Victoria

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One of the most memorable things on our ten day June 1999 vacation to the Pacific Northwest was visiting Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island and it is beautiful.

The trip was our first one where we used our 56/kbps connection to the internet to plan our itinerary and to book all of our hotels. Our vacation began as we flew into Seattle where I rented a very cool red Mustang. We stayed a night in Seattle at a hotel by Pike Place Fish Market and walked the area sucking down that famous strong Seattle coffee.

From there we drove north to Canada. We stayed in downtown Vancouver walking around taking in the sights, drinking strong coffee and eating at eclectic restaurants. We visited the historic Gastown area and enjoyed the sights.

After a few days in Vancouver we took a ferry to Victoria. A few memorable touristy Victoria things:

• a visit to the beautiful Butchart Gardens (pictured); 
• dining at the Bengal Room at the Empress Hotel (we skipped High Tea there as it was quite expensive); 
• sitting in on a session of parliament; 
• taking in the Royal British Columbia Museum and 
• walking the beautiful downtown harbor area.

From Victoria we ferried across the Strait of Juan de Fuca back to the USA and landing in Port Angeles. We stayed at a French Style Bed and Breakfast right on the water. We relaxed and greatly enjoyed the food and the water views.

The last full day of our vacation was spent visiting Hurricane Ridge in Olympia National Park and driving the Mustang to a hotel at the Seatac airport. The flight home started on a cloudy and foggy day. The plane took off, we rose above the clouds and was surprised by a sighting of the top of Mount Rainier. An awe inspiring end to a really awesome vacation.

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... a place that I have been to ... part of the A to Z series.