Let’s start with something good on the cruise ship—the showers. They now have a hand-held shower that is perfectly positioned. The hot water comes on quick. We’re learning what’s good to eat in the buffet and what is not. We shared our breakfast table with some lovely Canadian people who are staying in Los Angeles to do Disneyland, Universal, etc.
Some vacation days are more about words, some are more about pictures. This is definitely a picture day.
Our first good look at the ship.
We were off on our first excursion to Butchart Gardens. I’ve always said that word wrong. It’s Butch like in butcher but ends with art. I thought it was French when it’s actually Scottish.
We sat upstairs in a double-decker bus and had a great tour guide who shared points of interest in Victoria along the way. We stopped at the iconic Tim Horton’s to get donuts and a drink. Tim was a famous hockey player who started the chain. We were so lucky to have a beautiful, sunny day.
Carl and me
The gardens were gorgeous. The Butcharts started a Portland cement business that made them wealthy. The following three pictures were once a limestone quarry, source of one of the cement ingredients.
Totem poles are iconic in Canada.
We enjoyed a huge flowerbed of dahlias that just kept going and going and going.
One of my favorites. I can’t believe I took this picture.
Some fall bulbs were poking out.
Redwood trees are not natural to the area, but they grow well there.
The Japanese Garden was the first one planted.
The Butcharts eventually built a mansion on their property. You can have tea inside.
Mums were just getting started. We were a little too early to see much fall color.
The fabulous display greenhouse.
I loved this whimsical shade pot.
I only bought a book in their beautiful gift shop and enjoyed a tasty chai latte before we were on our way back to the port.
We drove through Victoria’s Chinatown, the oldest in Canada. That opening in the middle of the picture is Fan Tan Alley, the narrowest street in Canada, only 4 feet at the narrowest point.
Here’s The Empress Hotel. Get a load of that incredibly blue sky.
A towel dinosaur was waiting in our room. I didn’t know cruise ships did this anymore.
We ate a late lunch when we returned to the ship where we met another nice Canadian couple. I relaxed and embroidered in the afternoon. The early show was a ventriloquist by the name of Kevin Johnson. There are small audiences at the shows. We’re certain the ship is far from sold out.
The sea got rough as we headed out into the Pacific. It was so foggy that the fog horn went off every 5 minutes and continued to do so until we reached San Francisco.