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Seattle & Victoria, BC |
The Great Northwest
En route, both going and coming, we renewed two cherished friendships. We dashed up I-5 to Redding in the northern part of California where we spent an afternoon with Father Art, our priest from back at St. Mark's in Maryland (below left). We had not seen Fr. Art for at least five years, so we certainly enjoyed the opportunity to catch up. Then on the return trip we spent the night in Portland, OR, with Chuck (below right) and his wife. Chuck was my department head in my first squadron, VF-191, in the early 60's. He and I had not seen each other for probably 25 years, so it was great getting together and reminiscing. Needless to say, the ol' fighter pilot stories were soon flowing.
When we first arrived in the Seattle area we spent a three-day weekend in Bothel (on the NE side of Seattle) with Dru's brother Frank and family and then another two-day weekend just before our return trip home. You'll find more about our time with them along with some family photos in the "Relatively Speaking" section of our home page. One of the things we did do, however, was tour a Russian submarine that a group of entrepreneurs purchased during the collapse of the Soviet Union, brought over and set up as a museum. On the left you can see Dru's brother and his sons Steve and Paul standing topside. It's really amazing that people could live and get along together in the confines of such a structure.
After our first weekend with Frank and family, bright and early the following Monday morning we headed north from Bothel for our adventure into Canada to Victoria on Vancouver Island. We took a local ferry over to Whidbey Island, meandered up the island and had lunch at a little cafe on the northern end. Following that, we took the international ferry through the San Juan Islands to Victoria. That's about a two hour ride through some absolutely gorgeous scenery. We opted to stay in a small B&B in Victoria. Ours was located only four blocks from downtown and the famous Fairmont Empress Hotel. That of course meant we could walk to just about every place we wanted to go, so we really didn't need a small car to negotiate the streets. Besides, the streets really aren't all that narrow anyway.
Every B&B is unique and this one was no exception. It had just been updated and apparently the owners want to cater to the honeymooners. Each room has a Jacuzzi sitting smack dab right out in the bedroom area. If you really get the urge, you can check it out here for yourself. The B&B's sitting room was a pleasantly comfortable little room in which to enjoy
our evening wine and meet other guests. One irony of the trip was as we were sitting and relaxing one evening, we thought we felt a little rumble. We turned on the TV to be greeted with the news that Victoria had just experienced an earthquake, our first and only one since moving west. Strange that it happened in Canada.
Of course the star attraction of any visit to Victoria is a trip to Butchart Gardens. They are spectacular, continually in transition as the seasons change. It's really difficult to imagine how such lush beauty can thrive so far north. On the right is my picture post card snapshot of part of the gardens. Everything seemed to be in bloom. It's one of those places where you could literally spend hours wandering and exploring wishing you had the time to pick a bench and just sit. It's definitely a "must see" when you go to Victoria. Some additional photos are below.
On the left is an interior shot showing examples of the stained glass and exquisite woodwork in the home. It was a relatively short-lived family wealth. As one of the guides remarked, the family went from short sleeves to enormous wealth and back to short sleeves in two generations.
The other thing that one must do when in Victoria is go to the Empress Hotel for high tea. This is one of those, "Don't ask how much, just do it," things. One must make reservations and there are several times available to fit into any vacation plan. Some are very non-tradition tea times. Also the dress code is just about anything goes as long as it includes long pants and shoes. That's a bit disappointing, but at least you don't have to pack dress-up clothes for what is otherwise a very casual trip. Alas, we have no pictures of this event. After all, I didn't want to whip out my camera in such opulent settings and make them think we were tourists!
Our five days in Victoria went all too quickly. We headed back to Seattle on the same ferry line we took over. After our weekend with Frank and family, we headed home. However, rather than dash down boring I-5, we went to the coastline and meandered down a bit more slowly. The Washington, Oregon and northern California coasts have to be among the world's most spectacular. As in all coast drives, however, one takes what one gets. Some sections are sunny and gorgeous, but you round a bend or crest a rise and find yourself in dense fog, unable to see anything. Hopefully they will reveal themselves on the next trip.
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