Victoria B.C.

Keith and I celebrated 14 years of marriage on April 24.  It had been way too long (3 years) since we'd been overnight sans kiddos, so my parents agreed to take the kids for the weekend, and we headed up to Victoria B.C.  We stayed Friday night with my Grandma at her beautiful house in Sequim.  I know spending the first night of your getaway with your Grandma doesn't sound that romantic, but we love her, and we knew her days in Sequim were coming to an end (house actually sold in July and she moved to Utah), so we were happy to do so.  Plus, the only way to get to Victoria (since it's on Vancouver Island) is via ferry, and the schedule is limited.  Logistically, this made sense too.  She took us out to eat at the local Italian restaurant for dinner, and we had a nice visit.  We got up early Saturday morning and made the 8 a.m. sailing out of Pt. Angeles to Victoria.  We stayed at the Empress Hotel (pictured below).  It was nice but way over-priced (the outside is fancier than the inside). :)  The picture of the harbor below is the view from our room.  You may notice all the people in the picture of the Parliament Building.  Yep, they were having a major marathon that weekend, which was annoying, mostly because they started the marathon EARLY, about 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning, complete with the announcer blaring into the microphone...not such a fun way to wake up, especially when you're paying big bucks for a hotel!!  Lesson learned:  check for "major events" happening anytime you decide to go somewhere.  Otherwise, Victoria is a beautiful, quaint little city.  Some other highlights of the trip:  Seeing Mission Impossible at the IMAX, touring the Royal BC Museum, eating chocolates from famous Roger's Chocolates, dining at the Flying Otter cafe, and, of course, Butchart Gardens.  I LOVED taking pictures of all the beautiful flowers. Spring is my favorite time of year and tulips are one of my most favorite flowers.  There were so many of them.  Absolutely breathtaking!