Canada, eh?

Brad and I married on May 28^th, 2005 over Memorial Day weekend. The weekend stands out not only to remember our war heroes and freedom, but also to remember the important things in our lives, which is each other. We decided to create our own tradition by taking the three day weekend and visit a place we have never been. This year we ventured to Victoria, British Columbia, which has always been just a short ferry ride, across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, away. Best part is you can create a travel plan by using the Blackball Ball Ferry-Coho Line, which is what we did. It saved us frustration and time in the long run.

From the U.S., as you journey along the coast, you can see British Columbia from the shore, so the journey is relatively short, in retrospect.

Port Angeles port-as we are leaving

We arrived in Victoria’s harbor, which had the defined city skyline, setting the scene. We noticed an apparent water-front trail that winded around and near the harbor, which housed waving patrons as we entered port. The one thing Brad and I noticed was the amount of patrol that circulated the harbor. Maybe we never noticed it in Seattle or Port Angeles, but now I am more app to look out for them. We met some nice people in line at customs, one a fellow teacher, who all fell in love with Madelynne.

Coming into Victoria's Harbor

Our Olympic Mtns view from Canada

Patrol with a dog at bow

Float plane

Our journey began in search for our hotel. It took us a few wrong turns to find it, but we eventually did, and when we went to check in, we learned we couldn’t do so until 3pm. Luckily, they held our luggage for us, so ventured to Craigdarroch Castle. We were immediately greeted by a tour bus full of Asian women, and I am not sure if they were Japanese, Chinese or Korean, but they were fascinated with Madelynne and despite our language barrier, they knew how to make her smile. The castle was an old home built in the late 1800s, then converted to a Military Hospital during WWI, college shortly after that, and then used by the school district and housing thereafter. The history in itself was fascinating. Amazing views and stunning architecture made this stop worthwhile. We could even see our Olympic Mountains in perfect view from atop the hill where the castle was located. Stunning.

Front view of the Castle

Back view of the castle

We ended up back at the hotel and got a killer room that had a balcony overlooking downtown, part of the parliament building, and part of the harbor. We napped with Madelynne for a few hours and then went out to a pub for dinner. It was Madelynne’s first experience getting kicked out of a bar----we had to dine on “the outside”, as no one under the age of 19 was allowed “inside”. Even babies. But the food was okay and the beer was good. We enjoyed Madelynne playing with the girls behind us, who got so caught up in interacting with her, that one of the girls’s spilled her wine.

View from hotel room

At dinner the first night

Our Sunday was spent at Butchart Gardens, the Butterfly Gardens, and Church and State Wines vineyard. Butchart Gardens is open year round and is absolutely gorgeous. The grounds were stunning and beautiful. It was peaceful, quiet, (even with as many tourists as there were!), and just amazing. The best sound was the constant buzz you could hear when you would walk around the flowers, as it was just the bees doing their job by collecting pollen. My favorite garden was the Japanese Garden, for its exquisite detail to various flowers, plants, bamboo, and ponds that remind me so often of the photographs and books my friend Naoto has sent me. Madelynne even rode on her first carousel. She was holding on for dear life the majority of the time, but she seemed to enjoy herself.

Sunken Garden

Family Photo

First carousel ride

Fountain near Japanese Garden

Pathway

The Butterfly Gardens and the vineyard were at the top of the hill, above Butchart. There was a koi pond inside, which was home to several birds and ducks, as well as two flamingos and some turtles. Madelynne LOVED the flamingos and ducks. She laughed and talked to the flamingo named Houdini, who gawked back at her. The butterflies were pretty cool, with so many varieties. After that, we headed next door to Church and State Wines for some wine tasting, which topped off our day. Needless to say, we had a great time. We met friendly bus drivers that were beyond nice and a resident Victorian, who we chatted with about the places we had visited, and her opinions on those. We had a bit of a “run away” stroller incident, but Madelynne was fine.

One of many butterflies

Checking out the ducks

Houdini stealing the spotlight

Turtles and Koi

Looking in the pond

Wine Tasting

Vineyard

Our final day in Victoria we spent at the Royal B.C. Museum. I am always fascinated with the history of “where we came from”, which is what this museum explored. It even showcased “the 1900s” and 1980s and 1990s were formally showcased in a glass display with toys, gadgets, and such that make us look like antiques. Gee, thanks for that realization that my generation is now a museum relic. Strange. We really enjoyed the Native American history portion and the dinosaur display. Madelynne loved the Wooly Mammoth. J

China Town

Cool dragon statue

Killer Whale Bushes

Harbor and Parliament views

Fancy Empress Hotel

The Parliament Buildings

Sunset over the city

Royal B.C. Museum

Victoria at Night

Parliament at night

All in all, the trip was great. We loved how friendly everyone was. We did not realize how much it really takes to travel with a kid…we seemed to have packed everything BUT the kitchen sink. We would love to make it back, and visit the Gardens again when the roses are all in bloom, (they weren’t yet!), maybe do a whale watching tour, check out more of the pubs along Government Street, or explore the rest of Vancouver Island on our own accord via rental car. Not bad for a weekend getaway, eh? 

Family photo

Exhausted on ferry ride home