8/3 Victoria

Erin and I decided to take a walk back to the Thrifty Mart this morning to pick up a few odds and ends – we poked our heads into the Bar-T-Na and got a short list from Trav and Barb as well. The store is about 6 or 7 blocks beyond the Parliament building, but the blocks are quite long and I'd say it's close to a mile each way. It was good to get out and walk.

It was only a bit after 9 a.m. when we left, but already there were lawn chairs, blankets, ice chests and people staking out their spots all around the harbor for tonight's concert. There was tape down on the sidewalk marking off areas to keep clear, and signs stating that chairs could only be two deep along the harbor front. The people had a long wait ahead of them – the barge holding the stage wasn't even in place yet, and the main concert doesn't start until 7:30 tonight.

We returned from the store and heard an announcement that the world famous water taxi ballet would be taking place in a few minutes. We all went out to the end of our dock to watch. Five of the harbor water taxis performed synchronized maneuvers to the tune of the Blue Danube Waltz. It was fun to watch, and there'll be a video clip or two in the DVD movie version of this tome.

Both my batteries and the video camera's batteries were running low, but Trav and I wanted to go see the fire truck exhibit and demonstrations. After a little recharging that's what we did. Barb came along too, but Erin stayed home for this one. We were interested in seeing the coal fired steam pump in action, and, after hearing more details about the Cadillac fire truck from the Friday Harbor contingent during our dessert session up on the bridge last night, we wanted to check out the Cadillac a little more closely as well.

We arrived at the display to see a stream of water being sprayed high into the air. At the other end of the hose was the horse drawn steam pump, and it had a pick up hose going into a portable tub of water about 20 feet in diameter that was being continuously refilled with a hose from somewhere. We learned that this pump was the only operational one in the entire country – the country being Canada, of course. There are two or three of them scattered about the U.S. We wandered through several of the older fire trucks, admiring the odd machinery and polished features. One of the trucks was more in barn yard shape, although it also ran and was driven in the parade. We eventually came to the Cadillac, where John, Vicky, Terry and Paul were tending to business. I asked a couple questions about the engine, and was quickly introduced to another Friday Harbor firefighter who was the designated mechanic. I posted another blurb earlier about some of that conversation. John invited us to hop in the truck for a photo op, which both Barb and I did. I only had the video camera with me, but I noticed John snapping a shot, so I'll have to check with him to see if we can get a copy.

Vicky and Barb soon tired of the mechanical and technical conversations, so they took off together on a field trip into town, and then on to the boat. Trav and I worked our way back towards the marina, but not before stopping to check out the Victoria Paddy Wagon. We continued on through the crowd towards the boat, and met Erin coming the other way. She was on her way into town to do a little shopping. I joined Erin on her trip while Trav headed back to the boat and his ice bag. The knee was ready for a rest.

We didn't do that much shopping before returning ourselves. By then the performance barge had been put in place, and the crowd continued to grow. There were some preliminary acts beginning around 2 o'clock, and our concern that we may not be able to hear because the orchestra's back was towards the marina proved to be unfounded. The first act was an R&B group with a so so singer. What they lacked in skill they made up in volume. They were followed by a group called CanUS, and they were very good, both playing and singing with outstanding harmony.

The highlight of the evening, and the weekend, was the symphony performance starting at 7:30. They began with O Canada, to which most of the audience of some 40,000 people joined in. Next came the world premiere of a local composition, the Inner Harbour Overture. It featured many of the sounds of the Victoria Harbor, including a siren from the Johnson Street Bridge, a recording of the steam whistle of the Princess Marguerite when it last left the harbor in 1980, and a duel between the orchestra and the horn of the ferry Coho, which was berthed next to the concert barge. Many familiar pieces by Copland, Mendelssohn, Sousa and others were featured, most with themes relating back to the founding of Victoria in 1858 and its early history. They featured a local pianist with the first movement of Schumann's Piano Concerto, and had an audience sing-along with Home on the Range and Oh My Darling Clementine. The grand finale was a performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, complete with cannon fire and fireworks. The final applause was joined with a cacophony of boat horns, and we had our air pressure up to contribute several blasts from our horns.

We finished the evening with a nightcap over on the Bar-T-Na, sampling some more of the Sambuca given to us the night before by our neighbors.