Victoria Canada (07/16)

We arrived at the ferry about 25 minutes before departure.  Once we had our tickets we went to wait for boarding.  I thought boarding would take forever there were so many people, but they move you along pretty quickly.  There is one person checking your passports and another one taking your tickets then you boarded.  My first stop was the coffee shop, I had skipped coffee this morning so we could leave early and was sorely missing it.  I also got Joe some orange juice, as I knew he didn't have any this morning.  Orange juice to him is like coffee to me.  We went out side to watch the ferry take off.  It didn't take long before we headed inside.  It was really cold going across the sound.  Everyone that stayed outside was pretty bundled up.  We found two nice sunny window seats and settled in for the 90 minuter trip to Victoria.  We visited with other passengers.  It was interesting to find out where they were from.

Leaving Port Angeles

It wasn't long and we could see Victoria in the distance but it still took another 40 minutes to dock.  The scenes around the dock area as we were going in were interesting, from the water planes taking off to the boat houses, most two stories high.  They looked like condos.

Once off the boat we had to wait again to show our passports and and declaration cards showing that we weren't bringing anything into Canada.  Once outside we just stopped and looked at all the historical buildings around us.  Then we headed to the Royal BC Museum.  They were have a special exhibit on the Vikings.  It was interesting but we were more interested in the history of BC and Victoria.  So up to the third floor we went.  It was really interesting to fallow the journey this area has taken from trappers to gold rush to present day. By the time we were done it was already 12 pm.  We had to be back to the boat by 2:45 so we didn't have much time left.  We walked to there fisherman's wharf.  We thought we would be able to find lunch there.  But it was so crowded and no restaurants just little stands.  We found a shore walk back to downtown so we didn't have to wind through so many streets.  The street we started on going to the wharf changed names 4 times before we arrived at the wharf.
Still looking for somewhere to eat, we ended up in James Town, this is where all the shops are.  We finally decided on the Bard & Banker Pub.  They really didn't have much of a lunch selection so we decided on hamburgers with bacon and cheese.  They were really delicious, even at $16 each.  Very tasty with grilled onions tomatoes and lettuce. Not sure what type of sauce they used but it was good, or we were just really hungry.  I had a pale ale beer and Joe settled for a glass of water.  By the time we ate we had 20 minutes to get back to the ferry.  I wish we had more time, but at least Joe got a good idea of the area walking all over looking for somewhere to eat.  I would like to come back sometime and stay a couple of days.  We didn't have time to go to Butchart Gardens.  I was lucky enough go to there with my brother's family 31 years ago.

 



These are pictures from that long ago trip.  If you look close you can see Shannon and Kristy on the steps of  the Empress Hotel.  

The picture on the left was taken 31 years the one on the right was taken today.


The pictures below are of Butchart Gardens.

Our Ferry docked in Victoria

 

The boat houses of Victoria

Tomorrow we go to Port Townsend to take the ferry over to Coupeville WA then head to Vancouver Canada.  We will be in Canada from 7/18-7/28.  Not sure what kind of internet of phone connections we will have, so if you don't hear from us for a while we will catch up when we are back in the states.