Hello Blog

I went to Victoria BC last Thursday with my mother and neglected my blog.  Sorry Blog....I still love you and still love all my readers.

The Victoria trip was wonderful. We left Seattle at 8:30 am on the Victoria Clipper and quickly found ourselves in rough water.  Could not cruise open waters so the boat routed itself through the San Juan Island's, went through Deception pass and on to Victoria. The closer we got to Vancouver Island, the sunnier it became.

When we arrived we were whisked from the dock on a Victoria Clipper tour bus to Butchart gardens. Fabulous....we saw delphiniums that had to be 6 feet in height, roses to die for, a beautiful sunken garden that featured beautiful maple trees and begonias with blossoms the size of dinner plates.

We learned that Victoria is in a rainbelt - surrounded by mountains and normally gets 33 inches of rain a year, typically houses cost $700,000, and they have not been hit hard by the recession. Commercial building is still strong and because of a high tourist season - spring thru fall and then the onslaught of students from September to June they are able to manage fiscally.

We visited the BC Museum and saw artificats from the Haida people and marveled at the lion skull that was on display.  This was a large lion like you see on the savannahs in Africa.  A reconstruction showed mane and all. Skull was found in a cave on Vancouver Island.  Who knew?

On Government street their are two galleries side by side that feature Native art. One showed contemporary jewelry created by First Nations artisans and featured gemstones, wire wrapping, metalsmithing and lampwork beaded jewelry.  The other was filled with more traditional arts and crafts. Equally as beautiful but more earthy.  I bought my grandson an Orca Whale puppet.

You should visit Victoria and tour the gardens and the city. It is a wonderful adventure - close to home.

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