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The Grand Finale.

HIGH TEA & OTHER AMAZING THINGS BELOW! :)

{Warning: If you are not particularily fond of pictures, do not continue on with this post. There are more on this post than I have ever put on before at one time. I couldn't help it. There were too many to choose from. Sue me.}


This is our last day in Victoria. And may very well be my favorite day of vacation. I can't decide. But I do know I was in Heaven.

First of all, we went to and toured the Craigdarroch Castle. There was so much history behind it that was simply captivating, but I won't bore you with all the details - instead I will show you pictures.



Above is the castle back in the day.

Below is the castle present day.













Next, husby told me we were headed to Butchart Gardens.

"Big deal...just another garden", I thought to myself.

That is where I was completely wrong.



It was enormous, and so beautiful that I screamed.



And jumped.



And ran.



And skipped.



And cried.



And laughed.



And flounced.



And twirled.



And shrieked.



And squealed.



And sighed.



And oohed.



And ahhed.



And did cartwheels.



And toetouches.



And took an insane amount of pictures.

So after we perused the different gardens for over an hour, it was 2:00 and time for high tea.




This was our view from our table on the deck.







You got to choose from an assortment of teas, and then they brought out an insane amount of finger foods. A savory plate, a sweet plate and a scone plate.



I



loved



every



minute



of



this!!!





Is THIS how you do it? ;)



The food was fantastic and the experience was unreal. Sitting in the middle of the most incredible garden I had ever been in while sipping tea and nibbling (gorging) on such delectable goodies while engaging in delightful conversation with husby....ahhhh, it was the best.


































So. Are you in awe yet? You should be. Because I was.

I died 14 times while in this garden.

I think Heaven MUST resemble this.

I thanked husby time and again for not letting me have tea at The Empress Hotel, because I just don't know how it could have topped this day. It simply couldn't.

And then, we had to get on the ferry and head back to Seattle. I wanted to cry, but I held it in because I didn't want to spoil a perfect day.








Bye Bye British Columbia. I love you.



I hope we meet again one day....
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. Wow - how absolutely, positively gorgeous! Sheesh, and I was in awe of the gardens at EPCOT Canada... :)

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  2. Oh, it looks simply amazing! I want to live there forever!

    I watched the Secret Garden last weekend and this kind of reminds me of that movie... and it's an old favorite of mine.

    I'm glad you enjoyed your vacation... it looks like you had a lovely time!

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  3. Oh my goodness! I wanna have that exact same day! That picture of the rose with the water droplets on it was gorgeous! What an awesome awesome day!

    And, fyi, I added the recipe for chicken and biscuits to my post if you're interested.

    And, I had a dream last night that you got pregnant in August. It was around Christmastime, and I saw you and you said, "Yeah, I got pregnant in August." Hmmm.

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  4. that was beautiful Amazing
    We should do tea sometime that sounds like fun.

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  5. WOW - that garden is AMAZING - not all the pics loaded for me but from what I saw it looked unreal...I litterally sat here at my computer with my mouth hanging open...I want to go there!!!! Thanks for sharing...

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  6. Holy Smokes. Those pictures look like something straight from a fairy tale. I might not come home if I got here. Seriously. :)

    I just adore your red hair, btw!

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  7. All I can say is, "Wow!" Those gardens look amazing, as does the food you had with tea.

    So glad you had such a nice vacation. Hope you had a great birthday yesterday. Any fun plans for the weekend?

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  8. WOW!!! that is A LOT of pictures!!! and they're all awesome!

    first, i want to move into that castle :) now!

    second, we've been to the buchart gardens!! and i think we took about as many, if not more, pictures of those flowers! it was good to reminice on our visit from looking at your beautiful pictures!

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  9. OMG, all your pics are amazing. Your husby is just the sweetest to surprise you like that! Those finger foods are just to die for..yummy!

    I'm so glad you had a great time and I enjoyed coming along with you...thank you so much for sharing your trip!

    Hugz,
    Michele

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  10. I was in awe when I went to Butschart (will I ever not butcher its name?) Gardens, too. So many amazing things to see. That was years ago - I'd love to go back. I'm glad you had such a good time! In the picture where you're standing in front of the fountain - it looks like a person in the middle of the fountain. Funny. Oh, and holding up your pinky while drinking out of a tea cup is considered rude in England. I only know that because my twin sister's best friend's mom is English and told us that when we were at her house having tea in high school. :)

    How did you get your blog title to be specifically what you wanted? I know how to create a JPEG and host it but I just don't know where in the html code to put it. I've tried uploading templates but they fail every time. Frustrating!

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  11. so lovely! do you know the most jealousy-inducing part of it all for me? the fact that you are "flouncing" around in pants and a jacket. i'm craving fall weather!

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  12. how beautiful!! i agree... heaven has to look like that. it seems i simply must add BC to my list of places to go now.

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  13. Gorgeous! The afternoon tea looks like so much fun!

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  14. happened to stumble on your blog ( from the PioneerWoman comment)
    and wow! I wanted to go there this summer but.....thanks for posting alot of photos. Brings back memories when I was there years and years ago. It's simply amazing what can be done with a seemingly un-usable piece of land.

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  15. Thanks! I made it myself. I designed it in Publisher then turned it into a JPEG. It took me FOREVER to change the other elements. It was pretty fun, though. I just Googled everything I wanted to do then followed the directions. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't!

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  16. My one regret from living in Washington is that we never made it up to Victoria! It looks like you had an amazing time...I loved seeing all your pictures!

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  17. Oh my goodness, those are absolutely beautiful photos! How did you ever make yourself come back? Really, the landscape is breathtaking. The food looks wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful trip with us!

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  18. Wow, the colors of the flowers in the forty-twelfth picture you posted are amazing! (the one that is all flowers, oranges and reds and pretty). Beautiful pictures, I would love to visit and have tea!

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  19. Oh, and my garden looks a lot like that, except without so many flowers and without the water features. And without green grass. But I serve some delectable tea and treats for anyone who wants to sit and view my veggies. The squash are large and in charge, and the tomatoes are like a jungle since I planted them a little too close together! So come on over for tea :)

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  20. Whitney- I found your blog through Dani J. You are too adorably cute! I think you have successfully inspired my next dream vacation!

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  21. okay, i absolutely am in awe looking at these pictures...i want to go to British Columbia!!! i had no idea it was that beautiful, wow...i'm going to beg my "husby" (hehe, don't worry, i'm not stealing this one from you) that he take me there one day :) those gardens make me think of heaven also...if i get to choose, thats the kind of heaven i'd want, with a tropical beach next door, haha!

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  22. Those pictures are absolutely incredible. I've always wanted to go to BC and now I have even more reason to go.

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  23. I have had so much fun looking through your vacation pictures! I lived in the Seattle area for six years, and we visited the Victoria/Vancouver area several times. My husband and I also honeymooned on San Juan Island, and spent a little time in Seattle -- so it was fun to traipse down memory lane! Isn't it an absolutely beautiful place to be? Glad you enjoyed your vacation!

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  24. Wow! Those gardens are stunning! Tea there looks like a heavenly experience. Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful pictures.

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  25. WOW - that garden is AMAZING! Those pictures look like something straight from a fairy tale. Thanks for such a lovely post.
    landscape architect sydney

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