Olympic Peninsula to Victoria

Sep. 2 and 3:  I am now settled into a charming loft on Yates Street in Victoria, British Columbia.  It took a lot to get here from my home in Eugene, Oregon.  Departing on Friday afternoon of Labor Day was not ideal, but it was what worked in mine and Michael’s schedule, and so it was.  We were off on our adventure to go from the Olympic Peninsula to Victoria.  The traffic was seriously yucky in Portland, but was fine once we crossed the bridge into Washington.  We booked it to Olympia and stopped for Koibito Sushi, a place known for great fish and lack of ambiance.  That was according to TripAdvisor.  In reality, the ambiance was lacking and the fish was actually just OK.

We were eager to get settled for the night and so we headed north on Highway 101, up the Olympic Peninsula.  The sky was dark and the road was curvy. And when it started raining, the tension in the car became so thick, I could cut it with a knife.  Those conditions lasted for about 50 miles.  And eventually, the rain subsided and the road straightened out.  We got a bit of the flavor of the rainforest.

We had been loosely planning this trip for a while, but the exact dates didn’t come together until almost the last minute.  It mattered not, other than that lodging options were limited.  We stayed in a dumpy hotel in Port Angeles, where the ferry to Victoria leaves from.  It was perhaps a two on a scale of 1-10.  The shower was reasonably acceptable with lukewarm water and the bed was clean.  Michael commented to me “this isn’t the worst place I have ever stayed, but it’s pretty close to the worst place I have ever stayed.”

In the morning we found Chestnut Cottage, a local breakfast spot that looked fun.  The décor was country living and very cozy.  It suited our needs just fine.  After breakfast, we packed up and figured we would go to a local history museum until the ferry left.

On the way to the museum we got our ferry tickets and walked to the local farmer’s market a few blocks away.  We chatted with some vendors about their wares.  We saw what may have been the biggest gyoza on earth.  It was five times the size of a normal one you’d get served in a Japanese restaurant!  It probably could have made a whole meal in and of itself.  We picked up some soap that was made from beef fat and honey.  The farmer raised the cows for meat and the rendered fat was a byproduct.  The honey came from the farm next door that she traded products with.  I picked up some spicy Caribbean sauce, as it reminded me of being in Belize.

After a bit, we wandered to The Museum at the Carnegie, which was run by a local historical society.  The sign on the outside said it was closed until further notice.  Not sure I’ll be back to Port Angeles again to revisit it (unless I catch the ferry to Victoria) and we carried on.  There was an expansive and beautiful mural downtown that warranted some examination.  The sign explained its history and, in short, the mural depicts the Olympic Peninsula from east to west.  The artist took some of the highlights of the region and drew them as if they all flowed into each other.

The Rotary Club was having a festival by the water.  A lot of the booths had cheesy games and gave out candy.  But what was charming was two children ballroom dancing on the lawn.  The Allman Brother’s cover band added to the overall good vibes of the scene.

We made our way to the dock, got on the ferry, and, for 90 minutes, drank in the sunshine and scenery.  The Olympic Mountains got smaller and the Gowlland Range got larger as we made our way across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  It was really quite a warm and sunny day.  This time of year in the Pacific Northwest, one never knows how long that will last.  So it’s best to get outside as much as you can.  We pulled into the port and enjoyed the buzz of activity that surrounded it.  Getting through customs was no biggie and within minutes of calling Alli, our Airbnb host, and hailing a cab, we were escorted up to our loft.

The loft is The Leiser Building , which is a brick building from 1896’s.  It used to be a warehouse for grocers, but in 2008 it was renovated to have the interior be baseline contemporary style apartments.  It very much has the feeling of a loft in New York, with large windows and excellent sun exposure.  The rooftop is a totally awesome retreat atop the third story.  We have views of downtown Victoria, and the harbor.  The hustle and bustle can be heard, but from this height, it hums instead of roars. 

Once we were settled in, our stomachs starting growling.  Now this was super convenient, but when the taxi dropped us off, we noticed the Ferris Oyster Bar right next door.  It offered happy hour on oysters every night and we vowed to go every evening, before we eat real dinner.  Good oysters are just too delicious and decadent to pass up.  As we sat at our table, we overheard the women at the table next to us say they are from Australia.  And from looking around, we saw Victoria is a city with many different ethnicities.  This is a welcome change from lily white Eugene!

Before arriving, I had located Market on Yates online.  It is a hybrid between a mainstream supermarket and a health food store.  It had enough to stock up on the basics and get some deli items to go.  When one is traveling that is often all you can hope for.  Our stroll wove in walking on different streets so we could get oriented with the city and check out the quirky stores.  The city has a Portland vibe in some respects.  Northwest flavored for sure.

Soon enough, we were off to Butchart Gardens.  I had originally thought we’d spend an afternoon there, but on the ferry I read about the fireworks on summertime Saturday nights.  So we shifted plans to take advantage of the festivities.  The Gardens are about 20km north of town, so we took the bus.  Considering that Victoria proper has a population of about 80,000 (over 300,000 with surrounding areas), the public transportation seems excellent.

I had checked out Google images of Butchart Gardens before we came to Victoria and I was very excited to have the opportunity to visit such revered and colorful gardens.  Butchart Gardens has simply some of the showiest displays of manicured and well-tended flowers that are out there.  Although they are definitely different in specifics, the sheer beauty of the gardens reminded me of the Jardins du Château de Villandry in the Loire Valley.  

In Butchart there were some patches that highlighted a certain plant or a certain color.  Other assemblages were more of a palette.  Statues and fountains adorned some of the sections that were divided into different themes.  There was the Star garden, the Italian garden, the Rose Garden, and the Japanese garden, just to name a few themes.  In the far back, there was a boat area and it opened up to an inlet and mountains in the distance.  The boats were shutting down for the day, but on a summer day, surely that would have been a fun thing to do.

The pavilion area featured a band playing music.  And, as one may expect, there were plenty of kids running around.  We had our picnic from Market on Yates goodies.  Literally, every direction we turned, there was a grand spectacle of color and the visual stimulation was just gorgeous.  Now I have gardened for years and know how much work it takes to keep things looking well cared for.  These gardens were on a whole different plane from a home garden.  The fruit trees had not a trace of fallen fruit beneath them.  Countless hours of love and labor go into creating and maintaining these gardens!  This is touted as Victoria’s most popular tourist attraction,and with good reason.  If you get up here, it’s a must do.

In the far end of the gardens was an area where irrigation was set up years ago when this land was used for farming.  The fireworks were going to be centered where the old irrigation was.  We were about 50 yards away from the fireworks.  I had never been so close to the action.  Music came out of speakers and played the theme song to Aladdin which is a Disney film from way back when.  The theme had me wondering if the show would be too cheesy, but they ended up weaving the whole Aladdin story together in a most magnificent way with the fireworks.  The entire show was ingeniously designed. 

Some of the fireworks were high in the sky, but most were low and had special effects.  There was a bridge in the distance and fireworks spilled continuously over it for a few minutes, creating a waterfall effect.  There was a rail system and structures moved along them with ongoing fireworks.  Any one structure was creating its design for a couple minutes.  A ten foot tall star is another example.  Other designs came shooting sideways out of the forest.  Statues were illuminated.  At the end of each song, there was what appeared to be a “grand finale” that youmight see at the end of a 4^th of July fireworks show.  But we were treated to about half a dozen grand finales – unbelievable.

When the final grand finale happened, the crowds quickly dispersed.  It was dark, but the gardens were lit up so we could follow the trails out.  We realized on the way out that there were entire areas we didn’t even get to when we toured around.  Maybe next time, tonight we caught the double decker bus to our apartment (how British).  On our walk home from the bus stop, we discovered a fountain all lit up, decorated with totem poles around it. 

The nightlife on the streets was subdued and, with its being a long day, it didn’t take much to drift off to sleep.