Victoria

We checked out of the hotel in Vancouver and had the buffet breakfast in the hotel once more. We drove to Tsawwassen to catch the ferry to Victoria. Near the ferry we stopped in at a Bass Pro shop and bought some items. We got in line for the ferry and waited on the car for about 45 minutes (it would have been longer with no reservation). The ferry ride took a little over an hour. We ran in to Carol and Stu on the ferry and gave them a ride to the airport where they rented a car. It was a thirty minute ride from the ferry dock in Swartz Bay to our hotel in Victoria. After checking in and getting unpacked we got some dinner at a place called Frankie's modern diner. The food was pretty good. It was located above a Burger King which ended up being our source for diet cokes during our stay.

We got breakfast at a great restaurant called Cora's. They served massive amounts of fruit with every meal. After breakfast we walked the town to see the shops. There we several tent vendors around as part of the yearly celebration that is held in Victoria. Sam got a henna and Jan picked up a beautiful handmade necklace. Later we hat day we met Carol and Stu for dinner at the Flying Pig restaurant. We had a great time with them at dinner and then we walked back to hear the symphony in the harbor. They also had fireworks after the concert which were really fun. This is a really big event for all of Victoria which is held each year. It was fortunate that we were her at the right time.

Today was breakfast at Frankie's diner. I had pancakes with rum soaked caramelized apples. It was like eating a pancake wrapped caramel apple - not really that good. After breakfast we headed to Butchart Gardens. We spent a great afternoon there even though It was a pretty hot that day. It is really a beautiful place. Here are some photos from the garden.

After getting back from from the gardens, we had dinner at Milestones restaurant. Jan had a spicy crispy chicken bowl which she liked though it was pretty hot. Back at the room Jan settled in to watch the final Bachelor episode while Sam and I went on a Ghost walk spooky walking tour of the city. It was lots of fun - Sam likes that kind of stuff.

We had breakfast at the Parliament dining hall. We had to go through security and through a metal detector. They gave us badges and we followed a green line on the wall to the dining room. It was a nice breakfast and kind of special. After breakfast we went out on a water taxis to Fishermen's wharf. The taxis are really cute and they were lots of fun. At the wharf we made reservations for the kayak tour the next day. After the taxis ride back we rested in the hotel and got ready for Tea at the Empress. We had reservations for 5:00pm. We got there and got seated. Unfortunately Sam got nauseous before we really got started. She spent most of he time in the bathroom and we finally had the waiter pack up the food and we went back to our hotel where Sam rested.