We're Home!

I'm using this blog to continue on my vacation story... hope not to bore you too much!!

After arriving at the hotel Thursday night, we were bagged. Wednesday morning we were up at 7:30am; we only slept for 2 hrs that night, and then were up at 330am Toronto Time. I only slept for about an hr on the plane, Rick not even that. We arrived at the hotel about 9pm Victoria time. We were only up for an hour after that - if that! We inspected our room, I unpacked enough to hang up the clothes and get out the toiletries and our PJ's (finding that I forgot my nightgown and Rick's favourite sleep pants) and we crashed... we were up for almost 48 hrs at that point... but when we woke up the next morning, we were almost fully acclimatized to the new time zone.

The day dawned a little dreary. We opened the drapes to see the view, and it was raining a little. We were to learn later that this was the first rain in 2-3 months that that side of the island has seen. I wasn't complaining - we were actually in BC! We both showered, found some clothes and made our way down to the Fire & Water Grill. That's the restaurant that was inside the hotel, and our breakfast came with the room. We were able to partake of an "all you can eat" breakfast buffet. The hostess (Darlene) showed us in, and we actually picked a table... it was a little out of the way, but under a window and nice and bright. We actually sat at that table every day except for Sunday morning when Michele & Bill joined us for breakfast (more on that one later). Anyway, our waitress' name was Larissa. She was great :) She didn't do much but fill our OJ glasses and coffee that day, but she talked to us, and made us feel like people and not just customers. Darlene advised us that when we went to the buffet, to have Chris make us an omelette. Chris was the omelette chef in the buffet. The buffet was great... it had dry cereal & milk, fresh fruit and cottage cheese, yogurt, pastries, croissants and muffins, sausage and bacon, scrambled eggs, homefries (regular and sweet potatoes mixed), fresh belgian waffles with cinnamon whipped cream and strawberries and blueberries for toppings, oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins, bread for toasting, like whole grain bread, a variety of bagels, english muffins, crumpets, plus butter, margarine, peanut butter and little jams at the table. Then there was Chris. :)

Chris was great. He made our omelettes as we asked. That first morning, when he listed off the toppings, I made some comment like "The only thing you're missing is brocolli" with a smile. "Brocolli??" he said. "Yes," I replied... "Brocolli, ham & Cheese omelettes are the best." The conversation ended, he made them (without brocolli LOL) and we went back to our table. This conversation becomes important later... breakfast was great!! Afterwards we went back up to our room and prepared for the day.

Michele & Bill both had the day off, and they drove down to Victoria to meet us. Bill even got out of the car when we came out of the hotel and we all gave each other big hugs. God it was great to see them! We got in the car, all of us very happy.. and we drove through the city and down to the shore. It was beautiful... the day was cloudy to start with, and a little cool.... but we got some beautiful pictures of the water and clouds, and some great rocks for the kids. From there, we drove around a little more, to show us more of the city, and then they parked in our underground lot.... we walked from there. We stopped at a couple stores to look around... one of them was a jewellery store, where I got a beautiful pair of silver and jade earrings. We passed the Old Spagetti Factory, and stopped at Thunderbird Park. Thunderbird is a mythical animal in the Native Indian folklore. Thunder happened when Thunderbird flapped it's wings, lightning when it blinked it's eyes. The park was situated outside of the Royal BC Museum. We went in there too. It had an amazing exibit of Native Indian work. We were unable to take pictures in that section though, so you'll need to see it for yourself. The Museum also had a visiting Tibetan display. I honestly didn't want to see it, but I went in... it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The art was unbelievable, and learning some of the history was interesting. I was pleasantly surprised. The best thing about the museum was this... there was this little town that they built inside the museum... almost turn of the century type stuff. With shops and ship models and streets and signs... you almost need to see it to believe it. But walking down the "street"s, you could almost believe that you were in that era, in BC's history.. it was soo cool.

From the museum, we walked past the inner harbour as well as the Empress Hotel. The Empress is the largest hotel in the island (if not BC) and it's where the Queen stays when she visits. It was big, and nice looking... but I'd rather stay at the Marriott. We were very happy there. The Empress has great gardens and a great view... but the windows were too small. LOL So then we walked around downtown. We found the Bay Center, which was their mall-type thing, and bought some booze. Most of which we never drank, but it was nice to have it. We went out to dinner at Nautical Nelly's. It was AMAZING!! Rick had dungeness crab, and swears that he'll never have a better seafood, and that he'd died and gone to heaven! I called it his "crab-gasm". I had seafood risotto. It was delicious. The service and the food were impeccible and we would recommend it to anyone! After dinner, we walked more downtown, to walk off dinner. We visited a few stores, and found the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. I'm so glad we didn't go there BEFORE dinner, when we were hungry!! They make their own chocolate and it was sooo cool! We didn't get much... a couple assorted chocolates, and a couple things that were on sale.... we still haven't eaten any... that'll be this weekend, I'll bet! Eventually, we made it back to the Bay Center, and the Marble Slab. This was a spectacular ice-cream shop. They make their own ice cream. Then what they do is mix your own toppings into it. So you choose your own flavour (I had double chocolate) and your toppings of the day (again, I had reece's pieces and fudgeos) and they flatten the ice cream on the frozen marble slab (hence the name) put in your toppings, and fold it in together. Then they put it in your cone and you eat it... YUMMY!

From the Bay Center, we ended up meandering our way back to the hotel. Bill had to work the next morning, Michele was actually going to ride her bike most of the way into town (They live outside of Duncan BC, about an hr and 15 min drive from Victoria), and Bill would meet us for dinner the next night. At the hotel, we parted company again and said good-night. Kyle actually met us in the lobby and we talked about the day a bit and introduced him to M&B. He was nice and friendly as always... Rick and I went up to our room, downloaded the pictures from the digital cams to the laptop, played Skip-bo for a while and went to bed... we slept like logs!

The next day was Saturday. We woke up a little later, showered, dressed and made our way to breakfast. Larissa and Chris were both there, both asking about our day before, and our plans for that day. Chris also asking how long we're staying.... we got breakfast, talked to Larissa and Joey (the other server person) and enjoyed our morning. Michele arrived about 11:30am, and called up to the room. Bill had driven her about 20 min past Duncan, where she hopped on her bike and rode up, and back down the mountain to get to Victoria. She borrowed our shower and changed so we could spend the day together... After that, and after another game of Skip-bo, we left the hotel, greeting Sean on the way by (Sean was more like the day-time bellman; Kyle was evenings). With Michele, we walked along the harbour on the streets, and back along the shore... it was a nice walk. On the way, we were able to stop at Orca Spirit so we could book our whale-watching tour for the following Tuesday. We then visited Barb's Fish and Chips. This is apparently well-known in Victoria. It's located in what we called the "Shanty Town". It has little houses that are on boats or stilts or raised in the harbour, where the piers are the streets between them. It's very cute, very quaint... at Barb's we had deep-fried Salmon and chips. Very tasty! If you can get there, it's well worth it!! Again, we walked back along the harbour on a pathway close to the shore. It was gorgeous. By this time, it had cleared up, and it was quite warm. We also passed by the Undersea Gardens, and decided to go in. This is a boat that sits in the harbour, with a glass bottom, and a boxed-in aquarium. We were able to see the native marine-life and some cool octopi. After that, we went through all the artisans, saw their craftwork, walked through an alley (I can't remember the name) with more artisans and crafts-people and eventually made our way back to the hotel. Bill met us for dinner.

One of Bill's favourite places is the Old Spaghetti Factory. So Michele, Rick and I had decided to make reservations for that night for dinner. Bill joined us at the hotel after work, where Michele was nicely buying us drinks. Rick and I had a good buzz going... I'm glad I wasn't driving!! Rick and I had already decided that if we did go to the spaghetti factory, we were picking up the bill. It was the least we could do, for thanking them for showing us around. They keep saying "Hey, you came out here to visit us, that's all the thanks we need!" but we prevailed. After dinner, they went home a little early, as they were returning the next morning to meet us for breakfast.

We were greeted again by Kyle. We were quickly becoming accustomed to everyone being so nice and helpful, as well as so friendly. Everytime we saw Kyle it was more like coming home than anything. We did go up to the hotel room and relax after that, playing skip-bo and having a drink, then crashing. we had done a lot of walking, and althought it felt great, we were still dead-tired.

Sunday morning dawned bright and clear. This was to be our last day with both Michele and Bill. They met us for breakfast at 930am and we sat close to our regular table, but at a bigger one... when we showed up to the buffet area, Chris surpised the hell out of us. "Hey guys, did you want brocolli and cheese omelettes today?" he said. I just stopped and looked at him. "I thought you didn't have brocolli?" He replied that he had made a special trip to go and get it and cut it up for us. Can you believe that?? Just on an off-the-cuff comment, he remembered and made a special thing just for us. We were so impressed! So of course, we both had brocolli & ham & cheese omelettes... and they were SOOOOOOOOOO Good!!

First stop with M&B was back to the shore... we were on the same street as the beach we were on before, but just a beach further down the shore. We picked up a few shells this time and actually got a picture of a HUGE jelly-fish that had waded up on shore. It was cool!! We then went to Goldstream National Park. This was a beautiful forest of mostly Red Cedar trees and a couple streams running through it. Salmon spawning is starting this time of year, where the salmon swim back to the streams to spawn, and then die, leaving the eggs to hatch on their own. We saw a few salmon in the water, but have been told that in about another month, the streams will be full of them. The forest and trees were amazing... it was a terrific walk in the shade and dappled sunlight.

On the way back to town we went through a few little towns and cities..... and to be honest, I fell asleep in the car (I know, for those that know me, big surprise). I don't remember much. We apparrently drove through the ritzy section, but I don't remember that either. LOL We made our way to downtown, and actually saw a movie: The Exorcism of Emily Rose. It was quite good. Not as gory as you'd think, actually not gory at all!! It was a little shocking and disturbing at times, but the ending was good - made you think about where your beliefs lie.... I'll leave it at that. We ate dinner that night at a place called the "Blue Crab". It was located in another hotel (the same hotel in which Orca Spirit is downstairs). My food, and Rick's was good... but Michele & Bill shared an appetizer plate that I felt was way too overpriced for what you got. The service seemed forced and rushed.... I wasn't very impressed at all. That was about our only complaint about the food there. From dinner, we again, went back to hotel. Each of us gave Bill a huge hug... he was going back to work the next day, and we said goodbye... On the way back into the hotel, we again, talked with Kyle and went up to our room.

Monday was again a gorgeous day. It was our first day on our own. We decided to go on a tour to go to both the Butterfly Gardens and Buchart Gardens. Now, the Butterfly Gardens was cool, and I love butterflies, and the gift shop was impressive.... but it all wasn't worth the 9.50 to get in. We spent maybe 20 min in the butterfly area itself and the same in the gift shop. As part of the tour package, it was worth it... but just to drive there and pay to get in? Not quite. Buchart however... my GOD was that gorgeous! Hey, when Rick and I were planning our trip, Rick did a LOT of leg-work and research, and I wasn't too interested in a garden, to be honest... but we went. A LOT of people (both from Ontario and BC) couldn't say enough about it. We went... Buchart Gardens is 55 acres of manicured lawns and gardens... it is just breath-taking!! There are every type of flower and plant you can imagine... I couldn't believe my eyes... we took so many pictures. I'll post a few of my favourites later on when Rick gets them burned off of his laptop. But walking through the gardens... it was beautiful... and apparently it changes for the seasons, where there is always something blooming ... the rose garden was my favourite. We got the cutest picture of a tiny frog that was actually resting in the rose... I'm not kidding, and it was alive!! But the tour was over too soon, and we needed to hop the bus (which was an old English double-decker bus!) back to Victoria. The entire tour was 4 hrs, including travel time, but well worth it. We then met Michele back at the hotel for our last evening together.

Monday morning was our last day to see Larissa, as she was off the next day. She did, however, recommend a restaurant for dinner that night. It's called the Fireside Grill. She had just given her resignation there, but still felt it was a great place for dinner. So we recommended to Michele that we find it, and she agreed.... after CAA came out to rescue us *grin* In getting out of her car to wait for us in front of the hotel, she inadvertently locked her keys in the car. It was funny!! But no problem - it gave me time to run up to the room and drop off our purchases (and go to the bathroom hehe) before we were on our way. So we eventually found the restaurant...

The Fireside Grill is located north of Victoria in a Heritage Building that used to be a museum of some sort. It was a beautiful location, has a great atmosphere, amazing service and superb food. Michele was actually looking for a good place to go for a steak (while Bill can have porkchops or something *grin*) and she found it. The food was delicious and beautifully presented. Michele said that she would actually bring Bill back to the restaurant to try it out together. I hope that they continue to go there... it's a great place :)

The night came to a close too early and sadly, we had to say our last good-bye's to Michele. It was great to spend so much time with them last weekend... we've missed them a LOT. I know we have email, but sometimes, it's not good enough. But at least we've had our M&B fix for a little while at least, and should placate us enough until next time. ;) They seem to be happy out there, though - who wouldn't be in a province so beautiful!!

Kyle was not at work that night when we came back, which sucked. But we did go down later to hand in commendations for some of the employees (3 to be exact) and found out that he WAS working the next afternoon so we could at least say goodbye. The commendations were to the Victoria Hospitality Award programme. It's something that's city-wide (not just the Marriott) and apparrently all the nominees get to go to a brunch every 6 months or so... we nominated Chris, Kyle and Larissa. All three showed exceptional customer service and deserve the award. We were very impressed by them!! So we photocopied the nomination forms, put one in each envelope for the employee themselves, and one with all of them for the General Manager - we wanted to make sure that they all got recognition!

Tuesday morning was bittersweet... it was our last day, so we packed everything up.... and it was also the day we were going whale-watching. We needed to be checked out around noon... so we packed up and called for a bellman to come and get our luggage for us. The shuttle bus for Orca Spirit was to pick us up about 12:30. So we checked out, had them stow our luggage for us, and off we went. Whale watching was amazing!! I can't think of another word to describe it... it's in describable... its another one of those things that you need to see to believe and experience to understand.... the boat we took out was like a small yacht. It took us about 40 minutes to get out to where the whales were spotted. As we were approaching the area, we saw 2 sea lions in the distance, and then started seeing the black fins and blows from the whales... soon, we were seeing them up close. Rick got some amazing pictures, but they don't even do it justice. The guides even said that it was an extraordinary day - sometimes they have 1 or 2 whales passing under the boat.... we had 7-8 or so... sometimes, they passed by the boat so close you could almost reach out and touch them. They were so beautiful! We saw baby whales (6 or 7 had been born that year) swimming with their mothers, we saw breaches (them jumping out of the water), and peaks for them to see where they are etc... it was one of the best things I have ever done, and have ever seen.... I can't wait to do it again!!

That had to end too soon... but we were soon back at the hotel again, waiting for the next shuttle to take us to the Victoria Airport. (on a side note: do you have any idea how confusing it got at times to continually hear my name but them not calling me?? I had to stop listening for Victoria and only think of myself as Vicky or I'd be turning around all the time!!) . When we returned to the Marriott, Kyle had started his shift. We talked to him for a LONG time and got Sean to take his picture with us. It was great! (he has amazing eyes!!!) And he had already received his envelope, so he thanked us for the commendation. That was nice :) So after a little while, we said good-bye to everyone, loaded all our luggage on the shuttle and we were off to the airport.

Our flight wasn't supposed to leave until 10pm. We had already had a problem online and on the phone with Air Canada not being able to book our seats, but as we were super early, we were able to change this with the girl at the desk there. Then we played the waiting game.... we watched the 7 oclock, the 8 oclock and almost the 9 oclock flights to Vancouver take off. But the guy that was boarding everyone noticed us waiting, and asked if we wanted to take the 9 oclock flight, as he had room. So we did. :) That was just a little plane, a Dash 8, but it was cute. 30 min later, we landed and disembarked and waited again. They did have a sports bar there in the terminal that we were able to catch a quick bite to eat at and then it wasn't a very long wait until they started boarding us again. Our seats were at the back of the 787 - That plane was HUGE!! But we got to board first. And the lady at the counter of the Victoria Airport was nice enough not to put anyone between us again. The flight was uneventful.

Anyway, to make a very long story short, cuz i'm getting tired of typing (I started this at 1005am today and it's now 345pm) we didn't get home until about 2pm, even though the plane landed early (about 7am EST). By that time, we were up since about 8am PST. It had been a long day.... but we got home, greeted the animals, lugged everything upstairs and fell into bed. We returned to work yesterday. We're still tired, but coping, and slowly working our way back into the eastern time zone!!

When Rick gets the pics burned, I'll do another blog with some posts... hope you enjoyed my blow-by-blow of our Victoria Vacation as much as I enjoyed experiencing it. I would highly recommend it. The Marriott is a little pricey, I will admit, but we're staying there again, if we stay in a hotel when we return - and we will. The service, the people and everything that happened was well worth the expense. We had a great time and look forward to doing it again. Comments are welcome!!!