden Slipper" on Broad street. McMorran made extra money by renting glasses and selling ice and mix.
Eric's brother Bruce owned the grocery store in the shopping centre, Garnet Reviere owned the corner Shell gas station. On Saturday business was brisk and the neighborhood was alive, especially at the cafe counter at McMorran's. That's where the local news was exchanged. If you were lucky, you might get to sit next to Bill Mattick, and you would not want to leave before he did, as you might miss a tale or two.
Wallace McMorran deserves a nod for his efforts to continue in his family's tradition.
I for one will miss their presence.
#16
Posted 19 November 2009 - 08:49 AM
I've only been to McMorran's once, Mother's Day brunch I think, and like others I left entirely underwhelmed with the food and the service. If not for the view, no one would have eaten there: that's the conclusion I came to.
But when I left the place, there are all the old photos in frames in the entrance, and so I read about its history as a destination spring-floored dance-hall, looked at some of the wonderful pictures of McMorran's in its heyday .... wow, I would have made the effort to get out there and shimmy every Saturday night!
#17
Posted 19 November 2009 - 08:02 PM
That is the inconsistent part. I have had good meals there and very poor meals there.
I think what would do well in that area is an upscale pub with decent food.
A pub was tried in Cordova Bay and was soundly rejected by the neighbourhood. It was 10 years ago but things don't really change out there.
#18
Posted 20 November 2009 - 12:36 AM
I have it in mind that there was some kind of covenant connected to the church somehow where the primary use of the property would not be to sell alcohol.
Something else happened where the proprietor pissed off the neighbors big time, and subsequent tries to receive neighborhood approval for pub use was unfruitful.
The McMorran property could be viewed by the neighbors in a different light.
#19
Posted 20 November 2009 - 08:00 AM
#20
Posted 19 March 2010 - 07:26 PM
The Sands of Time
Posted By: Ross Crockford
03/17/2010 8:00 AM
McMorran’s ends an era at Cordova Bay
I’m quite emotional about this place,” Eric McMorran, 84, tells me over a bowl of clam chowder (the best in Victoria) in the restaurant at McMorran’s Beach House, a business that’s been in his family since 1919—and will close forever this Easter weekend. “I grew up here, and I would like to see it go on. But that’s not up to me.”
[...]
http://mondaymag.com...e-sands-of-time
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