Friday July 21, 2023 - We're headed to Victoria, British Columbia for a week with the kids! Kev and I flew from Indy to Toronto and we met Meg & Maddy there for our flight together to Victoria. Both our flights were late getting into Toronto, but we were lucky to make it through customs and onto our flight with 15 minutes to spare. Unfortunately our luggage didn't make the quick layover, but the airlines brought it to us the next day. We got into Victoria at 10:30PM and stayed in Saanichton at the Waddling Dog.
Yay! We found Meg and Maddy
AND made the flight to Victoria!
Saturday July 22, 2023 - There was a nice bike trail right next to our hotel, so we enjoyed a quick morning walk, and after breakfast we walked to a park on the water. Sally, our VRBO host, said we could go to the house whenever we wanted on Saturday, so we headed there after breakfast. There were 4 bikes that came with the house, so we got them out and headed to the Moss Street Farmers Market. Victoria is the most bike-friendly city we've ever seen. There are lots of dedicated bike lanes and many lanes are even separated from traffic by concrete dividers. After walking around the Market, we decided to ride just a bit farther and check out downtown Victoria. We ended up at a Brew Pub on the water, for lunch, a beer and poutine. Elaine & Ian flew in that evening and the vacation officially started!
Nice walk before breakfast
Walk from the hotel to Saanichton Bay Park
Beautiful day!
Leaving the Waddling Dog
Ping pong in the spacious backyard of our VRBO (953 Hampshire Rd)
Let's go for a bike ride
Locked up our bikes while we walked through the Moss Street Farmers Market
Nice market
Dedicated bike lanes to downtown Victoria
Bike lanes (with flowers) in downtown Victoria
Beers on the water
Poutine!
Road our bikes on Dallas Rd to get home, with great views of the water
backyard garden on the deck
lounging in the backyard
We rented a Yukon, so we could all ride together while we're here. It was a beast of a car!
Kev made salads for dinner and Maddy made pasta
We could see the mountains in the distance on our way home from picking up Elaine & Ian from the airport
Sistas
Relaxing before bed
Sunday July 23, 2023 - Our rental home is about a 10 minute drive from downtown Victoria, and about 5 blocks from downtown Oak Bay, which has a nice main street with everything you need (grocery store, liquor store, pharmacy, pubs, restaurants, shops). Meg, Kev & I (we're the early birds) decided to walk downtown to get some exercise before everyone woke up. The main street was blocked off this morning for a car show. We enjoyed looking at the cars and checking out Oak Bay. There is a bike shop on the main street, so we decided to rent 2 bikes so we could all ride to downtown Victoria for lunch and some sightseeing.
Morning walk with Meg
Downtown Oak Bay was hopping!
We rode bikes downtown and checked out Fan Tan Alley in Chinatown
Cute little shops
Crosswalk in Chinatown
Beautiful flower shop
Lunch at Ferris'
some people liked the appetizer of oysters
Bike ride home
Elaine & I did a pretzel puzzle with a glass of wine before dinner
Chicken Caesar salad for dinner
dinner on the deck
Monday July 24, 2023 - We found tennis rackets in the basement, and decided to play some tennis. There is a recreation center, a 10 minute walk away, so Kev, Meg, Maddy & Ian played tennis, while Elaine and I did some exploring on our bikes. In the evening we did a Murder Mystery (Margaritaland) and made a Taco dinner. I won't tell who was the murderer in case anyone reading this would like to borrow our Murder Mystery package!
Kev's desk
Elaine and Meg in the hot tub before breakfast
Maddy reading a book with a fire in the fireplace. It was chilly (low 50s) in the mornings
Elaine and I biked while everyone was playing tennis. Love the sculpture
Oak Bay Marina
On our way back to the tennis courts we found a small public rose garden
Oak Bay Rose garden, with a much needed fence around it to keep the deer out!
Tennis Courts and the fence lined with our bikes
Tacos for dinner
And the murder mystery begins! Lifesavin' Sam (Margaritaland lifeguard) and Starr Bright (a young actress who is hiding from the paparazzi at Margaritaland)
Coconut Joe (owner of Margaritaland), welcoming the guests
Izzie Islander (a native to Margaritaland) talking with Sam and Starr
The whole gang, along with Jack Daniels the bartender and Candy Cotton a wealthy socialite
Hanging out at the bar, such a fun evening!
Sam & Candy
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