7/31 Victoria

Since the docks have not been filling up at all the past few days, we were speculating as to whether they'd be busy this coming weekend.  Well, they'll be busy for sure.  We have, under quite serendipitous circumstances, found ourselves in a prime spot for a celebratory weekend.  British Columbia and Victoria are celebrating their 150^th year, and several special events are taking place this weekend.  First, we heard from someone on the docks that the symphony would be performing on a barge in the bay here in the inner harbor this coming Sunday.  Boats were coming in throughout the day, and some are being rafted between boats along the fairways.  We have a 40' sailboat rafted next to us, operated by a nice couple from Friday Harbor.  From them we learned that there would be a parade on Saturday down Government Street, directly between us and the Empress Hotel.  They're here because they own a 1922 Cadillac fire truck that will be in the parade.  Next Monday is some sort of holiday here as well, and I'm sure we'll learn of some events for that day as well.

 

Later in the morning, Barb, Erin and I went off into town for another walk, again leaving Trav and his bad wheel behind to mind the store.  We walked along Wharf Street north to the Johnson Street Bridge, then on into town.  We browsed several shops and walked through Bastion and Market Squares, areas where street vendors set up to display their wares.  We stopped for a break at a local Starbucks, where Erin treated us to lattes – I had the iced Chai.

 

Next, we headed a little further north into Victoria's Chinatown, which was marked by a large ornate gateway over the street.  There we saw some very fresh vegetables on display on the sidewalk, and all sorts of businesses from herbalists and acupuncturists to galleries, restaurants and cheap souvenir stands.  On a wall plaque we read a little of the history of how Chinatown here developed back in the late 1800's and wandered through some of the narrow alleyways that were lined with small businesses.  We stopped at a little deli market where we bought some barbecued pork and almond cookies.

 

Barb had a one item shopping list, which was to pick up another bottle of Gibson's whiskey for Trav to take home.  We had an idea where a liquor store was from one of the maps Erin had, but it wasn't very specific.  We got some directions to a couple of stores, and chose the one that was on the way back towards the marina.  This one turned out to be a private store that didn't stock Gibson's.  They recommended another government store that was several blocks away in the opposite direction.  By then we were getting a little foot weary, but trudged on to find the other store.  They didn't have the larger size Trav wanted, but we got the 5^th they had and Barb stuffed it in her purse.  We returned to the boat to put our feet up and do some relaxing.  Our return timing was very good, as the few sprinkles we felt during our walk turned into some regular rainfall for the next few hours.

 

Yet more boats came in, and an older wooden boat ended up tied stern-to to the main dock and rafted to the Bar-T-Na.  It had a couple of young bouncing boys playing around as they maneuvered back in, much to Trav's chagrin, but it turned out they were just along for the ride down from Sidney, and soon returned home.  The boat, an early Canoe Cove, is now vacant, apparently to be used sometime during the coming weekend.

 

Trav prepared his beef stroganoff for dinner, and we all dined aboard the Bar-T-Na on a scrumptious meal while having good conversation.  We followed up by finishing the prior night's domino game.  Erin and I walked the docks to check out the new arrivals before retiring for an evening of reading and relaxing.