Vacation Getaway

 The Seattle skyline at sunrise, isn't that ferris wheel just awesome?

My husband and I took advantage of a great deal to getaway to Victoria, BC for the weekend.  It is so close to Seattle, yet in the 8 years we have lived year, we have never gone.  Never.  We thought about it once and then we got married, had kids, and the dream of running off to another country for a weekend away just evaporated.

Until we found some nice friends who offered to babysit (poor them!).  We found a great deal and 3 weeks later we were boarding our 7am ride on the Clipper to Victoria, BC.  The minute we closed the door and said goodbye we felt like newlyweds again.  Together we set off to explore a new town, eat, drink, and talk without interruptions.  Maybe, we would even take a nap?

Our breakfast cheese picnic and view from the boat's stern

 

We packed a picnic for the clipper--complete with homemade bread, "breakfast cheese", peppered turkey, and some leftover halloween candy.  Seattle looked so beautiful in the morning sunlight even though we departed with nervousness as this is the first time we have ever left our kids. 

It was a rare sunny day.  I hoped and prayed for a whale sighting.  Hours into the trip almost as soon as we crossed into Canadian waters, two juvenile orcas swam merely 6 feet from our boat.  They made a few more appearances before they disappeared.  Dale had to cover his ears from my shreaking.  I was so excited!

 The Empress Hotel

"Welcome to Victoria" with cannons in background

 

Our arrival into Victoria was even more magical as the town was in the midst of some celebration.  Parliament was crowded with military, cannons, and the red carpet was out.  A guard told us that they would be firing 15 rounds and handed over some earplugs.  Seconds later, the cannons began their rounds.  It was incredible.

Pretty awesome arrival into Victoria.  The cannons were deafening and beautiful.

 

After the smoke cleared, we wandered through Victoria.  We walked through the Inner Harbour and wandered into Chinatown.  We had so much fun exploring the old the alleys, shops, and discussing where to get our next meal.  After debating, we headed back towards our hotel and stopped at the Bard & Banker for a quick nibble.

 Dale was really excited to find this alleyway

Any Dr. Who fans?  Dale was so stoked!

 

We headed to our hotel, Chateau Victoria, and were greeted by friendly faces at check-in.  We received an upgrade from our 5th floor room to a 15th floor room.  We had a spectacular view of the Inner Harbour.  We could see the Empress, Parliament, and the peaks of the Olympic Mountains from our balcony.  In addition, we had a separate bedroom with a tv, and a sitting area with a tv and full kitchen.  The amenities were fabulous and I could have easily spent two days lounging in our room.

 The view from our balcony (The Empress and the peaks of the Olympic Mountains)

 The view from our bedroom

Alas, we wandered up to the 18th floor restaurant, Vista 18, for a 2-for-1 small bite happy hour from 3-5pm.  Not only was view from the 18th floor incredible, but the small bites were delicious.  We had cumin-spiced lamb with a yogurt dipping sauce and polenta fries with black garlic.  To top it off, we enjoyed some fresh oysters with grapefruit pearls and delicious flatbread. The service was wonderful and feeling stuffed, we decided it was time to check out the hotel's other areas. (no photos, I was too busy devouring delicious food)

We headed to the jacuzzi and swimming pool and enjoyed a quiet hour swimming alone under beautiful skylights and the sound of falling rain.  I wished I could have ordered room service and stayed in the jacuzzi forever.  The silence was beautiful.

Parliament lit at night.  Gorgeous.

 

Feeling refreshed, we headed out to explore more of Victoria.  It was dark and everything was lit up like Christmas.  We walked to Parliament and headed towards what we thought would be an off-the-map local bar but soon discovered we were wrong.  We walked in circles looking for a good place to eat.  Everything was crowded but we soon found ourselves a table at the Local Kitchen.  After a few rounds of delicious beer, we ordered the most mouth-watering-heart-attack-plate-of-poutine.  This plate packed serious flavor.  Housemade melted cheese curds, poutine gravy, bacon, and green onions.  We ate every last bite and found ourselves in a food coma. (again, no photos, I was in food-heaven)

Our drinks at Clive's

Finally, feeling like we had seen enough for the night, we headed back to our hotel knowing we saved the best thing for last: Clive's Classic Lounge.  I had heard that this was one of the best bars in Victoria and one of the best hotel bars in the world.  Their drink list is impressive.  They make their own bitters, liquors, and have great food. The place was slammed but we found a cozy booth with that classic hotel lounge feel.  We enjoyed a "Jessica Rabbit" with housemade cherry brandy and a list of other ingredients.  Dale had a "Humboldt" with chai tea infused bitters.  The drinks were fantastic.  We easily could have spent 3 hours and a few hundred dollars here.  The service was amazing and impeccable.  We were given two complimentary kobe beef sliders for being hotel guests.  I wish I had room in my belly for 6.  They were the world's most perfect slider.  Our night had to come to end and we regretfully said goodnight to Clive's. 

Our first trip without the kids was turning out to be a smashing success.  We hoped to sleep in until 11 the next day but only made it to 9.  That still sleeping in--especially when our kids wake up at 6.  I felt very lucky to wake up to a beautiful city, drink my coffee, and read my paper next to my hubby with no one to interrupt.  The time was ticking and we wished that we had booked 2 nights instead of just 1.  We sadly had to say goodbye to our wonderful hotel.

This eclair was damn delicious

 

Lucky for us, we had the whole day to explore as our boat didn't leave until 5.  We headed to Dutch Bakery, which we were told had great pastries.  We were in shock when we arrived seeing a wall of deliciousness.  We grabbed an eclair type pastry and attempted to eat it on our way to Winter Famer's Market.  I say attempt, because our eclair was so messy with cream bursting at the sides and chocolate melting around it.  Oh, it was so good.

We walked by Christmas Village which is host to the most Christmas stuff I have ever seen housed in one spot.  We perused every nook and cranny searching for the perfect ornament to remember our trip.  The store had so many choices, we debated between locally made ribbon pine cones to intricate glass ornaments but we were smitten with a Canadian Mountie ornament to honor our trip.

Winter Farmer's Market

 

We finally made it to Farmer's Market.  We planned to come here as we wanted a taste of local produce and goods and a chance to support a local market.  We had a lot of fun talking to vendors and tasty different products.  Everyone was so incredibly nice and informative.  We decided to purchase infused salts from Vancouver Island Salt Co. We settled on a Danish blue cheese infused salt and a cider infused salt. Dale already has master plans for this salt and I can't wait to try his creations.  It was so quiet and peaceful walking around Market Square.  We worked up quite the appetite and stopped for a sandwich from The Hurricane.  We devoured an herb-roasted chicken sandwich with maple bacon sauce.  It was the perfect sandwich to warm our bellies.

We continued our journey walking around town and exploring.  We saw so many restaurants and bars we could have easily lingered at.  Next time, Dale wants to try Jam, which had a line down the block.  I was impressed with a few kids stores that had a great selection of wooden toys and local items.  We had a few more hours to kill so we headed to Canoe Brewpub for a late lunch before heading back to our boat.

Dale hijacked my camera.  He was pretty proud the get this.

 

Canoe brewing had a great vibe and a great view.  The beer and food were both excellent.  I had the best eggs benedict I have ever had in my life.  Decadent.  Delicious. Divine.  It was smothered with a cheddar mornay sauce and local ham.  I had to fight Dale off as he wanted to steal every bite he could!  The service was wonderful and graciously replaced my drink for free when I accidentally spilled it.  We spent a few hours here enjoying our final moments alone and discussing the highlights from our trip.

Saying goodbye was so hard! We wanted to stay forever!

 

We boarded our boat and said goodbye to Victoria.  We had a great time and great luck. Its pretty hard to top orcas, cannon, upgrades, excellent service, food and drinks. We can't wait to go back to Victoria--be it alone or with the kids.  I felt 10 years younger.

On our way home on the boat, I bought the boys two stuffed orcas.  Kannon was still awake when we came home so I gave it too him.  For the next hour, all we heard were make believe whale noises coming from his bed.  The next morning, the kids were more than elated to see us.  They were spoiled by our friends while we were gone but still missed mommy and daddy.  It was hard saying goodbye but it felt so wonderful to return to these big hugs and kisses.