Victoria, British Columbia
A full day and a half at sea after leaving Skagway is enough to make you stir crazy. They certainly load those cruise ships with plenty of amenities and entertainment but being stuck on a boat for that long made us so eager to arrive in the capital of British Columbia, Victoria.
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| Everybody gets stir-crazy and tired for posing for photos during 36 hours at sea... |
This was actually the only stop on our vacation where we entered the port in the evening. The stay was relatively short (6 hours), and we had about an hour to kill before our bus tour took us to our eventual evening destination. Unfortunately, "town" isn't close enough to reach from the docks, enjoy anything, and get back in time, so happy to be off the ship, we hung out on The Breakwater, a long walking pier decorated by many First Nations murals.
We walked out to the light at the end on the "up top" on the paved path and walked back to the boat "down below" by the water level. There were lots of dog walkers and fishermen... and a steady stream of floatplanes taking off and smaller tour boats leaving, it was quite scenic for what it was...
The hour passed, we headed back to the ship and hopped on the bus that would take us to Butchart Gardens, a beautifully manicured, outdoor wonderland of pretty much every species of flower, shrub, and tree you could imagine.
The quick story behind the gardens, before I get to the photos, is that this property once upon a time belonged to the Butchart family, early entrepreneurs of the area. After several years of trying to find his way, Robert Butchart claimed land rich in limestone to help sustain & grow his Portland cement business. See, there were a lot of people in western Canada following the Klondike Gold Rush of a few years prior, and good building materials were very much in demand. Robert made his fortune from filling that demand. Oh, back to the gardens...
So when the limestone quarries on the property were finally exhausted, Robert's wife Jennie decided she wasn't going to live among big eye-sore mining pits, so she started planting gardens to reclaim the land's beauty. She did an absolutely wonderful job... and although the property was passed down through several hands in the family over the years, the gardens were preserved & expanded creating a world-class botanical attraction.
Here were some of the highlights:
The Sunken Garden, with the Ross Fountain...
The Rose Garden & Sturgeon Fountain...
The Japanese Garden & Butchart Cove...
and Star Pond & the Italian Garden...
After we walked through the majority of the premises, we still had about an hour before we had to leave to head back to the ship. There was some live music being played on an outdoor stage in the gardens, so we headed over there, laid down on the soft, cool grass, and just relaxed as the sun went down. I honestly could have slept right there the entire night if they would have let me...
After that, we hopped back on the bus and took the "long way" through town back to the dock. Our tour guide pointed out various sites of interest, including the Parliament building (pictured below) and told us some of the quirky histories of some of Victoria's early socialites. Look up Francis Rattenbury if you have a chance...
I will say, Victoria was absolutely gorgeous, and fully lived up to its nickname of "The Garden City." I think of all the places we visited, if I had to pick one to live in (you know you do it too when on vacation), Victoria would be it, quite easily. It's got all of the beauty of nature as well as the conveniences of a small city. Although I hear it's kind of pricey... but what good isn't?
So that really concluded the cruise part of our vacation. We hopped back on the ship, left during the night, with the next stop being Seattle, where they were kicking us off for good in the morning! But it didn't mean we couldn't sneak in a few extra sights before we caught our flight back to Florida...
2018 Vacation Posts
Seattle | Ketchikan | Juneau | Skagway | Victoria | Seattle II
