Tea in Victoria

We left our comfortable lodgings in Sidney yesteday morning for a romp in Victoria, the Provinical Capitol of British Columbia, and the seat of their government. We parked in the first available parking lot, and began to wander. We went into a high-end Irish import store, and looked around, but most of the stuff was better suited for a much colder climate than any of us live in. We wandered the Inner Harbor, and past the Provincial Capitol building (the sun was in a lousy position for a photo). We thought about going to an iMax movie at the Royal BC Museum, but someone made the comment that we ought to try for an earlier tea party (Bubby had it all set for 2:00 PM). She called the White Heather in Oak Bay and they agreed to accommodate us early. We dashed back to our parked car, raced out to Oak Bay, and were only about 10 minutes late for our 11:30 tea time.

Of course the selection of sweets and savories was astonishing and all freshly made. There were two kinds of scones, raisan and apricot ginger. Lots of Devonshire clotted cream and lemon curd, and tea and hot chocolate to drink. The shortbread and jam tarts on the uppermost level were to die for. Our hostess does all of her own baking, and everything was excellent. Botty wouldn't even try the herbal tea, but hey, he knows he doesn't like it. We were all stuffed when we left the tea room after only 1 1/2 hours. We began to wander in search of antique and quilting stores and made several forays. We did find a Safeway and bought two more kilos of Scotch mints (I'll share with any of my readers). Bubby was looking for the pattern to the tea cup/pot quilt in the back of the photograph above. It was made by the Oak Bay Quilting Guild, but alas, she was unable to find a contact point.

We drove back into town, checked into our hotel, the Queen Victoria (locally the QV), and wandered out on the town again. We did see an iMax film about pre-historic sea monsters, and then headed for Swans Brew Pub for some pub-fare. That was the choice of Laurie and Booty, because you can get about anything in a pub. The Brew Pub was located on Pandora street and Bubby was really excited to have her photo taken beneath that sign.

We all opted for a hamburger. Bubby got sweet potatoe fries, Botty and I had ours with the local chowder. It was lovely. Bubby ordered a mug of their locally brewed root beer, and said it was excellent. We enjoyed being warm,inside, and watching the freaks wander around us. We were in and out of several shops on our way to, and from, the Swan but were unsuccessful in obtaining a Victoria charm for Big K.

Laurie agreed to pose with her burger. She might regret it after she sees the blog, but it was a fun time.

As we left the Swan, and headed down by the water, we spotted the capitol building all lit up (like a fairy land). We walked back to the QV via a different route and all crashed. Booty and Laur watched an episode of House, and Bubby and I just plain drifted off. She later woke up with a case of the molly grubs. She said her hamburger was stuck in her chest. I slept through all of that. Of course, I was awake by 4:45 AM, and watched a movie on my computer.

We are all ready for the day. We plan on leaving here about 9:45 AM to catch the Coho to Port Angeles. We will go to sacrament meeting in Sequim this afternoon, and then head south. We have decided to stay overnight in Portland tonight. We thought about going home to Booty and Lauries, but that would mean an extra three hours of driving that none of us needs. They have tomorrow off, so we might as well extend our vacation another day.

Buboppy