Jean and Steve's Excellent Victoria, BC Adventure

Parliament Buildings

Victoria, BC is an hour from Port Angeles, WA by ferry and was a wonderful weekend side-trip. We were anxious about visiting a big city with a dog, but we needn't have worried. Our cute little hotel, just steps from the customs office was very welcoming, and while most of the tour buses didn't allow dogs, the "Big Red Bus" is dog-friendly. The people were also "dog-friendly". Everywhere we went someone wanted to pet Doogie. He had a blast.

Enjoying the "Big Red Bus"

Baskets of Flowers from Every Lamppost

Resting at a cafe

Bastion Square - typical of the city with cafes everywhere

Victoria Waterfront

Many Beautiful Gardens

Parliament

Butchart Gardens

Canadian Sunset

Butchart Gardens

Downtown Victoria

Parliament by Night

Weather was cool but sunny most of the time. We took an on-and-off tour bus, but walked miles and miles seeing many of the neighborhoods on foot. Saturday we spent half a day in Butchart Gardens, where, oddly, dogs on short leashes are welcome. Canada is such a civilized country! Victoria is full of wonderful shops  and many museums (where dogs are, understandably, not welcome). It is a relatively small town, population under 100,000 and only 300, 000 on the whole island, yet there are many department and specialty stores and only a few big-box chains. One place we loved was the Tilley Outdoor shop - Tilley like the hats. Very cool place! I also found a quilt shop to add quarter-yard swatches to my "stash". Got some maple leaf flags!

We returned Sunday afternoon and got to see a trident submarine, escorted by several large vessels, heading for one of the many military operations along the coast. The captain also stopped for a view of a hump-back whale skimming the surface who treated us to a magnificent breach. What a trip!