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O Canada!

DAYS FIVE AND SIX - Exploring Victoria

I could not get the Canadian anthem out of my head the entire time I was there. The thing is....I only know the first two words. Husby was getting more than a little irritated with me. :)

We had to drive an hour and a half out of Seattle to catch the ferry to Victoria. We left from the CUTEST little town called Anacortes. We had lunch at an adorable little sandwich shop.



Loverly quote.

And so true, might I add.



Check it out - I match the flowers. I did it on purpose, prolly.

The ferry ride over was quite an adventure. I kept calling it a 'barge' and husby kept insisting I stop saying that and call it what it really was. A ferry. But I continued to call it a barge. :)

We drove our car onto the ferry barge and it was seriously freaking me out because it was just so bizarre! I have never driven onto a boat before! It was just the coolest thing. We parked where they ushered us, grabbed our things and headed to the top to grab a window seat and enjoy the view.



Even though husby was being mean and correcting me and my terms of choice, he was still cute. On the barge.

We arrived in Victoria and the first things we saw were these beautiful buildings!







The two pictures above is of the Empress Hotel. The Empress Hotel is amazing. The Empress Hotel is where I wanted to have high tea while we were there. The Empress Hotel is where EVERYONE says to have high tea. The Empress Hotel is where husby said I could NOT have high tea. The Empress Hotel's high tea was 100 bucks a person. (They must be proud, huh?) The Empress Hotel was beautiful. I did walk through the Empress Hotel and I stopped and longingly watched the people have high tea while husby dragged me by the arm.

With drool pouring from my mouth.

He promised there was a BETTER place to have high tea, and assured me he had reservations at the "better" place. The "better" place was much cheaper, and in my mind...HAD to be not-as-good. I obeyed husby like the good little wifey that I am and continued on exploring the city. As I waved goodbye to The Empress. And their tea. And scones.

After all, we are two poor kiddos vacationing on a tax return and what we had saved for 6 months specifically for it so yes - we were frugal all week and unfortunately, we didn't save 200 EXTRA BUCKS to have TEA (absurd sounding, isn't it?)

We praised Jesus for the opportunity to even HAVE a vacation! And a fabulous one at that! Even without the Empress Hotel Tea.

This was our last vacation alone for a very long time. Because Med School is about to get nutso after this year and hopefully babies will enter the picture soon enough.

Anyway. I'm off topic here.



Husby checked things out, too. But not their tea.

We shopped until we dropped and I think the only thing we bought were tourist-ey souveniers. Ya know, tee shirts and hoodies. I'm a sucker for a hoodie. But we did see some beautiful buildings.

This town is SO CUTE! It is like a "mini Europe" and it was just exquisite. I can't talk about it enough - you just MUST visit. Please. For me.

I'll give you a dollar.



One afternoon, we stopped for a snack at Murchie's. A very old tea and snack place. They do things up right at Murchie's. On a SILVER PLATTER, thank you very much.





Husby forced me to go to a muesum.





This scene behind us is very very fake. We are inside the museum here. I played a trick on my family and friends as I sent very up close pictures of seals and pretended they were real. They looked real from my phone :) I'm a riot.

They didn't think so.

Outside the museum was much more fun than the inside.

Let's play a game!

WHERE'S HUSBY?



Wasn't that fun?! Let's play again!



Did you find him? If so - you WIN......................the satisfaction of knowing you have a good eye for cute husbies. Good job!

So, we got out of the museum (YAY) and kept on a walkin'. We stumbled on to this:



Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, another McDonalds --- big deal.

Take a closer look. I dare ya.



HOW BIZARRE!

Yes, I went inside just for the pictures.



I found it rather odd. But fun.

So, we had some great food. Our first evening we ate here:



Funny story about this place. It's called "The Six Mile Pub" and is the oldest pub there. Frommers recommended it so we thought it would be fun to try.

We sat down to eat and our waitress, who looked about my age, said, "I'll need to see you ID's, please."

I said, "Oh, we aren't going to drink."

She replied, "It doesn't matter - you have to be 19 to even BE in here!"

I was shocked. I am SIX YEARS (well, tomorrow anyway) older than that. Did she SERIOUSLY not think I was not even 19???!!!

It was weird to me that you had to be 19 to even eat there. I had never been to a place like that. So bizarre.

T'was delish, though. :)

Another night, husby pulled out our book and searched for an Italian place to dine. This one was said to have the best handmade pasta, and so we headed out.

There was a line out the door.



It was called "Pagliaccis". You didn't give the hostess your name, just how many was in your party and then you waited in a single file line for a table.

It was THE BEST Italian food I have ever ever ever ever had. I had "The Hemingway Short Story" and it claimed on the menu "it will make the earth move for you". Boy did it. My earth shook like a California earthquake! All of the items on the menu had neat little names like that. It was the best meal we had in Victoria.

And the bread. Oh the bread. It was soaked and FRIED in olive oil and the outside tasted like pie crust. It was flaky, dense and wonderful.



One of our evenings was topped off at Roger's Chocolate Shoppe - the oldest chocolate shoppe around (everything we went to was the oldest, huh?).





We ate in utter bliss as we watched the cold damp streets outside. Beautiful.



Coming up later this week is our LAST FULL DAY of vacation and our HIGH TEA experience. Was husby's tea idea a flop or fantastic? Just wait and see. :)
I am a modern day homemaker with a passion for family, cooking, celebrating, decorating, travel, and memory making! The Lord has blessed me with the desires of my heart in my husband and our two sons. We recently built our dream home and cultivating a loving and happy haven for my family is where I find so much joy.

Comments

  1. It took me a minute to find your husby but I found him!

    That looked like a fun day!

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  2. I have never actually had the desire to go to Canada, but it looks really beautiful. Might need to drag MY husby...

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  3. That was fun!:)

    I found Husby in the first picture, but not the second.:(

    I would not have believed chandeliers in a McDonald's either...Definitely picture worthy!

    I just told my "Husby" (on the phone) about your pictures...He go tickled about the cherry on top.:)

    Can't wait to hear about the "High Tea."

    Beautiful pictures!

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  4. I love the vacation chronicles--I now really want to go to Victoria (something I never thought would happen).

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  5. oh man! my hubby went to Victoria and loved it... said the people were the nicest. I wanna go so bad! it looks so beautiful and you just reminded me of an adventure goal I had forgotten. You lucky duck :)

    Oh, did you see those powder white men? I thought those were scary - you know, like the statue of liberty people at Battery Park in NYC. kinda freak me out. like clowns with less color!

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  6. Whitney, you are hilarious! I love the way you write your posts exactly how you would tell them audibly. You're a nut, and I wish that we lived closer so that I could experience your craziness a little more frequently. Pop out a baby and give me a reason to come see you!

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  7. WOW - your vacation looks like so much fun - I can't believe how beautiful everything is...can't wait to see and read more.

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  8. OMG Whitney...all that food looks so yummy...

    I found husby right away..I'm good!

    Can't wait for high tea!!!

    Hugz,
    Michele

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  9. I found him! Both times! It was like playing 'where's waldo'. LOL. What fun it looks like you're having. I'll be back tomorrow to see what new adventure you take us on!
    P.S. my eldest daughter is a pre-med student. Doctors Rock!

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  10. "Wasn't that fun? Let's play again." You're too funny.

    I am so hungry now after looking at your food pictures. Victoria looks like a great place to visit...some day~

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  11. Wow, I am so jealous of your trip! And I found your husby in BOTH PHOTOS! WOOOHOO!

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  12. Wow, when I had high tea at the Empress it was only $50...what happened. It's good but not for a 100 bucks.

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  13. Wonderful pictures!

    And on looking young...I know how you feel.
    Me: I'm a senior--
    Anyone else: oh, and where do you think you'll go to c--
    Me: in college.
    Anyone else: Oh. *Walks away dumbfounded.

    But hey, it'll serve us well later in life! Glad to see your vacation was a blast!

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  14. Oh, what fun! The front of McDonalds looks like one in Cologne, Germany......next time my hubby has a trip to Tacoma, that I tag along, I'll have to reference your post for things to do. Can't wait to read the rest....
    ~doriann

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